"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." — E.B. White

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Rain play /Suburban substitutes


This LOVEly and FREE print out made my heart happy.

 must admit that I'll stick with Jack's artwork...


This pic/story Jack made in Kindergarten is one of my all time favorites.
"We like to/ I like to play in the barn on a rainy day"

Living in the country is awesome.

But it can also be a bit isolated with large distances between houses. It's not at all like the suburbs where kids can just walk outside and find a friend to play with...

We are blessed not only to have lovely neighbors, but also, the bestest clients friends who train with us. Most afternoons my kids are cavorting outside or yammering to whoever's in the barn aisle. They're even known to follow along through the fields on foot, talking nonstop, as riders cool out their horses after a lesson.

But when we have no visitors and the barn's quiet, they make up their own games!

"Hanging out" takes on a whole new meaning here.


As does hiking up hills... (of hay!)



And play simple games...




Maybe they're just simple minded?!

Tho we have no city sidewalks,
chalk drawings are plentiful in the barn aisle (clients often contribute).


As are bikes n rollerblades!


They also ride ponies through the fields with clients
or their dogs or goats following along.

There are no nearby gymnastics centers 
Instead they use their beds!






They've had to learn to play together;
 So they swing

and take turns sharing interests; be they scooters or babydolls!



 "Rock wall climbing" occurs on the strong horse ties hanging down the barn wall... Volleyball and soccer are popular in the barn too. A while ago they made up armbands and tickets for mommy n daddy to come watch their game. We were encouraged to bring our lawn chairs (usually toted to horse shows) and CASH. 


Jack shook his money box and rang the bell to signal game start, time outs etc.
Simple fun for us all on that grey, drizzly day!

I guess they're we're not suffering in isolation after all!

Here's another fabulous freebie from http://lilluna.com/create-your-own-sunshine-print/



Hope you enjoy either sunshine or some rain play today.

* friends, I'm posting some OLD drafted posts to keep the pics n memories alive. We recently had a hard drive crash n lose pics (yes, again. I'm awful about backing up pics) so I value this blog even more as our family scrapbook. 

4 comments:

MamaMonki said...

Looks like your kiddos truly love living in the country. Someday we hope to live just out of town so David can have chickens and goats and room to run and play - but that's just a dream of ours for now. I'm finally settling into summer vacation and actually getting time to catch up on blogs. I even started blogging myself again on a new blog - time for a fresh new change since our perspective has changed somewhat. If you want to stop by you can find me at http://happilyeverafterfamilyof3.blogspot.com

Alison said...

I have wonderful memories of playing in the woods, barn, etc. My brother, two years older than I, remembers only the isolation, and thinks we had a horribly deprived childhood. So odd how differently we experienced it (of course, he had to do more lawn-mowing and wood-hauling than I did!) I'm glad both of your kids seem to be in on the fun.

Leslie said...

Pretty Printables! Looks to me that they are enjoying country life!!! I love the photo of the dog on the hay bales. funny. How many times how you joined them on the bed jumping.. Fun stuff right there!!! " )

brooke said...

I am 100% sure that our kids growing up rural is going to lead to magical childhood. Eating fruit straight from a tree. Games where the goat is "it" and the sheep is "base". Old dogs and crazy chickens as friends. Siblings who play with each other because that's the best and only option... It's a great way to grow up. And how is the pony's neck healing? Update please.