Sunday, June 28, 2009

Working with Snowball

Chena has been working with a small Welsh pony once a week, helping him to learn to trust people again, after he had a scary cart accident. He is the sweetest little guy, but he is slow to bond with people.

Here is a video of her success! She is working with him "at liberty" which means he is not required to follow her, he has no tack on, and she has no rope or lead on him at all. The only reason he is with her is because he wants to be.

Liberty. Its a beautiful thing!


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Would You Look At That?


Two blog posts in ONE DAY! I am not sure I have ever done that before.


Penelope just adores her bunny, Mossy Meadow, and she often starts her mornings with him in her arms, walking around our place. He seems to like being her companion, and he snuggles up rather than squirms away. He sure is a special bunny...as he has a special place in her heart and that is good enough for me!

Loving the Lupine!


While we were waiting for a movie to start in town, we parked near a park and I wandered a bit with my camera. I like this soft "painted" look I found at an editing site.
Boy, I love Lupine!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Take Time to Smell the Flowers


My sweet Penelope in a field of Lupine, on Summer.
We got a chance to go out riding, just the two of us, and had such a great time. She is such a focused little rider. I had to stop in this field and get a picture. I love Lupine! The bees were buzzing, and the sweet smell filled the air, with nary a breeeze.
I only had my camera phone, and I was on a spirited thoroughbred while I tried to focus..but I still am glad I capured the memory of my little cowgirl in the meadow.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Whooooooo?

Whooooooooo said you could take my picture??????

Friday, June 12, 2009

All Together Now


Considering we have not been home from Hawaii very long, we have sure been busy! We were treated to a fantastic stretch of warm and sunny weather, and nobody lets that go by without lots of FUN and FAMILY.

The girls talked us into a sleepover in a holy old tent in the backyard. I thought the mosquitos might carry them away overnight, but in the morning, lo and behold they were still here. (I didn't sleep much, a mama worries!)



Michael had promised to fly Penelope to our cabin, so they were getting ready to go, but she had one BIG request: Could she take Pluto, her Terrier, with them? Well her daddy thought about flying that stinky squirmy guy in his super clean Super Cub, and made her a deal. He could start earning his frequent flyer miles ONLY if he had a bath first. Soooooo








and this







and this poor glum face
















he decided he had enough of the sudsy life!























Crazy dog. He did get his cabin trip though!

My sister went on a vacation and left her kids with my sister in law, so I invited them all over for a day on the lake and a cook out. It was so beautiful out, it screamed for a picnic. We got our paddle boat ready to roll and played back and forth between our shore and our neighbor's dock.



Anybody seen Dandelion? Oh, there she is!







How many cousins will this thing float? Ummmmm, I think eight is the limit!



Somebody has got to go! Any volunteers?










That's my girl! Go Chena!




Heading out to sea.....




Dandelion is wondering who's steering and where are we going?







"Okay, anybody who is not a dog just sit down, shut up, paddle the boat, and leave the decisions to me!"



Everyone ate hot dogs, watermelon, chips, dips, baked beans, and ended with S'mores in the fire pit. Yum.



The girl cousins asked me to make the boys leave them alone so they could "hang out and talk" sitting under the hammock. They look cozy, huh?

Lots of FUN. I was almost glad when it clouded up today and I got some vacuuming done. Michael had a buddy drive down from Anchorage, and the two of them flew out for a few days of fishing and guy time.

See you at the next picnic! You bring the ants.

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Big Island

I have some more pictures to share. So much to tell about our vacation, its crazy. We packed a LOT into each day, but somehow managed to completely relax too. There were times I was so incredibly stress-free...I just soaked it in and tried to seal the moment in my memory FOREVER.


I can only share pictures, but hopefully you will see some of the magic of which I speak, through my lens. Its the most beautiful place you can imagine.






















I tend to be an incredibly busy person, when I am at home. I learned from this trip that I need to actually schedule days for complete relaxation for me and the children. Du-UH. Like, write it on the calendar and make it a sacred date... set in stone. Please remind me, people! Hee hee. I can do this, I know I can.
So back to paradise...aren't these dolphins at the Hilton Waikaloa Village so dang cute?

































There is truly no place like Hawaii, especially the big island. Its the island of adventure, I call it. Simply because it has so much to offer besides just baking your body on beaches (although you can do that there too!) You can find incredible snorkeling, swim with sea turtles, watch dolphin pods swim by, see manta rays in the surf, walk through lava tubes, experience "vog", tour mac nut farms and coffee plantations, get caught in a rain forest "monsoon" rain, swim in natural hot pools with the surf splashing over you, jump in "caves" and swim out through a tunnel to the sea below, (no way did I do this!), see the "green splash" sunset, head to the locals Farmer's Market, boogie board on beaches with nobody else on them, experience the culture of the people and the history of the tribes, and even hold sea horses in your hand, and so much more.


Being with Mom and Dad over there is a magic in itself. I have so many memories with them there, when I was younger and we were on vacation...and it was so much fun to recreate some of them with my own children and their grandparents. Priceless! Life is fragile and unpredictable, and I want to take every advantage I have to just BE with my parents while they are so active, energetic, and healthy. I'm so thankful. It cannot be overstated.










Check it! This is me, holding a sea horse in my HAND!!!! Unreal. The feeling was pure soft magic. She curled her little tail around my finger and cocked her head from side to side to look up at me. I fell in love with the feeling of a sea horse friendship at the tip of my fingers. We went to a sea horse garden, and I think it was one of our favorite things on the trip.















The feeling you get when you are leaving is WOW, is it already time to go home? You can stay months and not see it all.