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Pony rides, a BBQ, and hanging out on a Friday night

It's been a little cooler here (mid 90's!), so Broooke and Kevin invited family and friends over for a BBQ by her tack room. It's a great place to hang out, with lots of shade, plenty of places for the kids to play, and horses to ride. Brooke and Kevin were kind enough to give each kid a ride until their hearts were content, and we also ate some great appetizers and carne asada. We're looking forward to making this an event that happens more often!

Here are some cowboys playing on the saddles in Brooke's tack room. Jared, Jack, and Carson are the boys in the picture. Carson and Lily have the same teacher for preschool, but they go on different days. Lily and Carson share a hook and a chair, and at the beginning of the school year, that was somewhat comforting to Lily. The boys' dad is also our breeder, so Lily's used to seeing them around as they come with their dad to our dairy often.

Check out Brooke's blog (link is on the left) to see what's been happening on our road this week. It's been a busy place as all the corn on our road was harvested in the last 5 days. I think it's a bittersweet time of the year. It's great to see all the silage that comes off to feed our cows for the winter, but it's also a sign that the seasons are changing. For some reason, I am not ready for Winter to come this year. The thought of cold, foggy days, darkness at 5 PM, and everyone hibernating in their houses doesn't excite me. (I know! I don't have it as bad as those of you who get snow!) We could really use some rain, though, so if you know any good rain dances, let me know!

"E" share....a chicken?!

Every Friday is share day at Lily's preschool, and we have to bring an item that starts with the letter of the week. We put the "share" item in brown paper bag and think of three clues that will help the class to guess what the item is. The letter of the week was E, so we decided we'd take an egg from Brooke's chicken coop. Then, we thought we'd go so far as to take an actual chicken to school for share! The chicken was a hit, and Lily was so proud of her share this week. She was practically crying with excitement! The kids were amazed at the blue eggs that come from the Easter Egger chickens.

SLO Farmer's Market

If you are ever in the San Luis Obispo area on Thursday night, you have to check out their Farmer's Market on Higuera Street. It's the ultimate. And, being the foodie that I am, that was my choice of what to do for my birthday this year. We strolled the three blocks, stopped often to look at beautiful produce and flowers, and ate and ate and ATE! They have the most awesome food there (including doughnuts that put olliebolen to shame!).

Lily loved this bounce house...2 bucks for 10 minutes...best bargain on the street.

Grace enjoyed the view from the bike trailer. We didn't ride our bikes there, but the double stroller came in handy when big sister didn't want to walk any more.

Yes, that's Lily with her Dad trying out the hula hoops and listening to hip hop music. Charlie's pretty hip (Though he wasn't too good at the hula hoops!).

September 11

September 11 is a significant day in our house for the obvious reason of remembering the events that happened that tragic day 7 years ago, but we also pause on that day because it happens to be my birthday. I turned thirty in 2001, and my parents were visiting me in Michigan for my birthday. I had just met Charlie, and our relationship was progressing very quickly. I look back on the last seven years, and I realize how blessed I am. Especially with these two beauties below! This birthday seemed a little different than ones before....maybe it's because I am finally at a place in my life where I seem complete. I have my wonderful husband and my two cute kids. How does life get any better? Here's a few pictures from our day. We went to Paso Robles for lunch and had ice cream in the square. That night we went to San Luis Obispo to the Farmer's Market. More pictures of that to follow.

Grace is enjoying ice cream from her daddy's cone here.

Lily's giving Grace some kisses, which aren't being too well received.

I am done, Mom! Take me home (to the trailer)!

Grace loves bannanas

We went to Paso Robles in our trailer this past week for my birthday. Charlie was swimming with Lily while I fed Grace a snack (She decided a couple of weeks ago that she didn't want baby food any more!). She loves bannanas. She's eating her snack in the high chair that Kevin and Kristen used when they were kids. It's been relegated to the fifth wheel for convenience sake, so Lily and Anna Marie have used it too. It has a stainless steel tray, and every kid that uses it loves to look at themselves in the reflection! Grace cut two more teeth during our trip (That was soooo fun!), so now she has two more teeth on the top.

Bath time

Around dinner time, it gets a little hectic around our household, as anyone with little ones knows....We tend to eat late, and then bath time gets a little rushed. It's still my favorite time of the day though! (Maybe it's because I know that bedtime is imminent!) The kids love their baths, and all I have to do to get Grace to come to the bathroom is turn on the water. They have fun in the bath together, and they smell so sweet afterwards. We usually divide and conquer once the kids are out of the bath. I take Grace and give her a bottle, then put her to bed. Charlie will take Lily, and they usually play the Wii until I can come and read to her from the current favorite book series, Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. About 2 months ago, I decided to start reading to her from "chapter" books, and she loves it. We're reading Ramona the Pest right now. It's been very fun reading her books that were my favorites when I was younger.

The Dairy is our playground....

Who needs swings, slides or other toys when you have a 20 foot high pile of cotton seed in which to play? Lily and her friend Sarah Kate (Her family moved into "Beppe's" house about a month ago, and she and Lily hit it off right from the start.) climbed up and down this huge pile of cotton seed on Tuesday afternoon. Charlie made a "sled" for them out of cardboard, and it's amazing how fast they whized down the pile. You can see how well our silage corn is growing as it's twice as tall as the girls and still growing.