Kids and Pets Rule!

Charla, Jeremy, Kayleigh and Paige came for a visit this week-end. And it was all about the kids and animals! Friday night we took them to the diner in Chesnee. It's a little place we go almost every Friday night. The owner always asks us how were doing. The waitress knows Jeff likes sweet tea and I need a handful of lemon packets to go with the fish. It's a kind of quiet little place, southern cooking and kid friendly. Kayleigh got a little bored before we were all finished and Jeff took her for a walk around the restaurant. A perfectly okay thing to do here. Little old men gave her pennies and dimes and thought she was the cutest thing around. She came back with over a dollar in change.

Saturday morning all of us got around to go out and feed the horses. Kayleigh's smile captures it all! I've have that same feeling when I go in the barn and hear horses munching on their oats, the smell of our hay barn when it is stocked up for winter and the pure pleasure when a horse nuzzles his head against your chest. Hay and horses, if they bottled the scent I would buy it. That's Skipper blowing in her ear!

For the Love of Horses!

Horses seem to know the difference between adults and kids, at least mine do. Skipper is a perfect gentleman around them. He takes the carrots a little slower and puts up with more rubbing on his nose. He's taking a keene interest in Paige below.

Peanut was enchanted by Kayleigh and kept his head down to the ground so he could be at her eye level.

Let Me Tell You a Secret

I asked her if she wanted to ride Peanut. Not sure if she really knew what I meant, but she said "yes". Jeff got him out and I sat her up on his back. No tears, just smiles as he and Jeremy walked Peanut around the yard. Several times later that day Kayleigh said, "Ride horses."

Kayleigh loved Sami too and helped me put him to bed every night. She'd help me pull the curtain over his cage and we would wait for him to say “Nite, Nite”, which he always does when I turn off the lights.



Now Sadie was another story. The poor dog, Kayleigh wanted to pet her so much and was going after her around the coffee table. It must have scared Sadie to death because she peed on the rug! She must have been mortified because she hasn’t done anything like that since she was a puppy. By Sunday morning she was finally warming up to Kayleigh. It was better when we were outside and Sadie could get away, then Sadie wanted to play with her and would come up and give her a big doggie kiss.

Jeremy and Charla had been wanting to take Kayleigh to a zoo because she loves animals. We have a zoo, mind you it is a South Cackalacky zoo not your regular kind of zoo. Our zoo has a safari ride where the animals come right up to this open air bus and stick their heads in so you can feed them. The bus has a big tub of bagels and all the animals regardless of species are addicted to them.

Feeding the llama's and the deer was a pretty tame experience, but then the Bull came. It was your regular American Bull. He was taller than Skipper and probably weighed over 3000 pounds. He stuck his nose right up to Kayleigh, opened his mouth and she stuck her bagel AND hand right in. Of course I was screaming and snapping pictures at the same time and Charla and Jeremy were grabbing for her hand. In the meantime I forgot I had a bagel sitting in my lap. This bull stuck his head right in my lap and was kind of butting me in the stomach trying to get the bagel. Jeff was laughing so hard, he sat there and watched me scream. Ginny said we should have got it all on video we could have won 10,000 dollars on America's Funniest Videos.

Kayleigh was very particular about which piece of kibble she fed the llamas and goats.

Charla said llamas are one of the most gentle animals around kids and they only have teeth on the bottom. Kayleigh called this one, "Momma Llama".

Feeding the baby goats was a treat! They are sort of obnoxious about it and butt each other out of the way. Kayleigh has no fear of animals. I see a vet in the future!

Our neighbors were having a block party this week-end so after the zoo we went to the pig roast. There were lots of kids and Kayleigh got to play on the slides and swings. We came home and Jeff started on his Gumbo for dinner while Charla and Kayleigh took a nap.

I decided I was never going to get to know Paige if I didn't just pick her up. She is such a sweet quiet little thing you would hardly know she is there. She sits in her carrier and doesn't make a sound, but smiles a lot when you talk to her. So I started carrying her around and she became a permanent attachment the rest of the week-end.

We spent the evening watching Jeff and Kayleigh build blocks and play hide and seek with a blanket. Sunday morning we had to all say good-bye. It was a great week-end.