Horseback Riding

Last week Uncle Harv and Auntie Patti offered to take their horses out to Berthusen Park in Lynden for Ethe kids to ride. Annaliese has been asking to ride a horse recently so we decided to take them up on their offer and meet them out there. Kelsey and Ben came along with Mallory and Owen and Mom and Dad came with Malachi and Elias while Thane was working and Kim was off visiting college friends for the weekend. 

There were several other cousins there as well, most of whom are much more familiar with horses than we are! For the first 'ride,' Haleigh hopped on one horse, Malachi climbed on the second and Annaliese and Elias opted to go together on the third. I was shocked that Haleigh would sit up on the horse all by herself! She had a huge grin on her face the whole time!

About halfway through, Annaliese and Elias decided it was too uncomfortable and they wanted off; Lydia and I climbed on in their place. Lydia didn't seem to care much about the horse but made it very clear that she did not like her helmet. 

They switched riders and Annaliese rode by herself, Kyle took a turn, and Mallory, Auntie Kelsey and Owen also had the chance to ride. Unfortunately, just before getting back to where we started, Annaliese's horse tripped over a stick and stumbled, causing Annaliese to fall off. Her scream started Mallory's horse, but Mallory was gripping the saddle tight enough to prevent her from falling all the way off. And then Kelsey's horse fell over. Kelsey was holding Owen, and thankfully he was fine but she ended up with a fractured fibula; Annaliese had a few scrapes and now is just excited that she has a good story to tell! 

After riding, we had a picnic dinner at the park and birthday cake for Ben's birthday (although he was at Urgent Care with Kelsey and didn't get to enjoy it.) Even though things didn't go quite as planned, we all had a good time and Annaliese has said that she wants to try riding a horse again!