Giddy Up

Gracie and I had the pleasure of spending 5 days at the most amazing horse show with dear friends of ours.  With Michele and Morgan Perry, we drove to the Rolex Kentucky 3-day Event in Lexington (not to be confused with the Kentucky Derby in Louisville last weekend).  Wow.  These were the best of the best contenders and Olympic champions.  Gracie had never seen horsemanship like this before and experiencing it with her was very special.  One positive thing I didn't anticipate happening was that the girls would to take notice and begin to idolize the women riders.  They saw first hand the rewards of what hard work, dedication and sometimes humiliation in doing something you love gets you life. 

So, take what you love and multiply it by 1,000 then do that with your best friends equals 5 days undiluted happiness. 

 Stadium jumping.

Gracie and I under our tent.  Here we had lunch and drinks with a bartender and wait staff all day.

 On the cross country track.   One of the jumps on the 4 mile course.

 This is Clark Montgomery (one of the riders) with Gracie.  Morgan and she were first in line for his autograph.

 Warming up for the cross country course.  Notice the nasal strip on the horses nose. 

 This may seem weird but I had to take a picture of our "Porta" potty because it was so nice.  It was a trailer with 4 stalls, running water AND a fire place.

 The girls enjoying Sunday brunch.  Here they are making themselves a plate of whip cream for dessert. 
 Morgan and Gracie became friendly with the bartender.  They would say "Brian, could we have the usual please"?  And he would get out his martini shaker and make them kiddie cocktails.  At the end of the day the girls would use their own money to tip him as well. 

 Michele and me.

 Another enormous jump on the course country track.

 Sunday's Stadium Jumping.

 Before Rolex, we went hiking and had a BBQ with Bret and Rachel's family at Bishop Lake.

 Carson, William, Jack, Mason, Gracie and Sam on the trail walk.

 Bret, Rachel and their newest edition- Boxer puppies.

 Mason and Jack.

 This is Sam who was very proud of the fact that he dressed himself to go hiking.

 Gracie and Carson wanted to show me and Bryan how we look when we are dressed and off to work.  This is Carson's version of what Bryan wears and Gracie's version of what I look like.  Isn't this a hoot?

 Last night Gracie had a choir concert that was a tribute to the 80's.  She also was a featured act with two other girls singing the George Michael's song "Wake me up before you Go Go".   Great job little goose, I was very proud of you.  You have a confidence I never did and I admire the effort you put into your act! 

Carson was dressed for his soccer game.  Bryan and I had to divide and conquer the evening by going our separate ways to cover both events.  Tara, Brody and Braden came to see Gracie, thank you, you made it even more fun.  Inside joke: It was very sweet of you boys to come and help feed the hungry kids of Livingston County so they can eat!!

It's 5 o'clock Somewhere.

 We enjoyed the best spring break vacation ever this year in Florida.  One week was spent in Orlando and another on Marco Island.  While in Orlando we always look forward to seeing Richard, aka: Uncle Eric.   There was only one little speed bump along the way with Carson and Gracie getting swimmers ear infections.  They handled it like troopers.  I love these memories we've created and embedded in our brains.  No matter how hectic our schedule was before we left and how intense it was getting back into the swing of things, this time spent together will forever keep us grounded and connected.  Amen :)

 When Richard is around there is always a healthy competition of guitar hero!

 Do you know how you can tell that this is the first day of vacation?  Bryan is not red and Carson is not black!!!  Yet.

 We have our wet suits on at Discovery Cove and are prepped for swimming with the dolphin's - one of Gracie's life long dreams, seriously. 

 Meeting "Clipper" the dolphin.

 Snorkling in the lazy river.

 A day spent at Sea World.

This is a Krispy Kreme Donut Hamburger.  No lie.  It's a grilled Krispy Kreme, hamburger with cheese and bacon.  Gracie and Carson split it.  She loved it!  (Carson just ate the donut)  That's my girl, so lady like and dainty isn't she?

We finally made it to the beach!  Marco Island was very beautiful.  The kids made friends with many other kids throughout the week.  In fact,  Mason and Carson would recruit other boys daily for football on the beach.  Bryan even made a friend: Chris Draper.  He and Osgood were vacationing at the same resort we were.  It didn't surprise me to look up and see Bry shaking hands and saying hi.





 

 
 Carson is already checking out the ladies!  Lord help me.

 If she wasn't playing in the sand, she was reading :)

 Dinner on the beach. 

 The resort had a whole bunch of activities for the kids.  Here we are at the 'Dive In" movie night.

 If you'll notice, Gracie has the second book in the series of The Hunger Games in her hand.  We both couldn't put it down. (Um, do you also notice we are almost the same height now?) 

 Bryan took the boys fishing at local hot spots on the shore along the coast.  Here is Carson's catch of the day: a snapper.

 Mason caught an Angel Fish.

 The Easter Bunny managed to find us on the island.  He brought kites and candy.

 Oh, I can't forget Bryan's little fish.  That's what we called it, a "Little fish".  LOL

 Another activity for the 12 and under group, was this man that had a show and tell of many different exotic animals for the kids to learn about, touch and some to hold.  It was very cool.  He had a HUGE toad, a python and lizards, all sorts of neat animals.  This is a dear fox.

 A lemur.

 Playing at sunset.

That's all for now folks.