To ride on a horse is to fly without wings...(as Haylie proved to us all)

Its been awhile since I have posted on this blog. Instragram has captured my attention over the past year in its ability to quickly share a moment in our lives. However, events like the one I'm about to share deserve more then a fleeting post.

In January Haylie joined a Pony Club team. In short explanation, it's basically a narrowed down channel of  4H. Or some would say its like 4H with out the astounding amount of book work that  4H requires. But don't let it fool you, pony club does not lack in educating the students. The participants only ride English. They learn dressage, cross country jumping, and stadium jumping along with  building a massive knowledge base about horses. They are tested in their horse management skills along with their riding skills and rank accordingly. Haylie dreams to compete successfully in cross country jumping, therefore Pony Club is the best place to build upon that dream. 

With the explanation out of the way; this past week (very long week :) ), Haylie and I went to Pony Club camp in Deary Idaho. Deary camp lived up to all the stories we were told. The first 4 days were spent at what they call the Hopeful Horse Trials. They have top notch instructors that provide multiple lessons for 3 days in all 3 disciplines and then on the 4th day they have a show. Then the last 4 days are spent in more lessons and team lead activities with other pony club groups. Three days of very intense lessons paid off for a successful day at the show. Hawkeye and Haylie danced their way through the dressage pattern, flew over the jumps and landed themselves in 2nd place over all out of 16 competitors. I'm very proud of the amazing team the two of them have become. 

The cross country course is quite long and there was no way I would get multiple pictures on the day of the show. A lot of these pictures were taken prior to the show, they are the same jumps she did during the show. 

I love her concentration. 

The life of a pony club mom; following kids from jump to jump during lessons. 

She is always smiling 

Trust me,  I will take care of your little girl.

Her patient audience 

After 3 intense lessons, the minute you hit the pillow you're out. 

Her dad made her this beautiful rolling saddle rack for her birthday. 

Will Haylie and Hawkeye please enter the arena and present their dressage pattern. (I like to refer to dressage as dancing with the horse)

Nice big smile is well deserved after cleanly executing her pattern. 

Even the judge liked her smile. 

Cheering squad patiently waiting for the next event. 

And they are off into Stadium jumping 

Way to much air under her rear end for this moms heart! Next time stick closer to the saddle Haylie Ann. 

It wasn't the smoothest looking jump round, but they jumped clean and had no refusals. 

Then on to Cross Country jumping. This was the last jump on the course. Envision her jumping all the previous jumps I took pictures of and finishing with this one. 

"Practice like you've never won, Perform like you've never lost"

2nd Place Winners!!
(its a rootbeer float stein :) )

Camping!!

"Life is meant for spectacular adventures. 

Let your feet wander, 

your eyes marvel & your soul ignite."

Breakfast always taste better in the fresh air. 

Enjoying his morning coffee while watching the creek flow by. 

Headed to Char falls. Anik was a super trooper!! 

Cool looking falls! I love all of Gods creations. 

Mighty and Strong 

That cheese grin says it all!

Mountain dog. 

Water dog....Ol' faithful Shilo 

So sweet

Clayton and I built a rock tower. 

Haylie and Tom's rock tower. 

He decided to knock ours down. 1st rock didn't do the trick

Still standing 

3rd time letting a bigger rock fly. 

Bingo!!

Shilo loves to fetch rocks off the bottom of the rivers and lakes. 

Burrr that water is cold 

Haylie agrees

Above the falls the river stepped down from pool to pool. 

I love these monkeys!!

I adore how much my two kids love exploring nature. 

It's pretty hard not to take a million pictures of this boy. 

Climbing to the next pool. I think its pretty cool how dark the top of this pictures is. Makes them look like they are climbing into a cave or something. 

Sleepy puppy, Anik slept the whole time we explored. We just kept transferring him from spot to spot. 

Mother Natures foot massage.

This was the deepest pool. We regret not having our swim suits and towels. 

These two loony tunes thought they were going to sleep outside. How long do you think they lasted? 

We wanted to hike/motorcycle into Porcupine Lake. First off we forgot the GPS so, we weren't quite sure how long the trail was. Second, we had planned on riding both motorcycles in and sharing the ride.Third, I envisioned hiking a couple miles, hanging by the lake while the kids fished, eating lunch, taking a dip and possibly a nap. (Always a bad idea to envision things unless you're pretty sure of the outcome)  Haylie only got her bike in about 2 miles and it got to rough. It was also to rough for me to ride with Tom, so I said I would hike. Clayton and I started hiking and told Tom and Haylie to ride ahead and let us know how far the lake was. Hours later they came back, hours of walking up hill packing a sleeping boy for half of it. When they finally came back, they told me I had only about a mile left or we could turn around. No way was I not going to see this lake that I had been hiking towards. 1 mile ended up being 2 miles. Finally after 4 hours of hiking, 3,129 ft of elevation gain, we reached the lake. Beautiful mountain lake, but we only got to spend 20 minutes enjoying it before we had to hike back out. Round trip I hiked a total of 12 miles. Ufffttttaa!! Next time, I am going to do a little more research.

A mom and her two calves enjoying the lake 

I did get some cute pictures of the kids despite the long hike. 

This is what you do when you finally make it to the top. :)

Anik was just as tired. 

"Fly fishing may be considered the most beautiful of all rural sports" ~ Frank Forester

Pretty sure when you go camping, you can wear PJs all day long. 

He loves to cuddle (I'm talking about the puppy hahahah)

I'm sure there will come a time when the tables are turned and these two wear us out to the point of exhaustion. 

Found lots of Hucklberries. 

In search of  geocash 

Found a few treasures worth trading for. 

Haylie and her little bike (Clayton won a little 2.5H motorcycle at the NWTF)

Boys and their toys. 

I told Tom I would never ride his bike with him. Well when, the road is washed out and you can't take the truck into the places you want to go and your horse trailer broke just before the trip.....you sometimes have to bend a little in order to join the family on more adventures. 

Lightning creek road had a ton of spots that the creeks had washed the bridges away. Haylie had to push her bike across most of these. 

The kids were quite proud that they got a picture of me riding Haylies bike back to camp. As long as you are going down hill, the little bike can actually go pretty fast. :)  

Another washout. Like my coat? I pack sweatshirts for everyone except myself. I used Claytons blanket like a shall. The kids said I looked like Bat Women riding Haylies bike. (hahah) 

Playing in the puddle by camp aka Frog Pond

Darren, Taran, Addiosn, Mom and Dad came up to visit on Saturday and have dinner with us. Haylie was showing Addison how to catch frogs. 

I believe they caught a total of 12 

Birthday Snooze for this birthday boy. There is something about a Hammock that beckons you to take a nap. 

When you stink like frog water, you have to take a bath even if the water is a bit chilly. 

Haylie didn't mind the water temperature.