Samuel's Horsey Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Samuel this Saturday. I had won a birthday party at the Hidden Willow Equestrian Center in the Montessori silent auction last May. We went out there for the included lessons on the Wednesday before and to check it out. It was perfect. Sam and Davis loved horseback riding and immediately decided to give up on their hip hop lessons and take horseback riding instead.
The gift certificate said the party was for ten people, but it was impossible to keep the list that small, so Samuel ended up with fifteen small guests of his choosing. Each child got to ride a shetland pony and then Kristy, the owner handed out feed sacks for the kids to decorate. Then they made their way with their feed sacks to the arena where there was an obstacle course set up. They jumped in the sacks around it and then ended up playing in two sand mounds at the end of the course. The kids also spent lots of time jumping on hay bales. I made a slab apple pie for the "cake" and it turned out yummy and Samuel loved all his presents.
The weather was warm, windy and cloudy, but overall pretty great for an outside party in November. Samuel had such a marvelous time. After the party, we had the Liffords over for an "after party". The kids played with the presents and the grown-ups ordered in pizza and put our feet up. It was a great day to celebrate Samuel. We'll do it all again on Thursday (his real birthday) with the family during ranch happy hour.