Summer Vacation Part 4

After our morning of hiking to the waterfall, the kids rode horses!  Now, when I first asked the kids if they wanted to ride horses the answer was NO!  But they agreed to pony rides.  When we stayed in Estes Park, Piper tried riding a horse but it was too scary and Briggs rode a pony, which he enjoyed and still talks about occasionally.  Unfortunately, at Estes Park, Piper was past the pony riding age limit.  But at Snow Mountain Ranch, she could ride!  So there was a lot of anticipation over the upcoming pony rides!  Fast forward to the ranch hand coming out of the barn with two ponies, but instead she was leading along two horses!  Piper said to me, "Ummm, that looks like a horse."  Briggs said, "I'm not riding that.  I'm not riding that."  They both asked where the ponies were!  So I asked the ranch hand and she said they don't really use ponies but smaller horses.  So Piper reluctantly agreed and rode her horse around once.  Poor Briggs was bummed.  When Piper and the ranch hand came back around, I asked if there was a smaller horse so she checked and sure enough there was!! Briggs looked at the horse and said, "That's better.  I'll ride that one!"  And the two of them went on a short little ride!  They did not want it to end and they kept asking to go back!  Another fun little victory in the bravery department!  Piper even asked me if I could find a place in Dallas where she could volunteer to take care of horses!  I think this day of vacation was my very favorite!

The horses liked eating treats!  On the property they also had goats and sheep you could feed.  Piper thought that was fun but they were a little wild acting for Briggs to enjoy.

Piper with her horse, Marcella.

Briggs with his horse, Horace.

Love this!  This trip definitely helped the two of them bond and spend good quality time together!

 Later in the day, Michael and Piper attended an archery session, while Briggs, Emerson, and I spent time at the little library and playground!  Briggs was too young for the archery range, but the staff member let Michael practice with Briggs at the very end when the other guests had left.

We went roller skating twice while we were there.  I think my kids have my coordination skills!

This was our view outside of the cabin.  

Playing in the dirt again!

Emerson didn't get her picture taken as often!