Saturday was horseback riding for Rachel. She is so loving it!! I am glad that she likes it so much, because it is supposed to be really good for strengthening the muscles in her trunk. She is now giving the horse commands when prompted by the volunteers, and she is somewhat participating in the warm up exercises they do. Throughout the week, she is now saying, "Horsey?" after which follows "Ride?" When I tell her that it is not her day to ride she pouts. Unfortunately, she will have to miss next Saturday, because it is the day of our Buddy Walk. (We have not missed one since we found out Rachel had Down Syndrome. Actually, the first walk we did was about one month before Rachel was born-in Duluth, MN they have the walks in September because it is too cool in October. Here in Florida, we have the walks the last weekend of October and hope it is not too hot and humid, but I digress.) Anyway, the horseback riding and buddy walking happen at the same time so we will have to miss the horses on Saturday. I do not look forward to telling Rachel it is not her day to ride for two long weeks.
Later in the day on Saturday Leah and Allison went back over to the neighbor's house to swim again. Our pool is starting to get into the shade of the house and we don't have a heater, so it is starting to get a little cool. The neighbor's pool still gets sun and has a heater, so the kids can swim for a while. Rachel thought she wanted to swim in our pool Saturday afternoon after the girls got back home, but she did not stay in more than 15 minutes before she said she was done. Saturday afternoon was appeared to be "nature day" too. The girls came running to the back porch yelling that they had found a turtle. They had to argue about who could hold him the longest for about 15 minutes before I made them release it into the pond behind the house. A few minutes later, they came running around the house yelling that they had a frog. Sure enough, in the little bug box that they have, they had the biggest tree frog I had ever seen. He was a feisty little guy too. He was determined to get out of that little cage. The girls have caught a lot of lizards, frogs, and snakes, and I have never seen one try to get out of the cage like the Godzilla frog did. I watched the Alabama vs Mississippi game off and on, and when it was over we all loaded up and went to McDonald's for Happy Meals. They were so excited, because it had been "so long" since they ate there last. I don't know how long it has been, but I can say that McDonald's is still giving out the same toy as last time, so it has certainly not been long enough!!
Today was a picture perfect day! It was only in the upper 70s, and it was breezy. I finally got to raise the windows and let in some fresh air. This morning we got up and went to church. (Yes, Mike, I got them up and to church. We were later than you would have liked, but we girls considered it perfect timing.) After church we went to the nearby park to see a horse show. The organization that Rachel rides with on Saturdays was putting it on. We saw lots of pretty horses, but I guess we are not horse show material, because we got bored quickly. Since we did not have to pay to attend, we headed home after about 45 minutes. It was lunch time and we were all getting hungry anyway. This afternoon, I rounded up the girls and some of the neighbor kids, and we all rode bikes down to the community playground. They played on the playground and soccer field for a little bit. Rachel is getting much more independent on the equipment, but she really just wanted to swing today. I made her climb a few of the ladders, but after a while she got grumpy and refused to do any more climbing.
The only glitch in today occurred when Rachel wandered out of the garage while I was trying to get the bikes ready for the ride to the park. I had my back to the garage door and told Allison and Leah to not let Rachel leave the garage. Well, in the short amount of time that I was putting air in the tires of the bike, Rachel headed out of the garage and down the sidewalk. She made it several houses away! This is the second time she has done this to me. The other time she headed out the front door. Now all of our doors are alarmed, so that should not happen again. I cannot believe how quick she is. Each time she was out and down the sidewalk in a matter of a minute or so!!
Everyone is now in bed so I guess I better head that way too. I just remembered that tomorrow the girls are supposed to wear red to school. They are already asleep, have already picked out their clothes, and guess what......none of it is red! Darn it! I am supposed to have Rachel at school 15 minutes early tomorrow so that PT can see her-something about the therapist having a really hectic day tomorrow. I did not ask. That should be fun too. I have to have her at school by 7:45am. That means I need to get Leah and Allison dropped off at their school as soon as the doors open and then race over to Rachel's school. I am supposed to volunteer in Allison's classroom tomorrow morning too. At some point I have to find some time to run to the grocery store too!! Yikes, it is going to be a busy day!!
Neighborhood Biker Gang
Rachel on the slide. 
This is not going to end well. 
We love this van. I saw it around town for months before anyone else saw it. No one believed me when I told them I had seen the Mystery Machine! Today it was parked across the street from the house. We did not see Shaggy and the gang, though. 
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