Back to School - Part 1/3

My beautiful and talented friend, Tina, agreed to take pictures of the girls to celebrate back to school.  They are in 10th and 8th grades this year.  Where does the time fly?  I decided to upload these pictures in three parts.  For part one, I give you the true spirit of these girls.  They are funny, spontaneous, best friends - mostly, and worst enemies - sometimes.  I love the special relationship they share.  Tina captured it so well.

Glamping at Wagon Days.

The Eh Capa team was invited to participate in Wagon Days in Sun Valley.  We left early Friday morning, so we could beat the weekend traffic.  I had not been to Sun Valley since the SEANW Engineers Gone Wild conference in 2008.  I remember the exact year, because the conference was in June and I was very pregnant with Sidney.  The town seemed to have only gotten more beautiful and more fancy.  We set up camp at the Old Sun Valley Barn right next to Sun Valley Stables.  We really have this camp thing down now.  As soon as we got settled, we went into town to check things out.  

After a bit, we decided to grab a bite to eat.  The girls spotted a restaurant that was very reasonable with $35 lamb shank.  No thank you.  Where are the sandwiches and salads?  After a bit of walking around, we landed at Lefty's.  It must be the local hangout as it was loud, crowded and fun.  

It was a scorcher out, so after dinner, we walked to the splash pad we had seen.  The girls made no hesitation of getting totally soaked.  Yep, these young women still are little kids at heart!

After getting soaked, we found a spot in the center of town to grab ice cream and listen to the live band.  Abby and Kendall showed off their dancing skills.

Of course, they could not resist a picture in the giant chair!

When we got back to camp, the place had filled up.  One of the families was from Eastern Idaho and had brought 3 adult camels, a baby camel, a goat and a baby buffalo.  Kendall was enamored with the baby buffalo.  I am pretty sure she wanted to take it home with us.

Despite having coffee and donuts provided to us by the city, I decided to take an early walk to town and grab Starbucks.  There is no shame in glamping.  In fact, I love it!

The team had practice at 8am.  The start of their very full and very fun day!  Sidney, of course, had her posse (in racing terms, this is referred to as a pit crew).  Yep, Abby, Kendall and I were there to support her and cheer her on.

At 10:30, they had an exhibition performance.  A nice size crowd gathered for the performance.  The team did great.  Afterwards, the riders lined up at the fence for the crowd to ask questions.  Though I did not get a picture, it was super cool.  I think I was stunned into a proud parent moment.  Sidney had about three families that asked her questions for a good 20 minutes.   They asked about the team, her riding, her horse, etc.  She did such a great job of speaking up and articulating herself.  I thought back to a few short years ago when I doubt she would have been able to speak to a group of adults and kids.

After that, it was parade time.  This was a unique parade, in that it was animals only.  You had to be riding an animal, walking an animal or pulled by an animal.  The streets of Sun Valley were lined wall to wall with chairs and bleachers.  This is the part that always makes me nervous.  I have to leave Sid and head out to the parade route.  You see, Pigeon does not really like parades.  He is a 'go' kind of horse.  He gets pretty amped up when asked to stay put.  Sidney has been working with him a lot.  She even brought a lunge line and tried to wear him out a bit between the performance and the parade.  I always walk away and wonder (worry) about how they are doing.  Thankfully, my friend Wilson was one of the papa's.  He was very thoughtful and sent me pictures periodically, letting me know that things were good!

It is always fun to watch these girls in a parade.  Periodically they stop and do drills.  The crowd is always amazed at the bravery and discipline of these kids and their horses.  No saddle, no bridle, no problem!

A Gloriously Long Weekend!

I decided to take a few extra days off before the long holiday weekend.  It was amazing.  The first day, I created myself a spa day.  I started off with a 90 minute facial at the Aveda Institute.  

After that, I had a 90 minute massage at my favorite place.  Yes!

In the afternoon, the girls joined me back at the Aveda Institute.  Kendall and I got our toes and nails done, while Sidney enjoyed a haircut and facial.  I was uber relaxed after that.

