My New Baby #2

Well, I never thought 3 months ago my next post would be about ANOTHER new addition to our fmaily. It was instant love yesterday when I spotted Tater Tot. He's the kind of pony you just can't help falling in love with. He's sturday, has a beautiful color and is just plain cute. I've always wanted a palamino colored horse and this is as close as it gets. Sammy and Tayloe (our trainer's daughter) also fell in instant love. I think I'll have to fight them off just to be able to rise him. He is still green but was very quiet yesterday under saddle and bareback - even jumps although I don't see me pushing that anytime soon!

He is almost the exact size of Lola although he appears a little shorter due to his stockiness. When he trots, his mane looks like it slithers like a snake back and forth. We'll be going to the farm later today for his initiation ride (and mine too!). Hoping to convince Zachary to ride as well just so he can have a little fun!

My New Baby

Okay, well I am a sucker for animals and decided it was time to get serious about the horseback riding thing so...... about 3 weeks ago we attended the Spring Hunter and Sport Auction in Herndon and found a wonderful pony named Lola (short for Laughing Out Loud). She is a gorgeous large Paint pony who has a lot of potential for Sammy to work with and is big enough to hold me! I'm still waiting for warmer weather and some courage to ride but Sammy has been riding her several times a week and is backing improvements after a rough start. The first day in the barn, Lola took out Sammy's foot and she was on crutches for 2 days. She's still a little nervous on her since she can have a little attitude (perfect match for Sammy) but they seem to be growing on one another. Last weekend, they showed at EKG and captured Champion in the pre-short stirrup division! Next weekend we'll be back there and then probably Hazelwild the next weekend. Hopefully the weather will warm up and we can get a little sun!

It's Been Awhile

Wow! A lot of time has passed - Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day and now Easter. Not enough hours in the day to keep up with everything! Anyways, a couple of weeks ago was the Vegas trip (again). Who doesn't love Vegas. Honestly, I don't know if I could ever be bored of going there! The weather was perfect and even did not too bad on the slots. And this time.... CJ got his picture by the sign!!! This was a priority since we missed it the last trip!

Got a chance to hike in the Red Rock Canyon - beautiful and there was a plethora of w(h)ine flowing that day as well! Made it to the Luxor this time as well as the light show at the Fremont. Scoured the town for a pair of cowboy boots but couldn't find a pair that wasn't pink that fit me - URGHHHHH!

Today we decided to get out of the house and go somewhere other than a shopping mall. We decided to go on a hike in the Shenandoah park. Not quite fall color season yet so traffic wasn't too bad. I selected a trail that I thought was doable for everyone - 2.1 miles roundtrip to the Hawksbill Summit (just over 4,000 ft). It was a rise of 520 ft over the course of the trail. I wish we would have had some cheese for the hike because there was certainly enough wine (whine). Was definitely worth it when we reached the summit though. The kids really enjoyed it! Even saw a couple of deer on the hike that allowed us to get within about 10 ft of them. I'm sure if we had corn they would have ate from our hand! Lots of great hikes up there both uphill and down with waterfalls and such. Will have to return soon!

Back from Vacation!

Okay, it's been a while since I updated this. We returned from vacation last weekend and had an AWESOME time! Who can't love Vegas, Disneyland, and the Grand Canyon. This was definitely a Walters-type trip - cover as much land and attractions as possible in the smallest amount of time!! Thanks sooooo much to Grandmother Walters for the trip - we loved it! Vegas is exciting - lots of lights, slots and strange people. After that we travelled to Anaheim to Disneyland. Much more compact then Disney World but many of the same rides. All the kids and the big kid loved it! There's something to be said for taking your children on Space Mountain for the first time! After that it was off to the Grand Canyon. Thought this might be a little anti-climatic for the kids but it was amazing! Took the train from Williams, AZ up to the Canyon. Hard to believe the ground just opens up into this huge canyon. Gorgeous and breathtaking at the same time.

So now it's back to reality - work and summer for the kids. Sammy is in day camp for 4 weeks and the boys are on the sleep late, watch TV schedule which doesn't appear to be boring them at all!!

Riding Lessons

Yesterday was riding lessons. You know the mastercard commercial, $45 riding boots, $300 saddle, seeing your daughter jump her pony without falling off - priceless. It's true. Little Miss Bravery has been jumping for the past month and loves it. Scares me a little but her pony is not a high jumper so I'm not too concerned. He apparently is fast in the field but you'd never know it in the ring! I got a few pics yesterday but it's hard to see the actual jump. Anyways, her is Sammy and one of her fav ponies - RockStar Stewie.

It's Saturday!

After a very long week, it is finally the weekend!!!!!! We cleaned house this morning. Brings back memories of being a kid when Saturday morning was cleaning time. The kids complained somewhat but at least our house looked liveable within a couple of hours. Sammy and I drove to Madison this afternoon to the Plow and Hearth outlet store. Lots of cool stuff - just not enough hands to carry it all! After that we went to the Amish store - Yoder's. They have the ultimate chocolate cookies. You'd think after all these years cookies would taste about the same. This was outstanding - soft, chocolately and divine. Definitely worthy of a trip back. Lots of great baking things as well. Tomorrow we plan on going to see Shrek the Third.

Sammy completed the Great Train Race a couple of weeks ago. If you want to see her pics you can go to www.triduo.com and click on the Great Train race. If you put in her number - 109, you'll see a few pics of her. The girl beside her is Mallory - her best friend!

Okay, time to hit the craft room. Lots of projects to finish!