A Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch

 Reagan, Kate, Karlie and I went to Araujo Farms for their horsedrawn hayride on Monday.  The girls and I enjoyed our time there.

 Kate loved the hay; she tried to get as deep into the hay as possible.

I didn't take pictures of the girls with their pumpkins, but Reagan picked a pumpkin that weighed 13 pounds (Karlie did too), and Kate picked a pumpkin that weighed 4 pounds.  They wanted HUGE pumpkins, so I implemented a rule that they had to be able to carry their own pumpkins.

It was a beautiful day for a hayride, and we had fun together!

The Carousel

C and R visited a local carousel this week with their adorable one year old cousin who has been visiting from Florida.  They rode the carousel seven times, and because they are not yet four feet tall, an adult had to be on the carousel with them.  I went around and around and around five of the times.  I felt a little queasy all day long; I have no idea how kids can stand spinning over and over again.

In case you were wondering, this carousel was built in 1920 and it was a featured attraction of Lincoln Amusement Park in Dartmouth, Massachusetts for seventy years.  It is now located at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Derby Horses

It's Derby Day!  C and R groomed their horses and they are ready to race.  Here they are:

R named her horse Alex Elizabeth

C named his horse Funny Face

To make the horses, I traced a horse onto cardboard and cut it out.  I then let C and R decorate their horses and gave them yarn to glue on for the mane and tail, and C wanted yarn on the back of his horse too.  I taped a popsicle stick to the back of R's horse so that she could hold it like a puppet but C wanted to hold his by the hooves so he doesn't have a stick.  

For more ideas to have fun at home in the spirit of the Kentucky Derby, click here.

Kentucky Derby Party

Are you thinking of throwing together a Kentucky Derby party for your  kids?  Here are some great ideas to make your party extra special.

• Let the kids design Jockey silks.  There are so many options for this.  You could let the kids decorate cotton tee shirts, cut head and arm holes out of a paper bag to be decorated, or make multiple copies of this jockey silk printable and hang them up around the party room.
• Decorate hats
• Set up a craft table where kids can make these horse puppets.
• Mix up some non-alcoholic mint juleps
• Have a contest to see who can make up the silliest name for a race horse
• Play horseshoes
• Ride hobbyhorses (you can find directions to make your own by clicking here)
• Make Derby Pie
• Watch Racing Stripes

You don't have to know anything about horse racing to enjoy the spirit of the Kentucky Derby.  I certainly do not know anything about the sport or any of the horses, but we are having a lot of fun with all of these activities!