Last Friday

Here are some random pictures I took last Friday, Zeke's birthday.

Here is Zeke in his now-forward-facing carseat. He loves being able to see Jason and I when we are driving, and he gets a huge grin on his face whenever we turn around to look at him. Zeke gets this goofy grin on his face whenever we put a hat on him.
The goofy grin again, this time with Dad's hat on.
Jason and Zeke. I love how excited Zeke gets whenever Daddy comes home. He will start making his little high-pitched "Aahhh!!" sounds and crawl for the door.

What has Zeke so excited?
These do. The last few days we have had this Mama deer and her two babies hanging around our property. I got within about 20 yards of them without them running away, which is pretty cool. Zeke thinks they are pretty cool, too.
The deer in our backyard.
We made the 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake on Friday night. It was alright. We added chocolate chips, which I don't think we will do again. And I think the kids could definitely share a cake. And we probably should've eaten them sooner, and not let them cool for so long. These weren't absolutely fabulous, but we will give them another try.
So, there are some pictures from last Friday. I hope you enjoyed them.

Horse Rides

Last Saturday, the big kids and I went out to Kidder Creek Orchard Camp for their annual Applefest (it was Zeke's morning nap time). There were lots of things to do: carnival-type games, an apple craft, a live and a silent auction, free apple crisp and cider. But the kids' favorite, by far, was the horse rides.

Sierra was a little nervous at first. She hung back for a while, but not Tyner. That boy was up on the gate, looking at the horses, talking to the owner and the handlers. He didn't even want to wait his turn for a ride. He did wait for his turn, of course...three times! By the time Sierra was ready for her first ride, Tyner was on his third. He had a goal of riding each of the three horses at least one time. Here are some pictures of my cowkids.




I was really proud of Sierra. She was a little nervous at first; she wasn't sure she wanted to go. And when she finally did decide to go, the horse started walking off while the guy was still lifting her into the saddle. She gave me a wide-eyed look that said "Umm...I don't think this is supposed to be happening!", but she didn't get upset or cry.

After the rides we went back down to the main area to do the craft and play a few more games. We actually had to go back for one more ride before we left. This was the first time being on a horse for both kids, and they really liked it. I hope, living where we live, that they will have more opportunities to ride.

Be back later to post more.