Princess

Me: Lieren, please come clean up your plate.

Lieren: No, no, I'm a princess.

Me:  Alright, princess, come put your plate in the sink. Cause even princesses have to clean up.

Lieren: Yep, that's what princesses do!

We'll just let her keep thinking that for a while...(wink!)

A Pony Ride

Every day on vacation while the three younger kids napped, Silas got to go out with Shane for some kind of special activity (except for the one day when he went shopping with me and rode around in the stroller playing on the iPad - ha!).  They went to an arcade, played mini-golf, explored waterfalls and bridges, and generally had a fun time.  So we wanted to let Sim and Lieren do something special too.

I found out on the first day we were there that the place we stayed did pony rides for kids.  I knew Lieren would love it.  So we made reservations for the twins for the last day we were there (they were booked till then!).

On Friday morning, we packed up our van then I dropped Shane, Silas and Blaise off at the pool and drove Simmy and Lieren over to the stables.  They were very excited.  Lieren was like a calm excited; her eyes were dancing and she couldn't stop smiling.  Simeon was adventurous excited; he walked right out of the stable while I was talking to the guy in charge and took off to "say hi to the horses." We caught him right as he was about to climb through the fence.

The whole thing was just cute.  The guy talked to the kids so kindly and asked Simeon if he wanted to be a cowboy.  Simeon of course said yes, even though I'm not sure he has any idea what that means.  And as he led Lieren around, the guy turned to me and said, She has the biggest grin on her face!  He led the horses through this little wooded path up and down small hills.  I'm sure the horses could have done it on their own, what with the hundreds of times they've carried children through this same routine.

Lieren's horse was Festus.  The guy said he was 20...

Her thrill over the horses reminded me why I was so in love with them when I rode all those years ago...

And Simeon rode Chester...

Saying thank you and goodbye...

Lieren has talked about the pony ride many times since.  She asks over and over what their pony's names were.  And when it was time for her to pick out a vacation toy (we typically let them get a new thing on our trip), she picked a pony.

Sweet Memories Now that We're Home

Refreshed Spirits

Yesterday evening was one of my favorites ever.  

We're on vacation...

I just had the two younger boys for a little bit while Shane took Silas and Lieren to get on a paddle boat...

Simeon realizing he really did want to ride the paddle boat...

Switch...

Boat ride over; the kids swam and played in the sand...

Silas constructed a wading pool...

Simeon and Lieren raced each other to shore, playing they were Chick Hicks and the King (both of whom once in a while broke down, apparently, and needed the other to help them up on to the sand)...

We played until the sun went down...

Blaise made a friend at the ice cream shop behind us.  Sim and Lieren closed the evening out playing Jake and Izzie from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  They swam along the shore collecting rocks (their gold doubloons) and looking for Pea Pod Pass.  And they called Blaise, Cubby.  Silas swam as far out as we would let him, and all the kids waved to the evening cruise boat as it pulled away.

I have been praying for refreshed spirits this week.  While vacationing with our family is not always relaxing, always demands a plan, and doesn't leave the parenting behind, I can honestly say it has been refreshing.  And we are getting rest.  And the memories are sweet.