Breakfast is free for kids and you don't have to pay to get in the park so it was really affordable! Plus they have a whole Kids Club Corner with a horse mascot and tons of kid activities, stickers, tattoos, coloring books, etc. The kids get to see the race horses up close and personal without the crazy crowds that gather for the races. It was the absolute perfect day for it and we had so much fun!
Adalyn really wanted to sit at this booth with my mom. All of the booths had TV's so you could see the horses running.
Cayden loves his Papa and only wants to be in Papa's arms/lap when he's around.
Adalyn loves "Buckles". This is actually one of the cutest costumes I've ever seen. It actually looks like a big stuffed animal instead of a weird character.
Since it was Easter, they organized an egg hunt for the kids and a TON of people showed up for it. It was a bit out of control. Adalyn got two eggs and Cayden got one. Oh well. They didn't seem to care. They even had baby Easter animals for the kids to pet.
After we got finished with all of the kid activities we went out to the track and let the kids stand up on the rail to watch the horses run. It was fun because some would just trot on by and some would run at race speed and then they would walk back to the beginning along the rail where we were standing so we could see them right up close and personal.
Adalyn, Cayden and Caleb enjoying the excitement.
It really was fun to see the race horses up close and personal. It's a bit crazy to think about how expensive these horses are! We were even able to see one walk through the paddock while we were standing right next to it. I think the kids were in awe. I have to say that going to the the track at sunrise was so fun because different horses just keep running all morning long. (During the actual races, people are packed in so if you can see the track, you only actually see horses run for a minute or two and then you have to wait the 20-30 minutes until the next race.)
I tried to get a picture of the kids as we were leaving but it didn't happen.
Cayden was a bit distracted with the candy that was in his basket.
We parked far away in the free parking which was down by the horse stalls. So as we were walking we were able to watch horses getting new shoes put on, getting baths, wearing their blankets and walking around. That part was almost as fun as watching the horses run. It's just cool to know that this is literally in our backyard and it's this whole different world with a whole different culture. We are lucky and we need to take more advantage of it. As we were walking to our car, a horse trailer started unloading horses so we stopped to watch. One of the horse handlers asked Adalyn if she wanted to pet the horse. She was so excited to pet it. (Of course she had been asking to ride a horse all morning. So I'm sure she was hoping for a ride too.) When we got home we listed off all of the animals she got to see and pet that morning and I asked her which one was her favorite and she was adamant that the horsey was her favorite! What another fun family experience! We will definitely make a point of doing it again at the fall meet!
2 comments:
WHat a fun way to get kids involved in the Keeneland experience! I miss that aspect of living in Lexington, even if we only went to Keeneland a few times during our stay there. It is all just so gorgeous! And super sweet that Cayden is Papa's boy, and only Papa's boy! :) That's kind of how Finn is with Josh's dad!
That looks like so much fun. I always wanted to do it when we were there, but like you was always a bit deterred by the time. Glad y'all had fun!
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