Horse Week at the Farm

This was a great week at the farm. Peyton Grace attended a local horse camp. She loved it so much. We also took the opportunity to read a book from my childhood "The Black Stallion and the Girl". P G was exhausted at the end of each day at camp, so we saved our reading until bedtime. I lived for horses and read all the books just like her at this wonderful age of 8.

This is second day at "horse camp". It was in the Canton area and run by two very capable women, one a western teacher and one an English teacher. Peyton loved both. Riding english one day her horse even made a little jump over some flowers. She was thrilled! It was probably the high light of her week.

"Oh, just let me get a little taste of that sweet Peyton Angel Grace farm hair." Pleease?

Please notice how squeeky clean she is at the beginning of the day, day one.

End of day one. After a glorious day of riding the kids went to the lake and had a mud fight. I'm serious, mud from head to toe. She had to be hosed down practically. And she loved every single minute of it.

P G and her instructor Carolyn Stambaugh from "Horses from the Ground Up". Every picture I took, Peyton was grinning from ear to ear, just from being on the horse. Carolyn has a beautiful way with horses. Her strength is horse communication, much like the horse whisperer. She is gifted in that area and hopefully will teach P G those skills too. P G likes to go by Peyton Angel Grace at her camps. It's her alias :)

This is a trust lesson. She has to close her eyes and take her hands from the reins and trust that the horse will protect her. She was a little hesitant the first time, but then had it down.

A girl and her horse. That is true love and the end of a wonderful week. She is living her dream!

Coolest kid in town!

My youngest grandson Zachary. Is he a cutie or what?!?! One of his best talents, among many, is that he is an amazing cook. He is one of those cooks that looks in the cupboard and just creates. He and his "sue" chef Peyton Grace made the most awesome pancakes. He added a little vanilla, just the right amount of cinnamon, and voila, gourmet pancakes. They were so good you didn't need butter or syrup. We had made pasta from scratch the night before. Next time I will turn him loose with that and watch what happens! What a great kid. Watch out world, Zach is getting ready to take you by storm!

Victory!! They RAN up this humoungous hill. That noise you hear is me huffing and puffing in the background trying to make it up the hill. Abby would raise her paws up if she could.

How sweet is this. They are probably looking for more worms, or discussing the life cycle of a bug. They are both brainiacs.

Cousins!

These are my youngest two grandchildren. You all are familiar with the little cutie Peyton Grace, now 8, how did that happen so fast. The handsome one is my youngest grandson Zachary. He is 13, how did that happen so fast, and a really terrific kid. He has my passion for art. He is smart and funny and sometimes a little quiet. He can literally make art out of nothing. His mind amazes me. I don't get him so often, being 13 and all, so I treasure the times I do. Peyton Grace thinks the sun rises and sets on her cousins. She about sucks the life out of them when she gets a chance to see them. Each one of them is good with her in different ways. Zach is like a big brother to her. They have a lot in common. When he was here this weekend they both hit the ground running digging up worms and exploring. What fun grandchildren are I'm telling you.