Horse Lessons and a Send-off to Germany

Angela here!  Hope everyone had an excellent weekend.  Hudson is officially our little equestrian.  Well, that might be a slight exaggeration...he had one 30-minute riding lesson so far.  But he LOVED it and has requested to continue riding and learning all about his pony, Brownie.  He was timid at first, but quickly warmed up and was eager to learn how to make the pony stop and go, and then turn left and right.  Saying "whoa" and pulling on the reins were also a favorite.  My favorite part was probably the cute riding helmet he wore!

We had our last visit with the Wilson crew last week before they headed off to Germany.  The kids were adorable.  As the two played together for hours, Hannah decided that Hudson needed to learn how to VOGUE....he could not have been more delighted.

And Hannah requested to make one more craft...a birthday hat for Adley.  Before I could even agree, she had already yanked Hudson upstairs and the two were in the process of figuring out my craft machine.  Luckily, no art supplies were destroyed.  But I did have a large amount of permanent markers and pen markings to clean up.  As Hudson now says, "It's OK mama, it happens."  The kid really has a handle on managing stress these days.

Miss Adley joined in on cousin bath time.  Not sure if she enjoyed it, but she didn't break out into hysterics so I'm calling it a win.  Hannah loved being in charge of all the little ones...

And we couldn't have a proper send off without a cookie cake.  Hudson has fancied the sweet tastings of cakes, cookies, cupcakes and ice cream every weekend during the month of July.  He now firmly believes that when you have a birthday, you get four weeks of celebrating.

Can you tell which two kids were excited and which two could have cared less?!...

We have also discovered that Hudson's top priority in sweets is the icing.  He ate it by the handful....

Uncle Brandon with Hudson and Hannah

And we relished in another sunny day at the pool...

Aunt Sam and Adley.

The weather was HOT (so hot that I think a new tree we planted last spring has died) and usually we take Adley back to the house for a nap.  But my perfect princess had no problem passing out in the stroller under some shade.  She slept for over an hour!

I couldn't stop taking pictures of these kiddos!  We are definitely going to miss this crew but we are cheering them on as the Wilson clan embarks on a thrilling European adventure.  The Kemps plan on visiting them next spring!  And luckily, they have a booked flight back to the states to visit around the holidays.  Hudson is already counting down the days.  He will say, " Hannah come back when Damien the Elf come back.  She needs to meet Damien!"

Hope everyone has a great week ahead.  Two weeks to go before my baby girl turns one!!