I’m not big on scheduling up the girls’ free time. I’d like to say it’s because I’m pretty progressive and believe that free play promotes learning, time management, builds imaginations and independent thinking. All of those things are true, but truth be told, I’m pretty lazy when it comes to such things. The thought of breaking free of school year schedules, only to then schedule up my summer with places I have to be, or more exactly, places my children need to be sounds daunting. Since they don’t drive well, or legally, that turns into places I need to take them. Then there are play dates. Ugh. I can count on one hand the number of play dates we’ve had. That’s because there have been zero. So unkind of me, I know. But really, these two wake up in the same room, play together all day, go to bed chatting, and then repeat. They haven’t asked for any kids to be added to the mix. I haven’t even heard the word “bored.” Now, they aren’t completely isolated, they play with neighborhood kids outside and at the pool and we find friends to play with when we’re out and about.
There were a couple of things I scheduled for Ella in the beginning of summer. One was VBS. And while I cringe at leaving her in an auditorium with a bajillion children, she loved it, and stayed with her shepherd the whole time (as far as I know).
She’s in there…somewhere. Just kidding, I know exactly, to the seat, where she was.
A couple of weeks later, she had horse camp at RED Arena. The camp was one week, 8a – 1p. What a week! First of all, the weather was not typical. There were some rain showers here and there and a cold front that made it chilly. But, that’s all welcomed when it could have been sunny and 100 degrees every day.
I can’t speak too much for what actually happened at horse camp, it’s a little like Vegas. My insider would usually fall asleep on the drive home and refuse to answer my interrogation. But here’s what I did figure out: every day, they rode horses…I mean, it is horse camp, they bathed horses, they painted on horses with washable paint (Rusty is such a trooper, the only white horse), when it rained, they played games in the barn, they did a TON of crafts, had lunch, went to and fro in a golf cart, built obstacle courses for the mini horses, and from what I can tell…had SO MUCH FUN.
It’s now over a month later, and Ella still asks me several times a week if she can go back to horse camp. She also throws around terms like: forelock (the tuft of hair that falls between the ears onto the forehead is the forelock – I looked it up), and the barrel (the curve of the barrel is formed by the ribs) like she’s known them forever.
The most impressive, was the loot Ella brought home. So many fun crafts. I was in awe!
A plate displaying the foods a horse eats. A painting on canvas. A cloth bag made by one of the volunteers, a visor Ella made, a sewing card and a treasure she found during a treasure hunt horse ride.
Ella with the canvas bag she painted.
Each camper left with a collage sheet featuring photos of them through the week.
So sleepy, and yes that is a riding horse made out of a pool noodle!
And, we received the professional photos from Round Up!
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