Horseback Riding Camp

Phoebe's fun event this summer was being able to attend a horseback riding camp all day for a week.  We had the hottest record breaking temperatures of the summer that week and there was no air conditioning on the ranch.  Phoebe did not complain once and only said that she didn't even notice the heat at all.  She loved riding all day long and would have fun stories to tell us everyday when I picked her up.  On the last day they put on a little show to show the parents all the things the kids had learned.  It was cute to see her so happy and it really was a great camp.  Not only did she learn how to ride, but she also learned how to clean, feed, and saddle the horses.  She is in love with them.

Phoebe with her show horse Addy

Luke taking a turn feeding some carrots to the horses

 Phoebe won best in show for her group, and got a medal for being best camper of the week.  She was always helping out everyone and taking care of the horses.  We will for sure be back next year.

 in the saddle room

Luke riding the fake horse. They use this to teach the kids how to saddle the real ones.

Paisley taking a turn on Woody

Fresh Peaches

 My friend had an abundance of peaches on her tree this year and we were happy to take a bucket off her hands.  Phoebe helped my peel and pit them and they have been wonderful for making smoothies.  It is just too hot to even want to make any jam with them, and I don't think we will have any problems finishing them off. Oh so yummy!  I may need to get a tree in my yard

Phoebe's 11th Birthday

 Phoebe turned 11 last week. Here is the cake she made this year for her party.  It was a fun design and she pretty much did all of it by herself this year.  The staff at the Cake Stand liked it so much they took a picture of it and decided to add it to their book of cake ideas to order.  We thought that was pretty cool.

 She had a minute to win it party with lots of fun games.  The girls did really good and we didn't even have enough time to do all the games we had planned.

 

 Phoebe got a new bike this year as she has outgrown her old one.  She is happy to have a new set of wheels.

 

Sunday Night Croquet

The sun went down enough to step outside and have a nice game of croquet last Sunday. This time of evening is perfect.  Still warm, but no sun in our eyes.

Paisley hanging in-between her turns

4th of July 2012

This year we had a pretty low key 4th of July. Both Scott and I had the day off of work and we went over to his sister's house to do some swimming. They were out of town so it was just us and Maverick, who LOVES to swim. He can't get enough of it and I'm not sure what we will do with him when summer is over.  I didn't take pictures of our bbq or the fireworks show we went to that night, so these are all I have.  The kids played find the toothpick for awhile and each of them was so happy when they actually were the ones to retrieve it.

Maverick has some pretty good form now and can jump high and far.

 I thought this one looked like he was walking on the water

 4th of July dress

 Silly Girls

Phoebe's star hair for the 4th

Dip Dye Hair with Kool-Aid

We had a lazy afternoon yesterday and everyone was pretty bored, including myself. So in order to crack down on that boredom I thought it would be fun to dip dye the girls hair with Kool-Aid. We only had red flavors so red was the color we did even though I think they would have preferred another color. No biggie we can get another color the next time we want to try something new. This is semi permanent. I originally didn't even know if it would last past one washing, but we are on day two and the kids have been swimming and have shampooed and the color is still going strong. Paisley's has faded to a perfect pink now, so I think it may only last about a week before being totally washed out.  It is summer and easy and fun to do so why not?!  All you have to do is boil a packet of Kool-Aid with some water in it.  The less water you put in the brighter the color.  We wanted it to be bright so we only added a little water.  Then soak tips of hair in for about 3 minutes and squeeze them dry with a paper towel.  Phoebe's hair was already in braids and I found it was easier to dip evenly with it in braids then trying to just get the ends in like I did with Paisley's. This only works good on lighter hair so if you wanting to try and have dark hair it won't show up very well.

We knew right away that it had worked!

 

The final result! It was fun and I think looks pretty cute.