Kayaking at Sugar Pine Reservoir

Well, after many tries, we finally made it to the lake with the kayaks and canoe. Personally, I'm not a fan of the canoe. It weighs too much, especially when it's a hike down to the water. The kayaks are light enough for even Trevor and Justin to carry, and they are very easy to manage on the open water. But, the canoe can carry picnic and other items, so if the trip is a long one, it is a handy addition to our floatation armada, according to Fred. Me, I'm still holding out for more kayaks.

The kids just take off. They don't complain about being tired at all. They just go and go and go and go. They love the kayaks. Kelsey and Trevor love to flip them and paddle gondola style. I didn't get pictures this time, but we do have some on file.

They are so easy, Logan gave it a try this time. He took off and did really well. He was sooo proud of himself. Where did my baby go? Look how cute he is sitting there all by himself in the kayak.

We found a nice quiet cove to stop and have lunch. Fred did all the packing and preparing. I didn't have to do anything. It was kind of nice. I could get used to it. Granted, our goat gave birth that morning as we were getting ready. So, we were delayed a few hours. But, the important part was who did the packing :D!!!

Well, Trevor beat us all to the cove of course and was off exploring before we even got there. It wasn't the cleanest water in the cove. There was a lot of stuff floating on top where the little creek came in. Trevor had found a huge toad he was trying to catch. Much to his dismay it got away. Trevor in his haste to catch it, slipped into the yucky stuff. It was plastered all over his face. I have to say, it was quite gross!! But, he didn't seem to care.

Logan was such a trooper. I think he was the only one that actually went swimming. He swam in the cove all alone. He was having fun. When we left the cove, he rode on a kayak with me. Out in the middle of the lake I asked him if he wanted to get off and swim. He was nervous about it, but he did it. I'm so proud of him. He is such a well rouned happy little boy.

All of the kids are cute, but he's the baby and so he gets the most oogling.

So, it was a fun and relaxing day. It was our first time at Sugar Pine. I'm not sure if we'll go there again, but it was fun.

Girls Weekend in Reno

In May, the girls and I spent a three day weekend in Reno. The Parelli's were came to town and we weren't going to miss it. Last year, we traveled all the way to Redmond, Oregon to see them. It's a truly inspiring event for us. This year we brought along some friends. We tried to get all the 4-H girls to come, but we had a little over half of them there. I would say that's a pretty good turnout.

Well, here I am on the phone. This was the first morning there and we were waiting in line. I'm on the phone giving Fred and Trevor directions on how mix up the bottles for the baby goats. Poor boys, they were left to take care of ALL the animals. At least there was no milking for them on this trip :D

These are my friends that came along. The lady on the left was my assistant leader for 4-H. She brought her daughter, also. The lady on the right is a friend that does Parelli with her horses. My girls have worked with her mustangs. Both of them are really nice ladies and we had a good time.

I made sure the hotel we got had a pool. I needed something to occupy these girls in the evening. I think they would have been fine either way. We were so exhausted, anyway. But, they had fun the first night there.

We stayed at a really nice hotel. I was very happy with it. The room was really nice. We had two queen size beds, plus a pull out couch. No one had to sleep on the floor! We had a refrigerator that was well used and a microwave that I'm not sure got used. We had planned on making popcorn, but we were so exhausted every night that we never got around to it.

The breakfast bar was absolutely wonderful. They had pastries, eggs, fruit, toast, muffins, yogurt, cereal, juice, hot chocolate, etc. There was plenty to chose from to keep us going for the day. That was another requirement in choosing the hotel-breakfast included.

The only struggle I really faced on the trip was getting the girls-mostly Kelsey- out of bed in the morning! They were supposed to be ready to go and eat by 8. I didn't think that was too much to ask, but apparently it was a HUGE stretch. For some, it was getting out of bed, for others it took a LONG time to do hair. It's not like there were a lot of boys there to impress. But, I guess you have to always look your best.

Wow, Kaley, those chaps look good on you!

Of course, we had to have pictures with the stars!!

Saturday evening, the Parelli's hosted a dance for everyone. The girls had a great time. I had to drag them back to the hotel. I knew I had another morning of waking them up. They even wanted to watch a movie when we got back. That got vetoed!!!! I was beat.

Everywhere we went, Kaley gave us a blow by blow. She was a wonderful tour guide. Thanks, Kaley, for guiding us through the wonderful city of Reno, Nevada.

Horse Expo with the Girls

Three long days of clinics, vendors and demonstrations at Cal Expo. This was our second year and the weather was perfect!! Last year it was too hot. June can be a very hot time.

Kelsey spends most of her time walking around. It was nothing like the Parelli celebration in Reno where she actually stayed put. But, we do enjoy checking out products and watching demonstrations. Well, I do at least. The girls like walking around collecting as many free samples as they can. They try for seconds hoping the vendors don't recognize them. The are also busy filling out entry forms hoping to win something. It never works, though :(

Kelsey loves the little train they have. Last year she rode and rode and rode. This year she's practically twice as tall so they didn't cut her as much slack. She ended up getting kicked off. I think that's pretty funny. It's not as much fun when you have to grow up. Believe it or not, Kaley even rode the train. I didn't know about it until I saw the picture. Why, because I was usually on my own there. The only time they wanted to hang out with me was when I was getting ice-cream. Imagine that.

The girls are all about having fun. Pictures are proof.

The things you do in elevators! It's not a great picture, but check out Kelsey's face! These girls are soooo crazy!!

Who hasn't taken a picture of themselves in a mirror? But in public? My girls?

And then, fingers up the nostrils? Really, I thought I taught them better than that.

Having fun, isn't that what life is about. I think these girls are mastering that for sure! I sure do love them!