Piper and Spirit.....

Two names that August and Alyssa will never forget! These were the two horses selected for August and Alyssa for their first ever horseback riding lesson.  They had SO much fun!
We were set for a 4:30 appointment, and arrived slightly early, which was nice as we were able to observe the lesson going on before ours.  We pulled up to a large covered arena and barn.  A lady told us to head through the barn, which was a treat.  The barn had rabbits, guinea pigs, baby birds in a nest up in the rafters, and of course, HORSES. Nearly every stall was filled, and the horses were checking us out as we passed through.  The kids were in awe! When the prior session had ended, the horses were brought into the barn and the kids were suited up with helmets and boots, then instructed to begin brushing their horses.  It was just August and Alyssa in the session, and each of them had a more experienced rider along side them the whole time, along with one of the owners of the school in the center of the ring instructing them.
Alyssa got to help put the bridle on her horse, and August got to take the reins and lead his horse, Piper, out to the arena. The kids were helped onto the horses, and told to take the reins.  The owner saw Alyssa grab onto the lump part of the saddle that kids hold onto during pony rides at fairs (you know the thing I'm talking about!), and she asked Alyssa to let go and take the reins, and promise her she wouldn't hold onto that any more.  Alyssa was delighted to have control of her horse, Spirit.  I don't think carnival pony rides will ever be the same again for either August nor Alyssa now that they have had a taste of what real horseback riding is like!
After several minutes, the owner decided they were ready to try trotting. This was Alyssa's favorite part. She thought the faster her horse went, the better! True to the mare's name, she had a more "spirited" horse than August did, but I think they each had the perfect horse for their first time out.  August's horse was very mellow and a bit lazy, and didn't really want to trot.  He was instructed to kick his horse "real hard". He wasn't sure about that.  I think he was afraid of hurting her, but he learned that in order to get the horse to feel him and his commands, he had to be firm. The instuctor had the kids make circles around each other with their horse, then catch up to the other via trotting.  This portion of the lesson lasted about 40 minutes.
The lesson was concluded by the horses being led back to the barn, where the kids brushed them once more.

 This whole experience was complete awesome-ness for the kids! I loved seeing them enjoying themselves so much. Needless to say, they both want to see "their horses" again (maybe), and asked if we could buy a horse (no). They have talked about this experience all day today, and when August went with his friend, Aiden, to go paint pottery today, I'll bet you can never guess what type of figurine he selected to paint!?

That's right. A horse. I haven't seen in yet, but according to his friend's mother, he painted it black with a white stripe down it's back, "Just like Piper!"

Alyssa's Ballet Recital

I know, it's Tuesday, and I haven't posted about this wonderful event!  She did amazingly well, and we were so proud of Alyssa for stepping out of her comfort zone and taking part in this memorable first experience. 
I had so much fun doing her hair and make-up, and seeing her shine in her beautiful costume.  I thought my heart was going to melt! She was so excited ready:-) She had a whole jumble of emotions, but she handled them well.
Friday night was the rehearsal, and pictures.  The clip shown is of rehearsal, as cameras and recorders were not allowed for the performance on Saturday night. After her Friday night events, Alyssa and I ran by Quiznos and picked up sandwiches for the two of us.  Mike kept all the other kids at home so I could focus on Alyssa, which was very nice.  Saturday was a repeat of Friday, as I left everyone at home and focused on Alyssa.  The experience was so positive on many levels.  I think she reveled in having my undivided attention, and I liked having no distractions. When we arrived to the event on Saturday, they took Alyssa back and I was left to wait for the rest of the family to arrive. She ended up being the second act, for which I was relieved for her, as she didn't have to sit and wait in all her anticipation. I could see that she was nervous up on stage with all the bright lights, but she did her best, and we loved watching her cute tap dance routine!

I just realized that I didn't get any photos of her in her tap shoes!! Well, I ordered the top photo package, so when those pictures arrive, I will be sure to get a picture out to those family members who would like one:-)

In the car on the way to Friday night rehearsal.

No wait, there are her shoes!! She was in line for the photographer in this picture.

