6-20-09 Vacation Week in Review - Part 2

(First of all, the disclaimer....I cut and pasted a large part of this from my sister's blog because she got to it much faster than I did and I simply haven't found the time to catch up!! - SO...if in the middle of a sentence it doesn't sound exactly like me, it's because it's my sister =))....okay, so we're at MONDAY!!....Monday started at 6am.....

Monday morning, bright and early, I went down to watch them herd in the horses for the day.   It was Orientation day.  While Corben was loading up and getting acquainted with his horse, I was diving into horseback riding head first.  I have to say that as first I felt like I was taking to it a bit but soon found that I am NOT a natural, unlike most of my family (except Jymn who has been thrown from every horse he's ridden...{amendment FROM JYMN: “FYI: As of my most recent visit to the Bar Lazy J Ranch, I have OFFICIALLY mounted a horse, rode that horse like a full-on pro and then SUCCESSFULLY dismounted that house and landed on my own two feet! So.... make note of it. :^) “})  However, I had a lot of fun!  We had loping lessons a bit later on and I think I did alright...I mean, I didn't fall off!  Corben spent most of the day with the Kids group.  They fed the animals, rode horses, and at one point they worked on their Indian head dresses for later in the week.  Corben's name was Black Buffalo!  He was also excited because he found a pair of Cowboy boots to wear that were exactly like a pair he had when he was little that he literally wore until they could never be worn again.  It was a great Monday. 

Tuesday...well, what can I say about Tuesday except AMAZING!!!!!!  You know, I don't get to do many daring things as a parent of 4 though, once upon a time, I was VERY daring...probably too daring.  Anyway, my fabulous sister whisked me away for a day of 4-wheeling at the sand dunes.  I have to just do a big PLUG here for my sister and her friends and THEIR PLAYGROUP!  Here in NC we do a lot of fun things but we are NOWHERE near as adventurous as these women.  I found myself on the back of a 4-wheeler with my sister and 2 kids on board (a 3yr old and a baby).  The other 4-wheeler had 2 women and 4 kids!!!  All age 3 and under.  We drove a good distance over the dunes to this Gorgeous creek bed where we parked the kids and 2 adults while the other two would take a round on the 4-wheelers.  My sister and I took the first child watching shift.  The scenery was breathtaking.  The kids were having a blast.  Then....we noticed the....BEAR FEET!!   They were all over the place! And very fresh…. Suddenly we were keeping a much closer eye on the kids. There was no way for us to leave—we’d 4-wheeled in with everyone and all our stuff and the walk back to the car would be hours. So we sat and waited for our friends to return and laughed at our ability to always have an “adventure” on our outings! In all honesty though, we weren’t terribly concerned. No grizzlies up here, just black bears anyway.  Still, we kept our eyes open….  while the kids had a blast!  When Tammy and I finally got to go out together, we tore it up and let me summarize by saying that by the end of the day, I was trying to figure out how I was going to buy some 4-wheelers and move to Colorado! .....I'm not kidding.  I haven't had that much fun in YEARS AND YEARS!!  I was spinnin' donuts, chasing deer, going straight down huge hills!!  It was TOO much fun for an old fart like me and I started getting crazy ideas.  Which car can we sell....where am I going to find DUNES in NC!!??  HHMMM.....    At one point I'm riding a trail through a grove of gorgeous Aspens and there are deer just 50 ft away and we cross a little creek and there's an old homestead and I'd just been thinking that if I was ever going to live somewhere this is where it would have been....I did not want to leave!!  Our big adventure was when Tammy's wedding ring FLEW off and we panicked -- How would we find it in the SAND!!??  Our prayers were literally answered when we finally found it sitting on the floorboard of the 4 wheeler....Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!  (Side note here...only my sister could have her wedding ring fly off while riding a 4-wheeler.  I couldn't pull mine off of my finger if it would save my life!!...can you say Chubby Fingers??)  By the end of the evening we were gathered around a fire with the kids playing and I was thinking that THIS WAS THE LIFE!!....granted...I did not have MY kids there to chase but I know they would have had a BLAST!  On the way home Tam and I were almost run off the road by a MOOSE that just ran into the road.  I love it here!     

Wednesday, Corben & I headed out on the Breakfast ride together (and got pancakes/sausage/potatoes/eggs/bacon cooked over a fire).