The next day, my dad and I drove to Payette to play a round of golf at Scotch Pines.  We had received free passes at the golf show this year and neither of us had ever played the course.  It was a fun course.  Lots of hills.  I even managed to get a par on hole 4.  This is an accomplishment for me.  My tee shot made it too the tall grass right off the green.  I made a nice easy chip shot that landed a couple feet from the hole, and scored a nice easy put into the hole.  Yay!

Looking back at the tee box on my par hole.  After that, nothing mattered!

On Friday, the girls and I and Abby drove to Sun Valley for Wagon Days (another post). We got home on Saturday evening.  Dylan and Heather had come down for a visit and we wanted ample time to hang out with them.  It was a fun time.  We went golfing on both Sunday and Monday, ate lots of food and generally had a good time.

The Many Faces of Grandpa.

My dad is a goofball.  Not in the life of the party kind of way, but in the 'never take life too seriously' kind of way.  Kendall caught this on camera.  I remember as a kid, he would rarely take a picture without his tongue sticking out or some other goofy face.  Some things never change.

Sidney turns '14'.

 

This is 'clearly' the year of the horse for Sidney.

1. Describe yourself.  Nice, loves animals, an extroverted introvert (especially enjoys talking to the old ladies at the barn).

2. What are you thankful for?  Pigeon, my mom, Kendall.

3. What makes you happy?  Pigeon.

4.. What makes you sad or angry?  When Bella jumps up on me and scratches me.

5. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Mixed between a photography, equine trainer or equine veterinarian.

6. What’s important to you?  Having a good relationship with the people around me and the care and well being of my animals.

7. What do you love most about yourself?  I am not a super picky eater and that serves me well because I love to eat food.

8. What do you love most about your mom?  She so pretty, and she does so much for me (I am blushing).

9. What do you love most about your sister?  Her willingness to be part of the stuff I do (horses and camping).

10. If you could go anywhere, where would you want to go?  The beach with my horse.

11. Who do you admire? Why?  Shelby, because she really good with horses, and she is nice.

12. What do you want to learn more about?  Horses.

13. What’s something you’d like to do to help someone else?  Nothing specific.  I just like to be there when someone needs me.

14. What are you afraid of? Embarrassment.  I do not like being embarrassed.

15. If you could only keep one thing, what would you keep? Pigeon (no surprise there).

16. What’s your favorite memory?  When dad brought me the stuffed animal from Petco.

17. What are you proud of yourself for?  The way I have stuck with horses and have not given up even when it has been hard.

18. What are you looking forward to this year?  Getting my nose pierced and getting a job.  

19. What do you dream about?  Getting my drivers license and learning to drive the truck and trailer.

20. What else do you want to say?  Grace, if you are reading this, tell Liza to wish me a Happy Birthday on the right date this year.

Celebrating the Twins.

We had a fun day yesterday celebrating Sidney and my mom's birthday's .  The girls and I took my mom to see a sold out show of Sound of Music.  It was absolutely awesome, as we recognized many of the songs.  Kendall even started to sing along, no surprise there.

After the show, my dad met up with us at Texas Roadhouse.  It was a short 30 minute wait, but the time went by quickly.  We burned a few minutes of it taking selfies.  

The food was delicious and we enjoyed each others company.  

Somehow, they managed to escape the embarrassing restaurant Happy Birthday dessert.  So, we headed to my parents to celebrate with a chocolate cream pie, Sidney's favorite.

Happy Birthday beautiful ladies!!!

The Other Stuff.

 The girls jumping on Pigeon to watch the sunset.

There is never a shortage of beautiful sunsets at the ranch.  Breathtaking, really!

Sidney and Pigeon are starting to get this jump thing figured out.  Look at that....no saddle, no bridle, no problem!

Pigeon and Sidney showing off their new trick.  Take a bow!

Bella had her first encounter with a bee.  Yikes!  Thankfully, the Benadryl worked because the emergency vet clinic had an 8-10 hour wait.

Puppy snuggles.

The rainbow after the rain.  Gorgeous.

A gift to me, from my garden.  Thank you.

My new truck, with it's new topper and the Navy, Air Force stickers on the back....just the way Kevin liked it.  I love this truck!

Selfies with Pigeon.

Drinking fountains, ranch style.