Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes... and Chincoteague

I am disgusted with myself that the last blog post I wrote was NINE MONTHS AGO TODAY.  Cripes, I could have had a baby in that time!!!  (Rest assured, I did not.  Thank you, Lord.  Although it would have been a great excuse...)

Since then, my life has been consumed with preparing for an overseas move and selling our house.  Which we did.  In fact, the last of the paperwork was signed today!  Yesterday, the movers drove away with all our belongings and we left Chesapeake.  I decided to take the kids to Chincoteague before we left the area for good because they both loved the "Misty" books.

The original plan was to rent bikes and ride around the National Park on Assateague.  But I decided this morning that we'd take a pontoon boat tour, instead.  It was expensive, but I was really hoping we'd see some horses (Abby is obsessed with them!) On our way to the dock, she spotted this statue and begged me to stop so we could take pictures.

 I saw these chairs and made them pose!

Shortly after we boarded the boat, the Captain announced that a foal had just been born, and instead of stopping and talking along the route as he would normally do, we were going to rush out to see if we could spot the foal.  The herd was still there and there were several foals.  But none of them were newborns.

 Then we spotted this little one, off on his own and struggling in the water.

Mamma and Daddy realized it, too, and rushed over.

Unfortunately, the mud was too much for him and he couldn't get out.

Captain Arthur's son, Hunter, is a member of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, who is responsible for the horses.  He wasted no time climbing off the boat and into the water.  While not deep, it was very muddy.  He carried the foal to dry land, with Mama watching closely.

He stayed to make sure that the foal could nurse (it is very important that they get the colostrum after they are born.)  Unfortunately, the mare's milk wasn't in yet.

At last, Mamma led the little one back to the pack.

 At one point, he refused to go into the mud and she had to go back for him.

 But she still let him back through the water, silly thing.

 Here's the whole family, back together.

 And back with the whole pack.

This was another pack we saw on the way back.  More foals.  They were beautiful.

A visit to Chincoteague wouldn't be complete without a visit to Island Creamery.  Ice cream.  It's what's for lunch.  Joanna had Cotton Candy and Cookie Dough and Abby had Chocolate and Pony Tracks.  I had a taste of theirs.  First and last time I'll ever pay $6.50 for a cone!  But the homemade waffle cones were good.

We went to several places that had ponies the kids could pet, and we did ride around Assateague... but in retrospect, I am so very glad we took the boat tour.  Otherwise, the only wild ponies we would have seen would have been from a great distance.  By 4, we were on the road again... made it to Dover, DE by 6 and had plenty of time for swimming.  Last leg of the journey is tomorrow.  So far, so good.