Cowboys and Cousins

Thanksgiving was great.  We ended up going to my in-laws after a very last minute plan change (instead of them coming here) and it was delicious and delightful.  Other than the fact that Q hurt his leg jumping on the trampoline a couple of days before, everything was perfecto.  We thought it was broke for sure as he wouldn't walk on it and it moaned and cried pitifully.  Cursed trampolines.  The x-ray showed no break, however, and we were informed he probably hurt the tissue and ligaments around his knee.  So he scooted around, or hopped or crawled for days.  He got pretty darn good at it too.  He spent the majority of the holiday playing on one iPod or another.  Poor bored kid. It wasn't easy for him to have to hold still.  In fact, he just started walking again yesterday.  Which is great, because it has been one week since the injury and I was worried it was hurt more than we thought.  Plus I was getting very tired of lugging the heavy kid around at the store or to the bathroom.  

The three mobile kids got their fill of horse-riding at the grandparents' house.  Miss B thinks she's a cowgirl. She rode for hours.  Over and over again I'd find her outside wandering the fields looking for a horse.  She shoulda been a country gal, I reckon.  Dennis too.  He loves horses.  Mr. C isn't as enamored with them, but usually rides every time we are there.  This time, we were washing dishes and in walks Mr. C, red-faced and tear-stained.  After gasps and sobs, we learn that his very smart horse was tired and decided to brush him off by walking (quite quickly) under a tethered horse's neck.  The horse was successful.  Mr. C fell to the ground and three horses proceeded to stamp and kick up dust and cause a general ruckus while a horrified Miss B sat on her horse screaming for help, not quite knowing what to do.  Finally he emerged from the dirt and chaos, alive and walking.  We found him scared but pretty much unscathed and Papa immediately took him outside saying, "You gotta get back on."  It took a bit of coercing, but we got him back on the horse and Papa gave him a refresher lesson on how to hold the reins and stay away from the tethered horses.  He ended on a positive note which was excellent.  And now he has a very cool cowboy story...plus luckily he didn't hit his head or anything.  He wasn't even sore the next day.

  

Plus the kids enjoyed some cousin time and exploring the wild outdoors that is Papa's field.  These city kids eat that stuff up.  Great memories are made there.