Carson's Pony Party

We decided to have a pony party for Carson in honor of her new pony, Lucky! Matt's parents got Lucky for Carson this past Christmas. Now, you might think since we live in such a small space, Lucky might be a small stuffed pony. But, no, actually Lucky is a full fledged life sized pony that you can bounce and ride on! This pony ensures that we get a new house with extra space for Lucky to be ridden to its full potential!
Since Carson is a Valentine's baby, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day with the girls in the morning and then focus on Carson for the rest of the day. We had her party at our friend's, the Sanborn's, house. They were gracious enough to open their house to us and let us fill it with a lot of kids! The celebration started with the kids making their own stick ponies. Then they could find hidden sheriffs badges in a bowl full of oats, make a foam frame with a horse scene on it, or make a ranch scene with stickers, and of course, ride Lucky!! Everyone got their own bandanna

when they came in so they could be real cowgirls and boys.









































Matt led a rousing game of "trainer says" (aka Simon Says), in which the kids went around in a circle either galloping, trotting, jumping, or walking with Matt taking the lead. The kids loved it. They loved it even more when Matt's horse head fell off his stick while galloping around the circle!

Then the kids played horse, horse, pony (aka duck, duck, goose). It was very fun to watch; once someone was tagged, ALL the kids got up and ran around the circle. When the game playing was done Carson enjoyed opening her gifts. When we told her who it was from, she went around to each person and thanked them for their gift and gave it back to them! She didn't quite understand that it was a present from them not to them!! After present time was cake time. As Carson went to blow out her candle, her friend, Caleb, blew it out just before her!! It was very funny. So we lit it again, sang the last part of the song, and she got blow out her candle!!
We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at home and resting and enjoying Elsie's friend, Kaylin, over for their first sleep over at our house.
The next day, we celebrated Carson's birthday with the family. We had a great day together with yummy enchiladas and more birthday cake and root beer floats! Here are some pictures as we enjoyed our weekend.