5 parties in 3 days....


We headed over to Jess, Blair and Sam's house for a little while. I got to see some people from high school that I had not seen in a long time and I had the chance to catch up with some friends that I have not seen in a few months. Sam is so adorable! He just turned one so Carter was excited to bring over a present to him.


After the Lazuka's party we headed to Aho house to visit with family. The first thing Carter noticed was the big huge bouncy. I kept trying to draw his attention to the horses but he could not take his eyes off of the bouncy. When I finally got him to turn his head his mouth dropped wide open, his eyes got big and he sucked in a a lot of air out of excitement. Then yelled out HORSES!!!!!!! The last time we were over there he was not old enough to remember the horses or be excited about them. We walked over and visited the horses and Auntie Di. (We have not seen Auntie Di in a while and we really missed her so fortunately for Carter she was already at the horses.) He pet the horses head which I think may have been the size of Carter. He was so excited. Then a dog came over carrying a stick and dropped it at Carter's feet. Carter had no idea what he wanted. We had to tell him the doggie wanted to play catch. (For those of you that know Pippa know, she does not fetch) Carter had a great time playing fetch with the doggie. I think I enjoyed watching him do it even more. Makes me want to get a dog that he can actually play with instead of step over.

I love the picture below. Definitely one of my favorites!

After some fetch we got some food to eat. Uncle George made my favorite burgers. YUMMY. We have a deal, he will make my burger if I make and bring over mini pies. Thanks Uncle George they were delicious!


Carter quickly scoffed 1 hot dog and 3/4 of a burger then began asking over and over and over again to go swimming. Craig, not wanting to get in the cold water, told Carter the rule was he had to wait a half an hour or he would get a belly ache. He asked anyone that walked by if they would take him swimming. Even Grammy. Grammy does not go in the water. Eventually Daddy gave in and took him in the pool. In the meantime Lexie got out Brownie, the horse and was letting anyone that wanted to ride a chance to ride. As soon as Carter saw Brownie he was 'All Done' in the water. His, "go swimming" request quickly turned into a "ride horse" request. We changed him and took him over. Put on his helmet. I think if they made full blow up body armor we would have put him in it after yesterday but they don't (although maybe we could have taken a float and duck tape and wrapped him in it...) so a helmet had to do. Besides he was riding with his cousin Lexie and Lexie has been riding a long time and knows her horses' behavior. She also gives riding lessons so I knew he was in good hands. He bravely got on and enjoyed the ride. They made 3 laps and then it was his other cousin's turns. Afterall they were very patient and willing to wait to let Carter go first even though they asked to go on the horse before Carter even noticed the horses. He enjoyed every moment of it.





Lexie has had horses for as long as I can remember. I think I got on one of her horses once. That is it. Horses are very large, powerful animals and I have always been a little (okay, a lot) afraid and timid about riding them. I think the thing I feared most was that they would sense my fear and that would upset them. So... it was a vicious cycle. My fear fed my fear that they would know I was afraid which made me more afraid. Crazy.... Anyway I wanted to try so I took a turn riding Brownie. Lexie walked Brownie around making sure he behaved. Before Lexie and I knew it I had made 4 laps around the trail. It was fun. Thanks Lexie!!!


After Carter was done with the horse his attention was grabbed by the bouncy again so he went back in the bouncy and played with his cousins. I love, LOVE watching him interact with them. They are for the most part very gentle with Carter and play well with him. They LOVE him so much and get so excited to see him. They all call out his name trying to be the one to get his attention. It is so adorable. I enjoy watching how much they love him.

After the bouncy it was back in the pool. A float with a built in squirter was now in the pool and Carter quickly learned how it worked. He was spraying everyone within reach. They did not seem to mind. Maybe it was because they saw just how much joy he got from it. Then his cousin found a grasshopper and that took over Carter's attention. He was all of a sudden all done with the pool and asking to go see the grasshopper.

And right before we left he ended the day with a few more bounces with his cousin. It was a good day. We got to eat some delicious food, visit with family, and play.