A Glorious Spring Day with Our Granddaughters

After an especially cold winter, we've all been ready for a beautiful spring day, and yesterday we got our wish! Fortunately, we had set the day aside to spend with our granddaughters, Britt/Gingersnap and Ky. Steve and I picked them up at 10:00a.m. and we all headed for Branson to do some shopping at a favorite outlet mall. The girls had good success and came away with new shorts and tops for the warmer weather.

We headed to Applebee's where we enjoyed lunch, and then we headed west on 76 to the Dutton Theatre for the 2:00p.m. show featuring The Cat's Pajamas. I had attended The George Dyer Show in Branson recently, and The Cat's Pajamas came out and sang one "teaser" song to entice us to come and see their show. Obviously, it worked. I was sure our granddaughters would love them, and I was right. The chance to have their picture taken with the members of the group wasn't bad either. (You can check them out at http://www.vocalmeow.com/)

Following the show, we headed for TJ Maxx (it was my turn to score with pickled asparagas and sea salt grinders, and a cute flower pot I thought would be the perfect accompaniment for the pansies I wanted to give a young friend who just miscarried). We also had fun checking out a new bookstore (Books a Million/BAM!) but quickly learned that it wasn't like the publisher's clearinghouse we're used to at another mall, and despite the fun look-see, came away empty handed.

We headed back toward home and Papa invited his three girls to have dinner at the club where he plays golf; I think he was enjoying their company as much as I was. It was so much fun, in fact, that the girls didn't hesitate to respond enthusiastically when I suggested we do it again soon. Actually, during the performance of The Cat's Meow, George Dyer came out and sang a song from Phantom of the Opera, which just happens to be Britt's favorite opera. We may just need to take the girls to see his entire show soon.

Let's see, I spent Thursday in St. Louis at the Temple with friends and Saturday in Branson with family. And today, being Sunday, was spent in Church, resting, and . . .All play and no work makes for a messy house (or something like that, yes?), so I guess I'll do a little laundry tomorrow and clean a thing or three, before heading to pick up Reed and Ky from school and take them swimming. Never a dull moment, and I'm so glad!

Spring Break Horse Camp

March 22-26 was Spring Break here for the public school children. For the past two years, Miss Ky has participated in the Spring Break Horse Camp at Sac River Stables, and wanted to do so again this year. Reed joined her for the first time this year, and loved it!
Fortunately, they are all about safety, and take great measures to ensure the children have been properly trained before turning them loose on the horses. That meant that with Reed being the newby on the block, he never rode without a counselor directly with him. And they were always required to wear riding helmets.
A couple of days it rained, one day most of the day, so the campers rode in the inside arena. This didn't excuse them from their daily chores, however, of feeding the animals and scooping poop. I thought perhaps Ky would have grown tired of that but, if so, it failed to "disenthuse" her from participating. (I coined a new word and kindof like it, don't you? I'll bet you know what I mean, anyway!)

Because Ky is older and has had some experience "under her belt," she was allowed to ride solo this year in the indoor arena. She still had a counselor with her on the trail ride. (Not surprising what with the litigious society we live in, yes?)



As evidenced by the following photos, Ky has grown considerably over the three years that she has participated in spring break horse camp.


My d-in-law Sara told me that after I dropped Reed off on Friday (the final day of the camp), he said, "Mommy, I'm kindof sad." She asked why and he answered, "Because I think I'm really going to miss horse camp tomorrow." The camp is thirty minutes one way from our home, so I spent two hours every day just driving them to and from camp. It would not have been worth it had they not enjoyed it so much.

Having grown up on a cattle ranch/farm in WY, and having learned to ride a horse almost before I learned to walk, I truly love horses, so our grandchildren come by it honestly, even if their horse-riding experiences are, from necessity, slightly more conjured or artificial. I thought this would be a good place to include some of my favorite people/equine photos. Pictured in this first photo are my sister Lynda and me (with the straw hat). We look pretty happy to be on our horse, don't we? See what I meant when I stated earlier that I learned to ride almost before I learned to walk?
In this next photo are my Mother and my sisters Donna (L) and Sharon (R). They both still love to ride and, in fact, Donna has spent many hours (and, I'm afraid, a few bones) breaking horses. I think we've all convinced her to stick to her horse-whispering and riding for the rest of her life. We like having her around too much for the risky stuff!
These next three photos feature three of my favorite cowboys: my brothers, Mike, Joel, and Bobby. They elicit many fond memories!


Finally, the cowboy featured in these last two paintings (yes! paintings, not photographs!) is my cousin Steve. The artist is Steve's wife, western artist Ann Hanson. I love Ann's artwork as it also stirs many fond memories of life on the ranch.
It has been fun to see my love for all things equine being shared by our grandchildren. Gingersnap also loves to ride but I guess has outgrown Spring Break Horse Camp and is on to preparing to take her driver's test. Go Britt!