Enjoying Summer

I am so blessed to be able to enjoy this summer with my gal.

Birthday/Father's Day Celebrations

It was a busy weekend for my family because Father's Day and my birthday landed on the same day this year. Oh - and my sister's birthday was on Thursday before mine. So we did our usual birthday/Father's Day combo at my mom's house on Saturday this year.

Here is Miss B ready to go to Gramma's house...

My mom decorated her dining room...

My sister brought these mini cheesecakes for the men...

And my mom had a birthday cake made for my sister and me...

We all exchanged Father's Day and birthday gifts. One of my gifts from my mom was a Buddha Pandora charm. I love it! (Doug got me a giraffe and now my bracelet is totally full and complete)...

We walked in the front yard for a bit...

Then on Sunday, my friend/neighbor Amy dropped by my house and surprised me with these amazing flowers...

Doug opened all his Father's Day gifts - including a hand print Bri made in school...

Doug bought me a beautiful purple tanzanite necklace, the giraffe Pandora bead and a Vera Bradley laptop case for my laptop...

And after eating dinner at our favorite hibachi restaurant, Doug had a special cake waiting for me at home...

The cake was gorgeous! But I now have so much cake left over in my fridge.Wanna come over and help me eat it? ;)

It was a very special weekend!

Horseback Riding Camp Recap

Bri had an absolute blast at horseback riding camp, and Friday the girls showed off what they learned. Luckily, Doug and my parents were able to come see Bri and her friends strut their stuff.

All smiles before camp on Friday...

Posing in front of Ponca Pony...

Doug, my parents and I got to the barn about 2PM and were ready to see Bri in action. She has her helmet on here and poses with my mom...

Bri and Maisie hanging out - waiting to saddle their horses...

Let bridle and saddle Ponca up...

Leading Ponca to the ring...

My mom and dad posing with Tia...

Ready to roll...

Look at me!! ~

Doing a "tush push" into the saddle while Ponca trots...

Bri getting her ribbon...

Heading back to the stall...

Look at my ribbon! ~

Saying goodbye to Ponca. He actually reached out his lips to Bri. It was so cute...

My crazy and wacky gal done for the day...

Bri is enjoying dance camp this week. Toward mid-summer, I am going to ask Bri was her favorite activity was and decide what lessons she will get in the fall. With school being full time, she will get to choose one activity for after school. Right now, it looks like horseback riding is her favorite thing. I have a mini art camp scheduled for her to attend in July (just one day) and she seems super excited about that.

Gymnastics, dance, horseback riding, soccer, art - we are trying it all. I'm curious to see what the winner will be!

Here is Bri riding her horse all by herself!

Horseback Riding Camp Comes To An End

Friday was the last day of horseback riding camp, and Bri and I were so sad to see it come to an end. Bri loved every second of it and I am actually considering horseback riding lessons for her now. The girls did a showcase the afternoon of the last day and they all received ribbons and bright colored cupcakes for all their hard work.

I will do a longer recap on the last day in my next post. It was a bit of a busy weekend between it being Father's Day and my birthday.

Today is the first day of dance camp and Bri is very excited. Details soon to come of course!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy in the whole world!

(And Happy Birthday to me too! :D)

 And a very Happy Father's Day to my father!
(Here we are in 1974)

So Far, So Good

So far, Briana is loving camp. She loves her horse Ponca. So much so that when she didn't see him when we first walked into camp on Tuesday morning, she got really nervous. "Where is Ponca?" "I don't see Ponca." A few minutes later, he was strolled into the barn after a short walk. Bri was all smiles and ready to get to riding.

Friday, there will be a showcase in the afternoon so I can see everything she learned all week. I am so proud of my gal. Maybe this is her new "thing."

The Last Hurrah

Sadly, my friend Liene and her family are moving back to Indianapolis, Indiana at the end of June. I know they are excited about moving back to their home state, but we are going to miss them here in GA. We decided to have one last swim date this afternoon at my neighborhood pool with the kids before they have to pack up and leave town. The kids had lots of fun splashing, sliding and swimming. The water was really cold today for some reason, so they needed more than one break in a lounge chair to get some warm sun!

Wishing Liene, Lane, Eriks and Emilija all the best of luck in their move back to Indiana!

First Day of Horseback Riding Camp

(Above picture taken by Lisa) - Here are Chani, Maya, Maisie and of course Briana.

The first day of horseback riding camp was a major success. All the girls had a wonderful time and Bri said on the way out that she wants to go back every day! The girls learned to brush and saddle their horses, had a riding lesson, did some barn chores and learned about the different breeds of horses.

This is Ponca, the horse Briana is going to ride this week...

Here she was ready to go to the stables...

The girls...

Briana in front of the ring...

And Chani too...

Briana meeting Ponca with her instructor Kim...

Horse heads poking out of the stalls...

Bri learning to groom her horse...

Let's roll...

All the girls mounting their horses...

I wish I captured it, but Chani had a huge smile on her face the entire time...

Bri concentrating...

 

Miss Maisie...

After watching the girls for about an hour, the mamas eventually sneaked off for a little while to a nearby St@rbucks for some drinks and chit chat. On Friday, there will be a showcase in the afternoon so the kiddos can show off what they have learned. I'm so proud of my brave girl!

Oh - and here are a couple of videos!