A weekend full of camping and trailriding

At the beginning of August Brad and I took the kids on their first organized trail ride.  Growing up my family went on a lot of organized trail rides.  They usually included nice people, a 4 hour trail ride on beautiful property, camping, and fun.  The difference for the kids would be riding around with a lot of other people on someone else's schedule and there are pop/beer/snack stops on the trails.  The first part they didn’t love, but the stops were a big hit!

Brad, Joel, and Vincent

Cecilia and me

Vincent eating a snack

Cecilia, Brad, and Joel

We got to the ride about an hour before they were scheduled to leave.  Once we got settled and up by the gate to leave we were greeted by a great guy who offered Brad a special seat that goes on the saddle horn so Joel could ride double with Brad more comfortably.  Brad and Joel were on Croc.  Cecilia and I were on Hank and we took turns ponying Vincent on Alasan.  The ride went really well and all our horses handled the large group of horses and the cattle in the pastures we were riding through very well.  At one point Alasan didn’t want to cross a creek and a nice lady was kind enough to help lead him down the little hill and across the water.  Actually a few times she volunteered to pony Alasan to make it easier for Brad and I.  We had never met her before, she was just another very nice person we met that day!

Grandma Diane and Joel

Cecilia, Brad, and Alasan

Brad and Vincent

The ride was fun, the property we rode on was mostly cattle pastures that were so beautiful, but it was really long.  I am not exaggerating when I say it was about 6.5 hours long.  The longest trail ride the kids had ever been on previously was 3 hours long.  After the 3^rd pop/beer/snack stop Joel and Vincent switched and Joel got to ride Alasan and Vincent rode with Brad.  When we were about 45 minutes from camp Joel decided he was done and it took a lot of reminding to keep Joel sitting on his saddle.  At one point he was ready to jump off, he was kneeling sideways on his saddle.  Luckily we were able to convince him to sit back down!

Grandpa and Derek

A beautiful view!

Brad eating a snack!

After the ride there was a pork chop supper and a band!  The kids also enjoyed the park that was there.  We didn’t make it very long, everyone was exhausted from the trip to the zoo the day before and the long day of riding.  We were going to go on the Sunday ride too until we learned it was an all day ride.  If the regular ride was 6.5 hours long I couldn’t fathom how long the all day ride would be.  So Sunday morning we left and headed to Matthiessen, where Brad’s parents met us to go riding.

Vincent being a goof

Mommy and Cecilia

Riding at Matthiessen was fun and we quickly made it to the river and back, usually it takes forever!  It was a good thing it was short too because the kids were really tired of riding after their long ride the day before.

Brad, Vincent, and Diane

Brad, Diane, and Joel, and Hank's ears

Vincent and Mommy

Easter 2013!

Easter is one of my mom’s favorite holidays and it is for many reasons, but among the reasons is the fact that she gets to host it.  This year all of us kids arrived at my mom and Dave’s on Saturday.  Brad, the kids and I stayed in our RV.  Alyse, Jill and the Joes all stayed at the hotel in town.    It was a little disappointing that we weren’t all staying in one place, but that went out the window when I realized they had a pool at their hotel.  Saturday night we all invaded the hotel and had pizza for dinner.  During dinner Vincent really wanted one of the Joes to sit with him at the little table.  When I tried to sit by him he told me no.  Then Grandma Dawn tried to sit by him and he let her, but he was not happy about it and he said “I am just really disappointed right now because I wanted cool Joe to sit with me!”   After dinner Brad, Vincent, Joel and I went swimming.  Cecilia really wanted to swim, but we didn’t let her do more than just getting her feet wet.

Vincent and Daddy

Vincent and Daddy

I love to swim, except if the water is cold.  The water at the hotel wasn’t super warm but it wasn’t freezing either.  Usually Vincent is hesitant of the water but he put his life jacket on and jumped right in and started making friends.  He gets very excited lately to make new friends.  He went swimming right over to a group of kids playing and to a grandpa and grandson that were playing and introduced himself and started talking with them.  Then every time he made a new friend he would swim over and say “Mommy, did you see me?!”  The first time I said “Yes! And you are doing such a great job swimming!”  What did he say?  “No mommy!  Did you see me make a friend?”  Where did this kid come from?

Family Photo Easter 2013

Cecilia

There was a small water slide in the pool.  Vincent went down it once (with a little push from Aunt Kasi.  We told her to do it!) and was not too excited about going again.  Joel wanted to go down but kept chickening out too, so we asked Aunt Kasi to give him a little push too.  Joel acted like he didn’t like it, but he kept wanting to go again.  After a 2-3 times down the slide Joel was having so much fun.  He couldn’t get enough of the slide!  Brad would help him at the top and I would catch him (he had a life jacket on).  Then he would climb out of the pool and go again.  He was not happy when it was time to leave!

Joe, Alyse and Dunkin

Cecilia showing off her cool shades

Super Vincent and his sidekick Aunt Jill

Starting Saturday night and continuing on all week Aunt Jill and Vincent were playing superheroes.  Aunt Jill was the sidekick and she was doing a fine job keeping up with Vincent’s imagination! 

Aunt Jill, Joel and cupcake #1

Vincent and Joe

Grandma Pat, Kasi, Annie, Papa, and Kennidy

Cecilia and Vincent on the trampoline...he was retrieving her for me!

Joel jumping!

They all had fun on the trampoline, but did not like when Mommy jumped with them.

Crazies!

