Spring Break, Part 2

After a Mommy/Daughter date at the rodeo with me on Thursday...


...to see Jason Aldean {insert lots of swooning here}, she was already geared up for her St. Paddy's Day riding lesson and rodeo date with her Daddy today...


Her tee says "Irish Girl at Heart"...Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!


Practicing, practicing...the new show season starts very soon...


Our boys snacking on some hay...oh, how I miss having them at home...after being lesson horses for over a year now and being in a pasture with ten or so other horses at any given time, they still are stuck like glue to one another. I love that. They are not related by blood, but know they are brothers all the same.


After her lesson, she gave Frost a bath and had just turned him out to pasture, all proud and happy...


...and then... "Whaaaaaattttt?"


...Frost rolled ten seconds after she put him out... get used to it, little one, they do it to me every time!


In closing, a couple of shots from our last day at Lost Pines...still basking in the great, relaxing time we had there for most of the week...


Love, love, LOVE this shot!



Off to get some errands run while my two sidekicks are at the last of the Rodeo for us today, riding the rides, watching the rodeo and listening to Brad Paisley...enjoying the last two days of our break while we can before school resumes on Monday...now come on Easter break!

Spring Break 2012

After a field trip at Fun Jump earlier, Friday night at the Houston Rodeo - here to see Reba, but first some cattle judging (the cow is taller than the little girl in pink...what a big job for her!)...

...this baby looks just like his mama...sweet!

Some petting zoo fun!

This baby is enjoying his bath :)

It was "Paint the Rodeo Pink" night for Breast Cancer Awareness...very handsome, PINK cowboys :)

Houston Royalty, George & Barbara Bush

The next several pictures are of this bull rider having a not so swell ride :/

The clowns weren't having a great time either...so brave, they are.

The snot is really flying here...he's serious now...eeeeee youch!

Again, look at that clown covering that cowboy! Wow!

Finally, all that's left is his very mangled hat, but he did limp off on his own...no stretcher, so that's a good sign...

Gracie & I always look forward to the Calf Scramble...this poor girl got the slimy end...yuck!

Barrel racing...

...and finally Reba!

She had the fanciest, shiniest, thigh-high boots on I've ever seen...is she really in her 50s?

Even after her big night, Gracie still made it to her friend's spa & craft birthday party on Saturday - great fun for girls and moms both!

On Sunday, it was a very early start...up at 5 am (really 4 to us, but with the time change...) and on the road by 6:20...it poured, but by the time we got settled in, it cleared off and was nice...

First stop...the animals, of course! Bandit loves stalking them :)

I think I'd stay away from those horns though :/

We hung out by the pool all afternoon, after a lunch trip to Lockhart for some great BBQ, but the s'mores were waiting for us later in the evening! They even have double skewers as you can see by all of the double dots in the air :) Yummm...double skewers = double s'mores!!!

Monday morning, Gracie went to the kid's Camp Hyatt and Jack, Bandit & I went for a hike by the river...we found a beautiful, misty Colorado River morn...

Gracie "riding" Ribeye :)

The Lazy River being lazy...

Someone could get lots of sugars under that tree...look at all of that mistletoe!

When we picked her up from camp, the fogginess had burned off and boy, was it a gorgeous day! Straight to the pool...

She's like her Daddy...she makes new friends in nano-seconds!

Jack watching our sunshine on the Lazy River...

Love this "all action" shot!!!

Today, it was supposed to be mostly cloudy (and it was), so we went exploring in Bastrop and Smithville...we love the movie "Hope Floats" and let's just say, the sleepy little town has that claim to fame and, well, not much else...but it was a nice little drive...

The Roadhouse in Bastrop for burgers...Gracie got a T-shirt that says "Peace, Love & Hamburgers" as this little spot made Texas Monthly's Top 50 Burgers in Texas!

Bluebonnets in the resort entrance...

I love this picture, but the color in her face and teary-eyed look had a high price - she sat on a cactus plant :(

All better now...Daddy's on the scene!

...and big horsie kisses don't hurt either!

Making a clay bird...like she formed it from a ball of clay, formed the head, tail, wings, and eyes by her own two little hands and painted it...we will get it in about 3 weeks after it is fired and mailed to us...can't wait!

Bandit's making sure she's doing it right ;)

Off to our Sunset Float trip...after the Lower Colorado River Authority employees, guess who's first in line? lol

...and here we go...Gracie helped paddle the entire two miles...gonna be sore tomorrow!

some ducks ahead...a very peaceful trip...

We arrived back just in time for the resort's Family BBQ Buffet...

We got a bench right by the river with a beautiful view...she ate in between rolls down the hill!

...back up for another roll...

...on second thought, how about a bite of rib?!!

...and that was the last shot of the unicorn, too! The night swim after dinner pretty much nixed him, but this little fish can't be stopped by some magical creature!

We still have so much more Spring Break to go...more adventures to come...night all!