Alyssa and her friend Mia were waiting to be called up on stage at rehearsal.

After Saturday nights performance. She loved her flowers! Her make-up got a little messy, as there were some tears at one point (after she went up on stage, thankfully!), but she is beautiful regardless!

So proud of my princess!!

For those of you that think I only take one kind of photo, her is evidence to the contrary. I was making some funny faces on this night:-)

We hit Red Robin and Coldstone after the Saturday night recital.  Here are the girls waiting for a table outside the restaurant.

Note: If you can't tell, Alyssa is in the front, second from the right (at the start) as you view this video.

Matthew's end-of-the-year Baseball Party

This year's baseball party was not to be outdone! It was a casual barbeque held at the coaches farm. The weather was perfect and the kids were entertained the whole time. They ran and played on the 13 acres. They fed and played with goats, sheep and dogs. Everyone brought something and their was plenty of good food to go around.
I included a piece of the speech Matthew's asst. coach and coach gave, when he was presented with his baseball. We had a great year, and I'm thankful that Matthew enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed watching!

The kids really liked the baby goats hiding in the back (not shown). They also thought it was funny that the black goat kept ramming various things in the pen with its horns.

Oh to have such a wide open space for the kids to run and play.  They had a couple different outdoor areas as well, complete with outdoor fireplace, couches, and heat lamps, and fans.  VERY cool!

We are counting the days....

For this movie! We can't wait.

July 15th!
I don't know that we will make that date, but we are DEFINATELY going to see this in the theatres!!

Our first Beautiful Weekend of the Year

Really. I mean, we've had weekends with a sunny day here and there, but this was our first weekend that was sunny from Friday through Sunday.  Yeah! We deserve some good weather after waiting this long.

The kids and I on Rattlesnake Ledge trail, before realizing we were in over our head. I ended up turning around and heading down to the water with the girls, while the boys finished the 1.9mile steep hike up (and then down!).

While hiking, Reagan said, "are we going to hiking?" Me: "we are hiking, Rea." Rea: ??

The view from the top.  Apparantly, it was pretty treacherous. We may not do this one again with the kids.

The boys made it! Ryan would have come, but he had injured his leg at school the prior Thursday, so he was at home recovering.  This hike is more suitable for Matthew's age and up.  August had a hard time getting down the hill. He missed his footing a couple times, which was scary considering they were on a ledge going down. I told Mike not to tell me such things!

It was a very crowded day on the trails, as you can see by all the people up on the ledge.

The girls and I greeted the boys at the bottom.  I took this picture just after they arrived safely back down. Looking at this now, I can see the worry that would soon set in for August later that evening. He was concerned about the fact that he almost slid down a hill when he slipped way up on the mountain.  I was proud of them!

Enjoying some time by the lake post hike.

The kids enjoying skipping rocks!

See the ledge? That is what the boys all hiked up to.  Yikes!!

BEAUTIFUL.

After mulling around several ideas of what to do with our baseball-free Saturday (zoo? Mariners Game? hang around the house?) we finally decided to try exploring a hiking trail and lake nearby that we had never been to.  We headed to Rattlesnake Lake and were aiming at hiking up to the ledge.  The boys succeeded, but it became obvious a ways in that the two girls just weren't going to make it. I decided to take them back down, where we would wait by the lake for the boys to complete the hike.  They really wanted to, especially Matthew, so we didn't want them to have to quit just because the girls weren't ready to hike it.
The girls loved playing by the water, and in the water.  Alyssa found a cool rock she thought reminded her of a mermaid rock just off shore, so she waded out there and played mermaid on and around it.  Reagan thought playing in the water was fun, and we stayed like that for a bit over an hour before the boys came back down.
After we had all had our fill of hiking and the lake, it was unanimous that we were ready for dinner, so we headed over to Ana's Mexican food and ate out on the patio.  It was a GREAT day!

Oh, and today, the boys and I ended up going to see Pirates Of the Carribbean in 3-D.  Another great movie in the line-up!  We loaded up on all the movie goodies and got to enjoy 2+ hours of pirates and cool scenes.