 

It was fun crossing the river together and  we got to see some antelope along the way.  My, once again, amazing sister surprised me with something I was in MUCH need of after 2 days of riding horses and a full day at the dunes....a trip to the SPA!!  Her wonderful friend, Donna, sent us gift certificates so that we could have some real girl time together.  It was my first professional massage.  I will be going back for sure!  THANK YOU DONNA!!!    Just before we left for the Spa I grabbed some  pics of Corben having a blast at the pool.  He was LOVING it.  So with all this “play time” we decided it was time to do a little “work”. While Chad was at roping practice Wed. night with Corben, we rode up to some mountain ridges to do some sunset pictures.  It was so exciting to see cool stuff showing up on my camera screen! YEAH!!  Sorry if I go a little crazy with pics here for a minute....(These are all SOOC - Straight out of camera...and I had dust on my lens so I have to fix a few ....but anyway)

 

The next morning (Thursday) we got up at 5am and did some sunrise shots too.  They turned out AMAZING! Here are just a very few.  I was SO excited....to say the least....

 

I'm so excited because I get to sell these photos at the ranch and an artist there who makes old barn wood frames has asked to sell my photos with her frames at several craft shows.  YEAH!!  So then I was really excited about taking pictures and couldn't really stop.  I took almost 4000 pictures this week....I know, I'm crazy.  So, here's Corben's Thursday....

   

I joined Corben and his friends in a game of Cow Soccer.  There were goals at each and and you had to try to herd the cows through the goals to win.  Corben did a great job and it was tons of fun! Finally the kids headed out on their Indian Powwow.

Meanwhile us grownups headed inside for a night of entertainment by the famous Tamara Jeanne.  I'm partial to her music...I think she's got great talent!!...oh, and she IS my sister so that helps....

Our entertainment was interrupted when we were attacked by INDIANS!!  Corben came running in with his face painted and looking like he'd had a wonderful night out around the fire.  I'm so glad he's getting to do all of this!!  During the day and that evening I was able to catch a few more pics around the ranch....

Friday morn EARLY, I headed out to see the horses get herded in from the dry lot.

Corben headed out early on his all day ride.  They spent the day jumping and sliding down the sand dunes.  He had a blast!!  It was a busy day for picture taking.  I was asked to take head shots of ALL the horses on the ranch.  There are quite a few!  Afterwards they rounded up all the Paints into one area just so I could take pictures!!

We then convinced my fabulous BIL and another wrangler, JJ, to cross the river on horseback so I could get some more fun shots!!

That night was the big Staff show and Corben and his friends put on a GREAT PLAY!! First they sang a Silly Song called Jellyfish and then Corben took a lead role as Black Bart (Boo Hiss).  Everyone said he mastered his role.

Corben then received

an award for the

Most Enthusiastic Cowboy!!

 

 

 

I headed back up the mountain that night to catch some pics of Chad on his horse.

  

Saturday started off with the kid ride up to the local candy store!!

Next was gymkhana.  It's usually games on horseback but the weather would not allow so they did it indoors on broomsticks.  There was bobbing for apples....

...and a ton of different relay races.  Corben did great!  At the end of it all he won the coveted Golden Horseshoe award for all his great participation all week!!  There was a pizza party and an Ice cream social and life was good.....

Feeling lucky, Corben decided to take a shot at Mutton Bustin' at the local rodeo that night.  This is him just BEFORE....

This is DURING....

....and this is AFTER....(he was a bit stunned and dirty afterwards) but he won 3rd!!

Here's a link to download the video!

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/706440724/cdca301c19845e508a0d211cb84b2892

We then got to watch Uncle Chad and his buddy in the Team Roping and although his heeler didn’t catch, Chad made a great head shot and slick-horned the steer after his horse literally jumped over the barrier out of the “box”! They had the biggest cheering section out of everyone at the rodeo and we let ‘em know it!

 

So then Sunday morning we got up and drove back down to Denver to say good-bye.  It was the best vacation EVER.  Thanks Tam, Chad & the Bar Lazy J for hosting us and letting us have so much fun!!

The saddest moment was standing on the sidewalk outside the airport, waiting for check in, pulling my suitcase with my hay baling cord string and hearing my sister yell, "BYE, RED NECK GIRL!!".

The End...