He Rode Sadie!!!

Woke up this morning to an overcast day.  It was so dark - even when I took this picture at 9 am.

 We had a full day today, starting with the five year old's therapeutic horseback riding.  Big news of the day - their cow had her calf.

The cow's name is Daisy, and the calf is Tulip ;)  Very spring-like, don't you think? ha.

 I thought this might be a good day.  The five year old woke up in a great mood, and had a great morning.  He talked about Sadie all morning.  But on the drive out to the arena, he was clearly getting nervous, and started creating things to be upset about.

As soon as we stepped into the barn, he became silent.  He did this last week too, and didn't talk until we stepped out of the barn.  He also fought doing anything - brushing her or all the prep stuff they're supposed to do before riding.

It's hard to see in this picture, but the two leaders are carrying a saddle and a pad, and the five year old was supposed to bring the cinch over.

It took him forever.  He took little tiny sliding steps all the way over.

See his trail from dragging his feet?

They have the kids help with every step, including cinching up the saddle.  It's a great program.  This way they never get the idea that you just show up and ride, and there's no work involved.

He started cooperating then and did the best job he's ever done leading the horse around the arena.

They work on practical skills each time too.  Last week it was colors, and this week they had ABC plaques around the arena.

 They stopped each time around to find the T for his name, then later, they wandered around spelling his name, then finding the letters for the brothers names.  I thought he only knew T and A.  It turns out that he knows a lot more than that.  The main leader told me he was able to tell them when they were at the wrong letter.  He won't answer directly if you ask him "What letter (or color) is this?"  We didn't know he knew colors until one of his therapists started saying things like "I'll take the green ball" and he would say, "No, it's blue" and he would be right.  It looks like he's doing the same thing with letters.

 This one just cracked me up.  The dogs (Sage and Buddy) were napping next to the Z.  HA.  These dogs are huge by the way, and very hairy.  The five year old used to be really afraid of dogs, but he seems to like these two.  Unfortunately he has transferred his absolute dread of them to his two year old brother.

 Speaking of brothers, the ten year old did a great job entertaining the two year old during riding lessons.

They wandered around and visited the horses and the mama cow and her baby.

 It took a little convincing, and I had to get in the arena and climb the steps with him, but the five year old finally agreed to get on Sadie.  Actually I finally just picked him up and he swung his leg over.  He wanted to get on her, but he kept saying no.

 Once he was on, he liked it, and didn't have any problem when she started walking.

 We didn't see smiles though until he came all the way around and saw his brothers watching.  He was mighty proud of himself then. :)

 And they were proud of him too.  The two year old even said, "Good Job T----!

 Afterward, we stopped at the river for some stress reducing time.

And of course we had to have breakfast there.  In fact when I made his breakfast this morning (grilled cheese and strawberries again, just like last time) he made me put it in a bag so he could eat it at the river after riding lessons.  I don't think he'll ever let us skip this part.

 It was a good opportunity for an impromptu science lesson.  The ten year old discovered the whip-like sound a large branch makes when whipped through the air quickly.

It was a great discovery and discussion.  Gotta love homeschool.  School is never out of session :)

 Of course there were lots of sticks and rocks added to the river.

The ten year old found an abandoned piece of fishing line, and had to create an illusion for grandpa.  He tied it to his long branch, which was already pretty curved.

Then he tied a rock on the other end....

 And threw it in the water.

Wow, Grandpa, look at the whopper on this line!

Yep.  That's a mighty fine rock!