Little Buddy overload, the Fall Festival.................

It is October so it must be time again for the Fall Festival at our local horse and animal farm.  This is our fifth year attending.  The festival is on weekends the whole month of October so there is still time for more fun.  

We saw all sorts of animals again this year.  There were giant tortoises, a llama, a camel, zorse, a huge dairy cow and Elizabeth the 600 pound pig.  There were goats, donkeys, peacocks, turkeys, lemurs and a rare white fox.  There were also two sheep but I could not get a good photo of them.  All of the animals are rescues and live in nice enclosures.  I am not a huge fan of zoos and such but an animal rescue facility is something I gladly support.

Of course the train ride is the biggest hit.  We get to the festival early and get on Thomas the train as fast as we can because the line for waiting gets long quickly.  We went on it four times only having to wait a few minutes between the third and fourth ride.  The man driving Thomas was exceptionally nice to Little Buddy.

It was not that long ago this little boy was scared to go on the cow train.  He rode it four times in a row and could have gone some more but decided to go to the playground instead.  We had a chance to talk to the young man driving the cow train.  He is in the middle of a six month course to teach kids with special needs how to ride horses, he was just lovely.

Look how little Little Buddy was the first time we went to the Fall Festival.  So tiny!  There were no pony rides for us today as Little Buddy is still attending therapeutic riding on Friday's and thought that was enough for the week. 

 The playground is an interesting place for Little Buddy.  Where other children can run, jump, swing and climb with abandon he can't.  He likes stability and the little wooden house is a favorite of his.  He can get in and out all by himself.  He loves it.  I helped him climb a ladder and he went down a pretty big slide.  He is fine sliding it is just getting down into sitting and getting his legs in front of him that is a challenge.  But we did it and he was very pleased with himself.  This was also the first time we went to the farm with his forearm crutches and not his walker, that is a big deal!

We even met a wonderful boy named Aiden who helped make Little Buddy a roasted marshmallow.  He was so kind and considerate, I told his grandparents they should be very proud of him.

The surprise adventure to the farm was a huge success until the very end when we got caught in the rain and I had to carry a wet and heavy boy all the way back to the car.  It was a long walk, longer because he now weighs 48 pounds.  I can already feel my headache coming on from the stress of carrying him on my right hip.  Still it was great fun and I hope to return with him in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday I decorated for Halloween.  I am down to three bins to hold all my decorations and I donated some more this year.  Halloween is my favorite holiday but this year I was not really into decorating.  Still Little Buddy deserves to have a Halloween filled house to make the holiday fun just like his older brothers had.  After getting decorations up I ran around getting things ready to donate, we have way too much stuff and putting up decorations made me feel so cramped and stuffy.  There are now three bags ready for donation in the garage.  

This headless dog was getting a big belly rub from me last night.  Can you guess who it is?  I love the black paw so cute!

Hope I did not overload you with photos.  Wishing you all a wonderful week.