Diane's Birthday

Since we live so far away from the nearest store or bus stop, Diane does not have the freedom to come and go as she pleases like she did when she lived in her own apartment in Washington.  Other than her daily walks around the neighborhood, she has to rely on me to take her anywhere, so once or twice a week I will take her into town so she can do her shopping and I have recently found a senior center that she can join to do activities and be around people her own age.  But for the most part, she stays home and hangs out with the boys.  Thus, this year for Diane's birthday I decided to do something special.  She loves horses and used to ride when she was younger.  Here she is pictured in 1961 at 17 years old with her horse Amber Dan.

I checked in to a few places around us that might accommodate an eldery woman, either riding the horse or just being around it somehow.  I finally stumbled upon a place 80 miles south of us in Ruckersville, VA....they offer lessons and also classes called "Mommy & Me" (in this case, it was "Gram & Me") where the child can ride the horse and the adult can lead the horse around the property.  It was perfect.  Luckily the gal that runs it accommodated us the day of Diane's birthday, so we set out that afternoon, a two hour drive in the beautiful Virginia countryside, and Zac and Diane had no clue where we were going til we got there.  Here are some pics from the day:

First things first, "Boyd the Boy" needed a drink before getting started

Trev tried his hardest to keep up 

But he kept getting distracted by the cats 

Just a few of the horses on the property 

They got to "groom" Boyd before the ride 

Tammy then went over each part of the horse as a learning lesson for Zac, surprisingly he knew a lot of the answers! 

More horses on the property 

Diane getting acquainted with Boyd 

More cats for Trev 

Walking the horse across the field to the corral 

Gram & Me lesson -

Gram leads while Zac rides

Diane in her element

  Leading Boyd through the obstacles 

Look mom, no hands! 

Side-saddle 

Zac sitting backward

Zac begged to ride the horse without Gram's lead so Tammy agreed and Boyd just followed her around the pen.  Who's birthday is it?!? 

Heading back to the barn 

We met the big pig on our way back to the car 

The goat was like a dog, it was cute in a weird kind of way...

 
So once again I had to endure my horrific allergies just so that my son and my mother in law could enjoy an hour of fun on the farm.  Yes, even the allergies and the four hour drive was worth it.  Diane seemed happier than I've seen her in awhile and Zac of course was in horse heaven.  Trev had fun too chasing the cats and getting dirty.  It was a great afternoon.