Day 4, June 19th, 2009

Water, water, water. It's all about the water while we are having this heat wave. The temps are hitting the high 90's and with the high humidity, the heat index is over 100 every afternoon.

The kids rode the horses again this morning and got very hot and sweaty so spent the rest of the morning at the creek down below our house. I wish I had gotten that water proof camera I talked about, because we found a very pretty spot with small waterfalls and big rocks. I was proud of Alli for getting very brave about wading in the creek. It's not easy for her, being such a city girl and so afraid of bugs, but she did it and went as far as the rest of us. Wally doesn't seem to be afraid of anything so leads the way in whatever we do.

After lunch we played cards INSIDE in the air conditioning. Thank the Lord for air conditioning. Wally took quite a liking to Black Jack, especially if he was the dealer. Alli did well playing too and I was impressed with her counting ability at age 7.

Finally we decided we had to get a water activity closer to the house so we drug out the pool from year before last and with a lot of effort got it set up and ready to fill. By this time the kids were ready to be outside again so they played in the pool as it was filling. Grampa had to stay close by to make sure as much of the water as possible went INTO the pool and not on the grass.

Wally looks like he has the upper hand in the pictures above and below, twirling the hose like cowboy with a lasso .

But when Alli got her turn, she managed to give him some good splashing. I guess it's a good thing it was 98 degrees or they would not have liked that cold water.

Day 3, June 18th, 2009

On this morning of vacation, Wally chose to spend the time with Grampa shooting the air rifle. It was just target practice but I heard later there was some talk of possible rabbit or squirrel hunting to bring some meat home to the women. I seriously doubt that's going to happen with all the soft hearts around here. In fact last year when one of the dogs killed a baby rabbit, Wally had a funeral for it and made a marker for the grave.

Of course Alli wanted to go with me to the horses and since she was out there without Wally, she got to ride both of them. You might get the idea the bugs are bad by the head net she is wearing, and you would be right. The gnats just swarm us whenever we are out so it's safer this way, plus it gives some sun protection.

Alli is a very natural rider and with practice she could become very good at it. She has no fear and quite good balance. The palomino she is riding in the above picture is "her" horse, Luke.

The paint in the picture below is Little Joe, and is considered to be Wally's horse. I have them ride bareback so their balance will improve and so they can get the true feel of the horse under them. Also it's a real pain to drag out those heavy saddles and not worth the effort for just a few minutes of riding. And a few minutes is all we can stand in this hot weather.

I know we did a lot more that day, mainly swimming in Blue John creek in the afternoon, but I didn't get any pictures of it. I really need a water proof camera for all these water related activities we engage in.

Day 2 continued, June 17th, 2009

Wally finally got to pet Heidi. He employed a good strategy and picked her up while she was in her cat bed. She seemed to be ok with it and he didn't get scratched. I think both of these kids love cats better than anything else. Too bad we don't have very friendly cats.

After our first trip to the creek below our house, we immediately went to Blue John creek, the one that floods when it rains hard and keeps us marooned. Nigel went with us. Grampa, Amy, and Xena decided to walk for exercise. We wimped out and rode in the Ranger.


In the picture above, the kids are working up their nerve to get in the cold water. We all finally did and it is about up to my waist at the culverts. It felt good on such a hot day. Naturally we are having a heat wave now that we have company. Last week the weather was so pleasant. Now we have to run the air conditioner constantly.

Day 2, June 17th, 2009

We were all up bright and early (too early), and first thing on the agenda was a trip to the barn to see the horses and wish Little Joe a happy 9th birthday. He got extra carrots for that. I had promised the kids they could ride early when it was cooler and they held me to it. It still felt too hot to me but they would not be discouraged. The horses were less than enthusiastic, but they are both good, easy going horses and cooperated well enough.

Both kids did very well with the horses and didn't complain about me making them ride bareback. They wanted to go outside the round pen but I don't trust the horses or them well enough yet for that.

The gnats were bad this morning so most of us opted to wear out bug nets. Wally braved it without one at first but finally realized the wisdom of it. Can you see the smug look on Alli's face?

Next, I took the kids, Xena and Nigel to the creek below our house so we could all cool off. This blur below that looks rather like a wild boar is the puppy, enjoying the water to the fullest.

Look at those big ears! She is looking for Nigel, her playmate. Annie wasn't feeling well enough to make the trip to the creek.

We looked for tadpoles and there were thousands there last week but the heavy rains washed them all away. Wally opted to collect snails instead. These will go into the terrium we are setting up for frogs. He caught two last night but they got away (wink, wink). No doubt they will be back tonight, catching bugs by the back door.

Day 1, June 16, 2009

On June 16th, Amy, Wally (age 9), Allison (age 7) and Xena (the puppy) arrived in Blue John for their summer vacation. They had to drive for two days to get here and Mama Amy was understandably very tired. The kids were wired up and ready to go after the long trip. Of course they headed for the cats first thing. I managed to get a few pictures of Alli holding Zeke. I was surprised she caught him. I haven't seen him since. Wally captured Heidi but I was too slow and missed getting a picture. She is also in hiding. Bedtime did not come soon enough for the adults but by 11:00 we were all snoozing.