Horses and Slip and Slides

I can't even tell you had glad I was when morning came. I had been freezing cold all night long in a new sleeping bag that we had bought that was supposed to be good for subzero temperatures. I think that I might be demanding a refund! I was also constantly worried about Zach being cold and so part way through the night I put him in my bag with me. I think that probably helped me out more than him! Olivia also woke up briefly in the night crying that she was cold, so Spense put her back into her sleeping bag and sept by her for the rest of the night. I think that I didn't really manage to get to sleep until around 5:00 a.m. Most of the adults were up by 8:00 a.m. I was glad to hear that both Christine and Johanna had been cold all night, so that way I wasn't the only wuss. We got working making breakfast. We enjoyed some yummy pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit thanks to the Johnson's and the trusty Jason and Ryan manning the stoves. 

Christine, Jason, Taylor, and Johanna then all left to go on a trail horse back ride. None of my kids met the age or weight requirements so we were booked on the led rides later. We cleaned up camp and watched the kids until it was time to drive up to the stables. 

Sam was our first little rider and she did a great job. 

Unfortunately, the others weren't back from their ride when 

we started out so Spense led her around the field until 

her dad arrived for the last few minutes of her time. 

Then came Miss Olivia. I was surprised out how

excited and non scared she was. She's becoming quite

good in new situations. 

She loved her black horse. She did have to ride in

a different field than the other horse though 

because I guess this horse doesn't like many

of the others. 

Go cowgirl!

It was then Thomas' turn. He said that he didn't really

want to go because he had ridden at our neighbor's

grandpa's before, but when he saw how much

fun the girls had he gave it a go. I think that he was

secretively a little bit nervous about it.

I led Thomas for a while, but then I gave the job back 

to Spense. The horse just wanted to eat all the

time and I didn't like pulling it away!

Zach really enjoyed petting the horses and I'm

sure was sad to be too little to ride.

Waiting for the riders

The kids loved being able to take it in turns

to drive to and from the bathrooms during

the trip. This was Zach's chance at the wheel.

After riding we heading back to the campsite to clean up and have lunch. Sorry again for forgetting to bring the peanut butter for everyone. I'm glad that we were able to make the kids happy in other ways i.e pink frosted cookies! When we were all packed up we made our way down to the slip and slide for some water fun. It was a huge mound of earth that had been covered with plastic and then had a large pip along the backside with holes in to allow the water to come out. We all had a fun time going up and down there and the weather was perfect. It was so funny to see the little sister missionary out there blowing her whistle and telling people not to run and to walk to the end of the carpet. I'm sure that when she put in her mission papers she probably never expected to be called as a lifeguard at 60 something!

Thomas making his way down the slide

He managed to reach the bottom unharmed

Olivia picking up her tube

She did manage to get ploughed into when she lost her tube and ended up in the middle of the slide. As she made her way to her tube this boy came down right into her and knocked her flying. I ran over to her and Spense came down the slide yelling at him to be more careful. I know that he was only trying to protect his little girl, but it was a little embarrassing and the boy felt super bad about it anyway. To help Spense understand this boy a little better, he later ran into a kid and knocked him flying and he looked a whole lot more disgruntled than Olivia was! Lucky for us we have a pretty tough little cookie and she soon went back up and gave it another try.

Zach was just happy sitting on the carpeted

area playing with the tube, watching everyone else

It was time for some light refreshment (thanks Ryan)

Zach thoroughly enjoyed his popsicle. He liked

it so much that he stole mine when his was gone

Back to sliding. Thomas led the group

Mum and Olivia taking a turn. Look at

that impressive form! I did figure out that riding

on your belly was a lot more fun though

Taylor and Thomas. These two were

up and down the slide non stop all afternoon.

Around 4:00 p.m we all decided that we had probably had enough and went off and changed for the car ride home. We drove around the area a little to scoop it out for the reunion some more first and it looks like a nice place. We drove around the resort near to where we are staying and it looked quite fancy so I hope we will all have a fun time.

About three quarters of the way home Zach decided to throw up on us. Luckily there were towels right behind my seat so he finished his business into that. Thomas was grossed out and just held his nose and opened his window. He has quite the sensitive nose. We got him out of the car and got clothes changed and put our foot on the gas, stopping only to pick up some food from the drive through. Zach really tucked into that, so I think he had probably just had a little too much sun and sugar all weekend.

We arrived home around 7:00 p.m. and we were all pooped. We quickly unloaded the car, got out the car seat to wash, and got stinky kids bathed. It was so nice to wash the smell of fire out of my hair. I hate the smell of campfire.  Spense made a quick run to the store to get a few things for tomorrow and by the time he got back we were all asleep so he finished the cleaning up alone. Thanks Spense and thanks to all for a great weekend.