My little Pony(-ies)

As everyone knows, all little girls want a Pony. So, on Sunday, we took Abbie to meet 'Pony', an old friend of Shelby's, in Middleburg.

When we got there, what a surprise to find the little equine, eating grass, and a friend of his: another jolly, chewing pony! Just so you know, and for the sake of simplicity, we have named them Yin and Yang: our long-time friend is an all black pony, while our new buddy, Yin, is a white one.

So, we introduced Abigail to the pair, and they just simply hit it off! It was a lovefest from the get-go! She squealed with delight, Shelby joined in with happy barks, and the ponies neighed and snorted all the way. Abbie was fearless, and she simply started petting Yang on the nose. And Yang just sat there, with those lovely languid eyes, and let our laughing Abbie have at it.




Immediately, no doubt to check out the commotion, Yin came trotting, nosing his way into Abbie's hand: apparently he loves being petted, because he followed Abbie around for a while from behind the fence. They really loved each other, Abigail talked with Yin, and Yin listened to her and stood invariably close by . At one point, Shelby joined in and the three of them shared opinions, stories and confidences. There were lots of laughters, so we can assume that the chatter was a happy one. Here are some pictures witnessing the meeting of the great minds:



Eventually, of course, Abigail wandered off, and Shelby followed her while the ponies looked on. She went all over the little park, checked everything out, and tried the swings and the slides. She was absolutely ecstatic!




As with all good things, this too came to an end, when dusk set in. We told Abbie it was time to go, and to say Bye-Bye to her new pals. Abigail threw the mother of all tantrums when we picked her up and headed towards the car... Oh well....


We are going to have to do this again :) Abbie now has her own little pony(-ies) too!

A Day in Middleburg

We all went to Middleburg today, and Abbie had a few new experiences.  First of all, she was so excited about the flowers that were blooming all over the place!  She wanted to grab them, eat them, smell them, and was able to actually touch a few, briefly, without pulling them off. Abbie was fascinated by the Dogwoods, and the Peonies (which happen to be one of my favorite flowers). She then had her very first experience with grass...  and did not like it!  I expected for her to be thrilled, and instead she cried: I guess that she did notexpect the prickly feeling, and did not much care for it.  It was funny to see her expression when we first sat her down: as if saying "what the in the world?!?". Eventually, though, Abigail's curiosity took over for a few minutes, and she started exploring the new element. She grabbed the grass between her little fingers, and sort of caressed it. But she also made it clear that she was not enjoying herself, not truly.

We then took her over to some trees, and she really liked touching their trunks and leaves, and was happy when I sat her down on a lower branch. I think that being up there gave Abbie a different perspective of the world. She was looking all around her, then up, then down. But she was totally comfortable!  We took a lot of pictures, and we could not have asked for a better setting.  The weather was splendid, and everything was perfect.  We really enjoyed our family outing today, and are looking forward for a few more this summer!