We celebrated Halloween at Ms. Laurel and Mr. Shawn’s house. The girls had been asking to go out and see our friends and ride their horses, so we made sure we got an invitation. All of us seem to enjoy this yearly event. The girls didn’t have any fear of the horses this year. They rode without saddles and the only complaint I heard was that their rear-ends were a bit sore. Julia especially kept asking for another trip around the yard. The day was beautiful and dry. The evening cooled off a lot when the sun went down, but by then we were settled inside for food and pumpkin carving. No good photos of the pumpkins, but Laurel and Shawn did a great job carving the girls’ original designs. New this year was some additional friends added to the party. Another young family (if we still get to call ourselves a young family) joined in the fun. Their daughter was uncertain about the horse, but once she got started, she did not want to get off either. Our girls enjoyed having two more little people to hang out with.

Emily enjoying herself.

Our new Halloween party friends.

Riding around the yard.

The only thing Julia didn’t seem to enjoy about the evening was looking at the camera. Oh well. Another successful party. Thanks Laurel and Shawn.

We joined Laurel and Shawn out at their farm for another Halloween party. We accept that they moved from our neighborhood, but only if they will continue to invite us out to celebrate Halloween each year. We have no complaints with our current neighbors, but we miss our former neighbors.

We were there early enough to get to take a ride around the yard with their horse, Letti, and pony, Chester. We like the fact that the horses keep their yard mowed for them. The girls did well with the horses. Emily was willing to try her hand at grooming, but not for long.

After the ride we carved pumpkins, had dinner, and ate lots of candy. We are looking forward to next year’s celebration.

Emily providing her grooming services.

Chester giving Emily a gentle ride.

Julia getting her ride from Chester. I love that Emily kept them company and held Laurel’s hand.

The girls with their pumpkins. They picked out a design and Laurel and Shawn each cut one out for them.

We went green bean picking at Ms. Tracy’s parents house. They were generous and shared with us. Tracy is a fast picker and out picked Mama 4 to 1. The girls enjoyed themselves and a bit of freedom. They played with the tire swing, ran around the yard, played with the cat, and enjoyed the front porch swing. Emily even tried to apply sunscreen to herself so that she wouldn’t get burned (something Mama hopes that she doesn’t do again for a while). The girls picked about three green beans each and Emily did try eating one straight from the field.

After we finished our work, Ms. Tracy got their horse Jack for the girls to ride. Julia was scared from the start. She would not pet him at all, although we talked to him a lot. Emily was skittish, but did pet him a little. When it came to time to ride we rode bareback. Emily rode first with Mama. Emily was very brave and enjoyed her ride. Before we put the horse back to the barn, we swapped the girls out and had Julia try riding for a few minutes. She was uncomfortable and wanted down at the first chance, but she rode bravely with Mama. Mama is really proud of both of for giving it a chance. Too bad we didn’t get a photo of us riding, but we needed to focus on other things at the time.

After the ride, we went back to Tracy’s to put up the green beans. Now we have a row of lovely green bean jars and fun memories. Thanks Tracy (and Tracy’s Mama)!

While we were camping we went to a talk about possums on Saturday morning. The talk had some interesting things in it, but it sure didn’t capture the excitement of two-year-olds. Emily picked dandelions, worked on sharing toys with Elena, visited with the other people at the talk, and was thrilled to leave the talk early.

After the talk, we said hello to some horses. The horses weren’t inclined to visit, but seeing them up close was fun. Julia was OK with someone else holding her in the close vicinity of her mother. That didn’t happen much on the trip. Somehow she lost one sock.