Giddy Up!

My sister called me a few days ago and asked if I would like to bring Samantha over for a visit so that she could ride "Fire," one of my sister's horses.  It worked out perfectly because I was heading to the orchard on Tuesday morning, so I made arrangements to drop Sam off for a little while.  Afterall, Michele only littles a couple of miles from the orchard.  Frankly, Sam couldn't get her seatbelt off fast enough as soon as I parked Michele's driveway.

Helping to deliver hay to the hungry horses:

Uncle John was there to assist:

Getting the wheelbarrel so that the stalls could be cleaned out:

Scooping stalls!!!

After all of her hard work, it was finally time to ride Fire. 

Mounting in the barn:

Taking Fire outside:

Having the best time riding around:

Sophia, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the horses:

Instead, she was obsessed with all of the barn cats.  (Most likely, it is because she is used to the two black cats that we have here at home). 

Yes, the little smile of happiness was there the whole time.

Michele also had a special surprise for the girls -- she let them pick some strawberries from her plants in the back yard.

Sophia required a little bit of assistance:

And finally ... Right before we left to head home, Michele let Sam take one of her blue ribbons for the wonderful job that she had done riding Fire. 

Sam was in heaven -- and that blue ribbon? Well, she proudly wears it around our house every day now.