As little girls, we thought cleaning house and playing dolly was really fun. 'Course, we could put down our play chores anytime we wanted to. So when real life house and dolly came into play, maybe we were more than a little surprised how unrelenting the tasks at hand really were. This woman pretty much sums it all up.
Not really my style of music, but well done nonetheless. And completely kid friendly.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Mattie Meets Montana de Oro (or How to Wear Out Horse & Kids In One Fell Swoop)
(For those of you who receive these updates via e-mail, to see photos, click through to the blog.)
First, don't bring a good map. Bring a cruddy little, general map of the park which spells out WHICH trails are horse accessible, and which are off limits, but omits super helpful info like, oh, topo details or, say, landmarks.
Then, don't bring a GPS. Newfangled technology makes outdoor adventures far too easy. You can't have a properly exhausting family adventure without losing yourself in a small maze of unofficial, but clearly well-established, trails.
Bring only one horse to be shared between four people. OK, we're technically three riders and one dedicated walker, but you get the idea.
Bring only the tack that accommodates the rider with the shortest legs.
Then set out before lunchtime knowing you have a good five hours before you have to load back into the trailer and head for home, and explore trail spurs along the way.
OK, certainly those aren't the ideal pointers, but that's what we had to work with and we had a fantastic day at Montana de Oro where Mr. B and I could never really be lost. The girls played along nicely and traveled well. Mattie performed wonderfullyl. We found a few sticky spots (she wasn't all that thrilled about stepping down over a thick root in a spot where she had to pass between a tall tree and a tall bank), but worked through them. V was onboard when Mattie decided to go UP the bank rather than simply walk past that "scary bank." Mr. B led Mattie across the first water hazard, which she preferred to jump. (HEAVEN forbid she should get her hooves wet.) She and I worked on that issue at a couple of other crossings, including a super challenging step from sticky mud, across a significant log into a running creek. I discovered she was just bluffing about that fear of water when she stopped mid-creek to graze.
While Mr. B and the girls began their return route, I took a short side canyon down to a fantastic stretch of beach before returning to the maze of trails in which we all spent a little extra time before calling it a day.
By the time we returned to the trailer, Mattie was a sweaty, muddy mess and we were all ready for naps. And I'm not sure any of us have fallen asleep so quickly at bedtime in recent history. I can hardly wait to do it again.
First, don't bring a good map. Bring a cruddy little, general map of the park which spells out WHICH trails are horse accessible, and which are off limits, but omits super helpful info like, oh, topo details or, say, landmarks.
Then, don't bring a GPS. Newfangled technology makes outdoor adventures far too easy. You can't have a properly exhausting family adventure without losing yourself in a small maze of unofficial, but clearly well-established, trails.
Bring only one horse to be shared between four people. OK, we're technically three riders and one dedicated walker, but you get the idea.
Bring only the tack that accommodates the rider with the shortest legs.
Then set out before lunchtime knowing you have a good five hours before you have to load back into the trailer and head for home, and explore trail spurs along the way.
OK, certainly those aren't the ideal pointers, but that's what we had to work with and we had a fantastic day at Montana de Oro where Mr. B and I could never really be lost. The girls played along nicely and traveled well. Mattie performed wonderfullyl. We found a few sticky spots (she wasn't all that thrilled about stepping down over a thick root in a spot where she had to pass between a tall tree and a tall bank), but worked through them. V was onboard when Mattie decided to go UP the bank rather than simply walk past that "scary bank." Mr. B led Mattie across the first water hazard, which she preferred to jump. (HEAVEN forbid she should get her hooves wet.) She and I worked on that issue at a couple of other crossings, including a super challenging step from sticky mud, across a significant log into a running creek. I discovered she was just bluffing about that fear of water when she stopped mid-creek to graze.
While Mr. B and the girls began their return route, I took a short side canyon down to a fantastic stretch of beach before returning to the maze of trails in which we all spent a little extra time before calling it a day.
By the time we returned to the trailer, Mattie was a sweaty, muddy mess and we were all ready for naps. And I'm not sure any of us have fallen asleep so quickly at bedtime in recent history. I can hardly wait to do it again.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Easter: Grandma, Eggs and Hunting
(For those of you who receive these updates via e-mail, to see photos, click through to the blog.)
This year, thanks to my impeccable (ahem!) scheduling, E's birthday party shared the weekend with Easter. Thought it made for interesting travel for those coming from afar (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!), and those trying to take part in the myriad family friendly Easter-related events here on the coast, the unintended back-to-back special events also meant Grandma was here to help us decorate eggs.
Flo's output is great, but with one chicken laying one egg per day in a family of four, well, there just aren't many eggs left over for the decorating. So, we resorted to free-range white eggs (who knew?) found at a local market. The end result: fun, festive, tasty creations.
The girls found most of their morning goodies with little effort, despite the Easter Bunny's effort to increase the degree of difficulty. They still love following the bunny's tracks through the house on their initial hunt for the baskets, then searching out the plastic (and some real) eggs in the yard. Mr. Bunny's going to have to step up his cammo efforts next year if he wants to keep them on board! :)
This year, thanks to my impeccable (ahem!) scheduling, E's birthday party shared the weekend with Easter. Thought it made for interesting travel for those coming from afar (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!), and those trying to take part in the myriad family friendly Easter-related events here on the coast, the unintended back-to-back special events also meant Grandma was here to help us decorate eggs.
Flo's output is great, but with one chicken laying one egg per day in a family of four, well, there just aren't many eggs left over for the decorating. So, we resorted to free-range white eggs (who knew?) found at a local market. The end result: fun, festive, tasty creations.
The girls found most of their morning goodies with little effort, despite the Easter Bunny's effort to increase the degree of difficulty. They still love following the bunny's tracks through the house on their initial hunt for the baskets, then searching out the plastic (and some real) eggs in the yard. Mr. Bunny's going to have to step up his cammo efforts next year if he wants to keep them on board! :)
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