Easter was a little more relaxed this year.  It was the first year we didn’t do a craft or an adult scavenger hunt.  It was a nice change, although it would have been fun to do one of the activities.  We still had the egg hunt and both Joel and Vincent had a lot of fun looking for eggs and found quite a few.  The fact that Brad helped hide the eggs and was helping the boys find the eggs was helpful.  Cecilia didn’t care about the eggs, she liked the potbellied pig!  

One of many group pictures on my camera

A color version

Joel on the hunt for eggs

Joel looking for eggs

He found one!

Brad helping the boys

Joe, Alyse and Annie risking their lives for eggs

Vincent and his bag of eggs

Hello piggy!

Come back!  I like you!

Mommy, are you seeing this?

Kennidy spent a lot of time on Saturday and Sunday making delicious desserts for everyone.  They were delicious!   The problem was that she made cupcakes, really wonderful cupcakes, and they were all at Joel’s eye level.  Joel has a cupcake problem…he will eat all of them!  He tried to eat most of them after 7-8 cupcakes he was cut off.  The sugar crash was not pretty!  I am thinking about suggesting a ban on cupcakes until Joel can get over his cupcake addiction, or at least hiding them so he can’t find them.

Excuse me, but who are you?

She really loved the pig and wasn't scared at all!

The kids had a lot of fun camping at Grandma Dawn and Papa Razzi’s house!  They were not very happy about having to leave.

Hello piggy!

Cecilia and the pig

Heading home!

Labor Day Weekend Part 2

During the course of the weekend we basically rode, ate and relaxed around camp.  The kids rode, ate, and ran circles around the campsite, wrestled, played, watched movies (when we needed them to relax before bed) and spent some time in time-out.  I am pretty sure Cecilia is the only one who wasn’t in time out at all.  One afternoon for a few hour stretch it seemed like there were always 2 kids crying: the one that got hurt (hit, pinched, toy taken away, etc) and the one that was getting a time-out.  It really became comical!  The time outs were usually for rough play.  Everyone was probably in need of a nap! 

Erik and Logan

Heather and Lexi

Vince and Brad

At some point I had told Vince to go potty before we got on the horses.  He didn’t want to so I told him he could go outside behind the horse trailer.  Logan said he had to go to, so I sent them together.  There was a lot of laughing and Heather went to check on the boys.  Logan had told Vince to pee in the bucket of water (that was intended  for the horses).  Vince followed his directions.  Heather and I tried to pretend we weren’t amused.  I made the boys apologize to all the horses!  I asked Vince why he did it if he knew it was a bad idea.  He said "Mommy, I like having a goofy plan!"

Me and Joel

Logan and Vince and I think Vince is attached to the dog leash

We spent a lot of time riding!  Heather and Erik rode double with Lexi and Logan.  I rode with Cecilia, Brad rode with Joel and Vince rode on Barney (Brad ponied him).  Then Vince would almost fall asleep on Barney, so the plan would have to change.  One time Logan took Vince’s place on Barney.  One time we had no choice but to put Joel on Barney, alone!  Joel loved being ponied around on Barney!  It could be a problem if he decides he likes that better than riding double.

Barney babysitting Joel

Joel riding Barney

Maisy loving Keith.  I have a very similar picture of the 2 of them from about 5 years ago.

On Saturday my inlaws, niece and nephew joined us for a trail ride.  Heather’s parents also stopped by the campground.  My father in law and Heather’s dad went and checked out the grist mill while the rest of us went riding.  Heather’s mom stayed back and watched Cecilia.  Which I am told was going fine until the last 10 minutes when Cecilia decided that she wanted me and only me.  It was a nice ride and it was great to see my nephew so confident riding his new horse.  It was also fun to see Keith playing with all the little kids around camp and letting them wrestle him down.  They thought it was so much fun!

Adults at camp!

Keith.  Such a good kid!

The little kids convinced they could take Keith!  Lexi was tying up his feet!

There was only 1 time all weekend that the kids scared me.  When we camp everyone keeps their horses tied up on picket lines.  Joel took off running towards another camp, but he was headed for someone else’s horses.  I took off running behind him and when I caught a glimpse of him he was just coming to a stop in a horse’s hay pile.  The horse had no idea what to think and thankfully it didn’t freak out.  

Logan, Vince, and Lexi trying to take Keith down again

Vince getting Keith....I don't think he really bit him, just his shirt

It was our (camping) neighbors’ horse that Joel scared.  All weekend Vince kept referring to our (camping) neighbors as “my uncle.”  Brad found it hilarious because I had gone on one date years ago with our camping neighbor.  I asked Vince why he kept calling him his uncle.  Vince told me that Logan asked him if that was his uncle and Vince said “yes”.  Silly Kid!  

Bristol and Cecilia (giving me a funny look)

When Heather, Erik, Logan and Lexi left for home on Sunday evening Vince was very sad!  I was too, but I am an adult and I get to talk to my friend on the phone, by email and by text whenever I want and Vince is 4years old and doesn’t get to do those things yet.  When they left my inlaws pulled in next to us and spent Sunday evening until Monday camping with us.  They just got a new horse trailer and it is pretty amazing and like nothing I have ever seen before.  They attracted a lot of attention and gave a lot of tours of the horse trailer and loved every minute of it!

Camp Monday morning

Keith

Joel and Barney

We had a great weekend!  I am hopeful that the Crawford-Stewart Labor Day Camping Adventure will become an annual thing....even if it is not actually on Labor Day weekend next time.

This is one of the few picture of Cecilia riding!  Thanks Heather for the picture!