Horsing Around

Before we went to NY, Mairead had a very busy morning taking care of the horses in our house.  I was sitting in the first floor living room when she ran through wearing a cowboy hat. She ran into the parlor, then walked up the front stairs singing to herself.  A few minutes later, I heard her come down the back stairs and saw that she had a blanket.  She went into the parlor looking a little guilty and then told me that "Mom have to go check on the boys," which is code for "I am doing something I am probably not supposed to be doing, so don't come in htere."  Turns out that all she was doing was procuring blankets for her two horses.

She then told me, "I have a surprise for you!"  She likes to tell me that and then take my hand to lead me to the surprise.  But, she tells me "You have to close your eyes" and then checks to be sure I am not peeking.  She led me to the horses and wanted me to ride the small brown one.  I told her that I was too big so she thought about it for a moment and then told me I could have the blue (larger) horse.  The blue one is her favorite, so it was sweet to see her give it up for me.  When Ben came down, though, she jumped back on that blue one right away!  Ben came down without a hat, though, so she ran upstairs to the dress up clothes and selected one for him.  He happily obliged and hopped on the brown horse so they could ride together.

After riding, Mairead and the horses were all tuckered out, so everyone settled down for a rest.

How cute is this kid?  I love to see her imagination at work and she has been coming up with some great ways to play lately!

In other cute news, Jack has become super confident in the pool (while wearing a puddle jumper, lol) and loves to swim. Ben has been MUCH more timid (they switched personalities on this, I guess). Ben would just sit on the pool steps and not go in at all, even with me or DH. Lately, we have really been working with Ben and have succeeded in getting him in to the pool though he mostly clings to us for dear life. Today, I was in with Ben and Jack was swimming around. I told him Ben was a little scared, and this conversation ensued:


J- You scared, Ben?

B- Yeah, Jackie.

J- It's ok, Ben.

Jack then takes Ben's little hand in his own and swam alongside him. I am tearing up just thinking about it. Finally, Ben says, "Oh, thanks, Jackie" and they swam together. Seriously?  Cutest thing ever.

On Sunday, My mom's work (a hospital) had a 'friends and family day' thing and we got to go to Canobie Lake Park for free. I love free. Anyway, the kids had an awesome time! Mostly Mairead. The boys were scared on a lot of the rides, even though they were just little 'kiddie' rides.  We rode on the carousel first and they all liked that.  I was with Jack who sat stonefaced through the whole ride.  I asked, "Is this fun, Jack?"  His reply- a sober 'Yes.'  Are you having fun, Jackie? "Yes." 

They did great on rides that Dave and I could do with them. Mairead, though, loved EVERYthing. She even did the kid roller coaster with Dave and the look on her face was priceless. I  forgot my camera so I don't have pictures right now.  I did buy a disposable one (for TWELVE DOLLARS) so when I use up all the exposures, I'll get them developed and scan them in to share.  I was so mad at myself for that!  It was a really fun day, though, and Nana and Grampy came to share it with us!  Thanks, Nana, Grampy, and LGH! 


Anyway, the first ride we did was the carousel. None of the kids had done it before and when I looked at the three of them all lined up on their horses, I started to tear up (I am a nut). My parents used to take us to places like this when we were little and I thought about how everything comes full circle and I am now sharing these moments with MY kids that my parents shared with us... and my parents were with us, enjoying everything with the kids, too. It was just really special.
We have been so lucky to do so many fun things this summer even though we have REALLY cut back in our budget, and I am so grateful. We did Canobie because of my mom's work, we went to the aquarium because my super cool friend had passes for us, we went to an animal park thanks to Dave's mom, etc.  We are just so lucky to have people around us who are able and happy to help us plan fun things for the kids.

Nothing is new on the job front for Dave.  We are really getting anxious now since school starts for most places in about two weeks. This summer has been a lot of fun, but increasingly stressful as August wanes away.  I just have to believe that someone will want to hire him in the next two weeks- the alternative is just too upsetting to consider.  We will keep you posted on that!