Celebrating Roy

 As we flipped the calendar into October, we left the terrible two's behind as Max turned three years old on October 2. The transition from toddler to little boy hasn't been 100% smooth, but we cherish these years of innocence while exploring independence and the evolution of Max. His sweet cheeks insist on being called Roy Rogers most of the time, he wears his cowboys boots every day and prefers blue jeans and button up shirts to sweatpants and tees. It came as no surprise when he requested a "Woy Wogers" themed birthday party.

He was thrilled about his horse cake, made with love from Grandma Koreen. He could barely contain his excitement at the first glance.

 

 

But honestly, can you blame him? Grandma did such a great job! The horse on top belonged to Koreen when she was a youngster. A week or two before Max's party, Koreen was able to visit the house she grew up in and brought back some treasures for Roy, including the horse. 

 

It took a little help to get that third finger to pop up. Hehe!

 Roy requested a ride on the ponies at the party. His belt buckle is his initial, "M", but this particular day we got the belt on upside down. I went to turn it around and realized the W was probably more fitting as his little boy language is still working on pronouncing R correctly so Roy becomes Woy. I love this phase.

While I don't think we know Trigger's exact birthday (you guessed it...Max named her), we know she is close in age to Max. As a young three year old, their personalities are similar. There are a few trust issues to overcome, and most of the time they're a lot of fun. But then, out of the blue, they just explode and have a little tantrum. I've no doubt that the two of them will be great buds, but for now, we keep Trigger on a close lead and Jack primarily rides her. She is so calm when the boys are around and off her back, but this was the first time I really caught a bond between her and Max. Such a cool moment in time. Hopefully many more to come!

 Sally, on the other hand is a big pet all of the time. Gage spent quite a bit of time on her this summer, but this was Max's first solo ride. He took the reins and has been doing great learning on her! Both kiddos have come so far in six months. Mom too - I hardly freak out at all anymore. ;)

He is kind of leader-of-the-barnyard. So thankful we were able to have all of our parents here to celebrate his big day!

We celebrated Max's birthday on Sunday, September 30th. When he refers to it now, he'll say "fake birthday" as in, "I had a really cool horse cake at my fake birthday party."

This face of innocence? He was so shy and timid while we sang to him and as we finished up, he head came up and he gave the best belly laugh. I could just bottle him up.

I found this great barn at the Grand River Museum in Lemmon. It was built by a local guy who uses scraps from other projects to put these together. No two are alike and they are super affordable. Max was really pumped to have a barn to play with. It has been used every day since.

 

We were able to celebrate again on October 2nd, with leftover cake and a few more presents. I let Max go to daycare in his superhero costume and PJs that day. He was so shy again during the Birthday Song - love it!!

 

 

Happy Birthday Maxwell James. Your old soul, big heart and compassionate personality are a true joy. While we still have plenty of disagreements and attitude adjustments, I wouldn't change you for the world. PS, you could totally pass for a Roy. Love you dude.

“If I could teach the kids to identify and appreciate their natural environment, then they will have a sense of place and care about [home].” -Roy Rogers

Perkins County Summer: Trailing

We have stayed on our toes all summer with various activities in and around Perkins County. Without planning so much as a weekend getaway with the kiddos, we founds plenty of fun close to home. Stay tuned as I attempt to post a series of summer updates, along with some news from the first few weeks of school!

In April we bought ponies for the boys and they've been a great project. We started with leading the boys around the yard and two months later they were (mostly) ready to trail cattle. Most of these pictures are from early June when Gage was still learning the little black pony's (Sally's) language. Once they got on the same page they have had a blast. Jack actually rides the second pony (Trigger), who is much younger and needs a lot more training to be ready to lead a kid around.

He's really excited at the mention of riding, and even more so when it entails trailing.

 

 Headed out to round up Grandpa's girls! Participating on this trail ride was Gage with Sally, Uncle Rick with Jake, Grandpa Chuck with Rusty, Jack with Trigger and Max with Grandma Koreen and Dusty.

Coming back to the starting point to turn a corner toward a new pasture. Grandpa Chuck uses a grazing systems that involves smaller pastures with numerous cross fences. This means cattle need to be moved frequently to control the length of grazing per pasture. We were able to get in on quite of few of the trails. (Some can be taken care of with the pickup, others are a bit more labor intensive.

Gage on Sally. This was her first trail (as far as we know). They've made so much progress since this point even. A bit that works better, reins that work better for Gage and motivation to move in the form of a little whip he can tap her with. As his comfort level and confidence has risen, her performance has also increased. It has been so much fun to watch.

Sally needed a little help rejoining the rest of the group. We've also learned that at some point in her life, she was probably foundered. No green grass for this little lady.

 

 Grandma and Max get along really well on Dusty. Trigger isn't ready for a 2nd passenger, and even when I ride its safest for Max to be with Grandma. I'm still learning too!

 

 There's a lot to be learned on the back of a horse.



Hiya cuties. Thanks for letting us spend part of our summer with you.

This was a ride from later in the summer and a pic taken on my phone. At one point in this ride, Max had gotten down to ride in the pickup with Great Grandpa Jim and Great Grandma Nora. He insisted it was time to ride horse again...5 minutes before he fell asleep. I guess its a rite of passage.

The girls, headed home.

Come back tomorrow to hear about fishing!