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!

Another Year Older . . .

It's hard to believe that another year has sped quickly by, summer is over, and the grandchildren have started back to school. When Steve and I were in Colorado, I found some cute "fish" hats at a booth featuring fish-wear for women and children. When I told the clerk they were for our grandchildren, she asked me to take a picture and send it to her, so I decided I had to have one for Brit, as well, despite her being older. Britt was a good sport about modeling it with Reed and Ky. The picture doesn't do the hats justice but they have rolly eyes and little fish fins and tails.
Kyra often travels to WY with me but when she wanted to go in July, I "warned" her that this trip would be unlike those in the past where we were essentially on vacation, and where I was free to entertain her and shuttle her around to her cousins' homes. The purpose of the July trip was to spend time with my Dad, and caring for him (and his home and meals) needed to be my first priority. I welcomed Kyra's company, but she needed to take things to entertain herself, and be prepared to spend a lot of time at Grandpa's, with or without cousins to play with.

I told Kyra that if she were good to help me those two weeks, and had a good attitude, when we got back we would upgrade her "little girl" room (at her Daddy's) in preparation for middle school. Little did I know when I made that declaration that I would have a bike wreck and REALLY need Kyra's help. But, help she did, and she had a great attitude. She was also good to entertain herself, when necessary, and enjoyed playing with her cousins and aunts and uncles part of the time, as well.

Well, like the picture of the fish caps, this picture doesn't do the curtains justice (they have polkadots in shades of pink); guess I need to brush up on my photography skills (or gain some). But, for what it's worth . . . Kyra had a hard time parting with some of her "childhood," but kept her favorite things and got rid of a lot. She said it felt really good to give her things to several little girls who will enjoy the toys and stuffed animals, and one toddler who will look adorable in a few LITTLE outfits we had stored away for safe keeping and decided to part with. Ahh. . .

I'm allergic to latex paint, so once we got everything cleaned out and the room ready, Jon and Paula actually did the painting. Bless them! We still need to get a bulletin board up, and Ky is saving for a Papasan chair, but we're almost there . . .

Onward and Upward

Our family recently celebrated TWO special graduations: (1) our grandson Reed graduated from preschool and will attend kindergarten this fall; and (2) our granddaugher Kyra is advancing from elementary school into middle school. We're so proud of them and their accomplishments. It's fun to see their different personalities as well as to ponder the characteristics and abilities that their teachers and peers identify in them.

In addition to the graduation certificate, each of the graduates in Reed's preschool was given a "special award," chosen for him/her by all of the teachers. Reed received the "Mr. Casanova Award." The teachers had told Gary and Sara that all the little girls are crazy about Reed, and that, thankfully, he's kind to all of them. (When he moves on to the next, they said, he let's the previous one "down easily," and continues to be friends with her.) I got tickled because he pointed out one little girl to us and said, "Isn't her dress beautiful?" Indeed it was. He was speaking of the little girl next to him in the white dress. It's easy to see how much taller and bigger he is than the other children in his class. With an August birthday, he missed the cutoff by just days, so he is older than a lot of them. I think it's a good thing that he's so athletic as he'll likely shine in that area. Of course, he's smart, too! And I'm certainly not a proud grandmother. :)



It's hard to believe that Kyra will be moving on to middle school this fall but 'tis true. In addition to her promotion certificate, she also received two additional awards: (1) she was voted BEST STORY WRITER by her peers; and (2) she was selected by the 4th grade teachers for a Citizenship Award. (Kyra's 4th grade teacher was Mrs. Hamilton.) Kyra has a great imagination coupled with the ability to organize her thoughts well; both skills make for a great story writer/teller.



Although Gingersnap did not "graduate" from anything this year, she did an outstanding job as a high school freshman, and brought home a most noteworthy report card. She's well on her way to earning those coveted scholarships, and we're very proud of her, too! (I need to get her to hold still for a good photograph and will try to include one soon.)