As we headed south out of New England, we saw an opportunity to stop by my friend Dave’s house again. The Dudes really wanted to go to horse camp at Dave’s for a week but we just couldn’t fit it into our dwindling schedule. A year just isn’t long enough!
above: The Lil’ Dude fits in a another lesson.
The Lil’ Dude had actually been begging me to let him spend the rest of the Summer at Dave’s but he is a handful and Dave already has his hands full. So, we opted for an overnight so that they could get another quick dose of Heritage Acres.
above: Making tie-dye shirts.
The “barn kids” were excited to see the bus pull up and the Lil’ Dude was out the door before we could put the parking brake on. Unfortunately, the Big Dude had contracted some respiratory crud and had no energy to get out into the blazing heat so he spent the visit laid up in the bus.
left: Dave shuttles the kids out to the slip-n-slide.
right: Dave sprays “kid soap” on the slide.
With only 36 hours to get a Summers worth of activity in, the Lil’ Dude quickly assimilated to the camp schedule. He pitched in to clean stalls, played with the cats, took a riding lesson, tie dyed a shirt and participated in the big activity of the day – the giant slip-n-slide!
Knowing the kids can’t spend all day riding and tending to horses, Dave has come up with lots of other activities to make Summer camp fun. The giant slip-n-slide has to be the most ingenious of all. Spending the day at a horse barn in the heat of the Summer usually results in some pretty stinky kids. But, just soap them up and send them down a water slide and things begin to smell a little bit better. The kids have a great time and the parents probably enjoy picking up a clean kid at the end of the day.
right: Although it was hot outside, “ole skin-n-bones” got cold.
above: “Chopper” makes it all the way to the riding arena!
Once the Lil’ Dude was cleaned up and worn out, we hopped back in the bus and headed South. Although the visit was short, it was memorable and the Dudes are already asking about visiting Dave next Summer.
“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Henry James