Ride 'em Cowboy!

Yahoo!

Kids love to pretend.  

My kids are great pretenders and I'm sure my mom would confirm that so was I.  Unlike my siblings and I, I'm lucky my kids play well together and enjoy imagining strange worlds they can explore together.

That's probably why they were so excited when our Turtle Monkey Bug ponies and mustaches arrived!  I barely had them out of the box before they were clamoring to have one each.

So, I thought, what the heck?!  They each picked one for themselves (they even coordinated to their own hair colours...I think I'll let you decide if that's imaginative!).  And then the fun began! Whoops and shouts of 'yeehaw' and 'yahoo' were among the many different characters they each became once those wool-felt staches were in place.  Fortunately, I managed to get them to pause long enough for posterity.  The outlook isn't good for bed, mind you...in fact, I'm not sure they'll even take them off to brush their teeth!

The draw for me of course, is the stick ponies.  You may remember I've raved about these ponies before.  I first saw them in October ("from across a crowded trade show floor...") and it was love at first sight.  Now that they've finally arrived, I'm reminded why I loved them so much.

The creativity, quality and workmanship are outstanding.  Each and every pony is an original.  Heather is a working artist who hand makes these for her family business.  She and her husband are working hard to use sustainable practices and materials that don't compromise the end product but also bear the planet in  mind.

Of course, the mustaches are also had made.  My favourite part of the mustache is they are "reusable".  That is to say: they are meant to be worn over and over again!  At only about $10 (Canadian), these are great for the dress-up trunk - each mustache is fashioned after one of 4 popular styles in one of 5 complementary hair colours.  Okay, sure, I guess they could have been more "funky", but I guess sometimes imagination needs to root in some reality! 

I don't know....looks to me like they're having fun regardless of funky!  Obviously, Mr. Babcock has inspired Josh by participating in Movember.  He tells me he plans to wear his mustache to French class tomorrow to surprise and inspire his teacher.  Too bad I can't be there to capture that moment for posterity! 

Until next time:  Inspire...imagine...invent!