Halloween and the Creature Crawl.

Halloween was fun this year.  Kendall worked at Dutch Bros.  She and her co-workers decided to dress up.  Personally, I think she looked like a character from MASH. 

However, the orange bandana and improvised nun-chucks turned her into a full fledged teenage mutant ninja turtle

Hannah and Sidney roamed the neighborhood as the Lowes Dad and Soccer Mom.  They got lots of laughs.  My question is, how is Sidney still to tan?

I just loved her improvised Stanley coffee mug.  She really is an engineer at heart.  When will she realize this?

Jayde and Sidney had a Halloween photo shoot with their horses.

Levi even got in on the fun.

Kendall and her Team decided to have a Barbie booth at the Echo Creature Crawl.  We all headed to Bentley's house to put it together.  Though I must say, Stephanie Tweedie gets all the credit.  She takes creativity to a whole new level!

The day of the event was a lot of fun.  The Echo instructors dressed as Grandma's and took their turn in the photo booth.

The team of Barbie's.

Kendall dressed as Cowgirl Barbie.  She wanted so badly to take Pigeon.  I get the party pooper award for saying no:).  

Expect the Unexpected.

Yes, when you are raising two teenagers, this seems to be the story of our current life.  A few random, not so normal, pictures.

Sidney hanging around on the tie out poll, while Pigeon looks on.

Not even sure what to say about this one, other than I am glad I did not pay for these sweats.  They sure had fun using the silhouette machine though!

Very fun picture of Kendall and her friend f many years, Naiya, meeting up for coffee after six years of not seeing one another.

Dutch gang, doing their Dutch thing.

Straw anyone?  I think Kendall may have a problem.

Hmm.  

The dogs going crazy for green beans.

Right after Sid got her drivers license, the girls met up in front of Mathnasium in their 'twin' Priuses.

Some things you just wish you could un-see!!!

My mom and I taking a picture with a fake Santa before Thanksgiving.  We were at the Chocolate Affair and sure had fun though!

The Ranch Life.

 A cornucopia of Ranch life pictures.  The horses basking in the fall sun!

Pigeon greeting me as I arrived to fill grain bags.

One rainy night, Sid and I decided to venture out to the ranch.  She was kind enough to walk Levi over in the dark and rain, so he could hang out in the indoor arena.  It was such a good experience for him, as the indoor arena can be very scary with its mysterious sounds.

Every time I question my sanity in owning two horses, Sidney sends me one of these sneak pictures.  Yep, she is a master manipulator.

I have been starting to teach Levi to give horse hugs during his daily stretching exercises:).

Sidney decided to tie Levi to the Barbie poll and saddle him up like a big boy.  He was definitely not sure about this.  Sidney spend plenty of time swinging the saddle and pad around until he realized it was not going to bite.

He is really doing well under saddle.  We have been having more short sessions with him.  Sid is pretty sure he has more woah than go.  I would agree.

Sidney had the privilege of joining Noel on a couple trips to the facility of one of the best cow horse trainers in the area.  His facility was amazing and Sidney had a lot of fun watching.  She even got to sit on one of the horses and ride around a bit. 

Well, I decided to order a halter and lead rope from one of my favorite brands.  I ordered it through a local trainer and received the wrong color.  I wanted olive green and received hunter green.  I was bummed, but was not so bummed that I was willing to return it.  

Here is the insane thing.  I had just boarded the plane on my way home from Chicago and I decided to call Sid to say hello.  She handed the phone immediately to Noel.  I thought that was super strange.  Noel said, "Sidney is afraid to tell you what happened."  Uh-oh, that is never good.  As it turns out, Sidney was riding Levi under Noel's direction.  They decided to tie him up and work with some other horse.  Unbeknownst to them, there was a broken hook where he was tied up.  Levi got his halter caught on it.  Thankfully Sabrina and Emma (one of the vets) was close by and saw it.  Noel also rushed over to help, while Sidney held the other horses.  They tried to untie him, but it was too tight.  They had to cut the halter off.  Sidney was worried that I would be mad that the new halter was ruined.  First off, NO.  The situation could have ended so much differently!  I hate to even think about it.  Secondly, It gave me an excuse to frivolously buy the color I had been wanting.

I was a bit concerned that he would be afraid to be tied out again.  Noel, being the awesome trainer she is, already had him tied at the patience poll and was keeping a close eye on him.  She said he was doing awesome, but he might have a sore neck for a few days.  

Chicago Bound.

 I had a quick work trip to Chicago.  Frankly, I have only been to Chicago for work.  One of these days, I need to take some time to actually visit.  It seems like a very cool city.  I stayed downtown right across the street from the Trump Tower.

 It was fun to see all the rooftop garden from my room on the 33rd floor.

I was there to attend an event at the Chicago Architecture Center.  It was just down from the Trump Tower and across from the Chicago Tribune building.

The event was great and had some fun appetizers (to include this cupcake ferris wheel).

This was the sun set from the plane on my way home right after I got the call about the halter, (another post).

Swifties to the Core

 After the original ticket debacle, Kendall and Hallie have been thinking of every way possible to score tickets (every 'legal' way possible).  It had become their 'thing'.  So when the concert movie was announced, they were all over it!  I even booked Kendall a plane ticket, so she and Hallie could go together.  Kendall flew up on Thursday night.

She had fun spending the day with Hallie and Steph.  We made one of the white T-shirts with black lettering to wear.  I think it said "Taylor, who?" or something like that.  How quickly my memory fades.

Angel joined them for the night as well.

It may not have been the actual concert, but in some ways, maybe even better.  It is analogous to what Kevin used to say about football games.  Sometimes the best seat in the house is from your house (or a movie theater).

Ten Mile Riding Club - Spooky Day.

Ten Mile Riding Club hosted a spooky day.  I think they might have called it a desensitization day, but personally, I think it was downright terrifying.  You name the obstacle, they had it.  Sidney, Hannah and I helped out into the darkest hours on Friday night setting things up.  

After setting everything up, I think Sid and I were both unsure about taking Levi, but we went for it anyways.  It was a super fun day.  Lots of riders dressed up, and both the arena and the trail were full of crazy things.

Pigeon did a great job, though he does take a few minutes to settle in.  Lilly did amazing.  She is definitely bomb proof.  Right after this picture, Sidney accidentally dropped the flag.  Pigeon was NOT a fan of that.

He did phenomenal walking under the A-frame.  There was a cowboy curtain inside the A-frame, so it was a double doozy!

After riding a bit, the girls ponied Levi through the trail course.  He was pretty stubborn at first.  After a few times around, he walked through the bark box.

Sidney tied Pigeon up and walked Levi through the arena obstacles.  He did so much better than we all anticipated.

The A-frame was the only obstacle that he did not conquer.  He got about halfway through it and thought it was easier to go back out the way he came in!

He even walked over the mattress, no problem.

One of the ladies brought her sheep and llama's.  Oh my goodness, this is the cutest picture ever!

It was an incredibly fun day for all!