And then they were done...

Peonies come and go too fast.

A Sunny Day

Those peonies I posted about a few days ago? The rain didn't come and they are blooming like crazy!  They are so pretty!

I'm not so sure this little black barn kitty meant to nap in the shade or if the sun just moved enough to leave her in the shadows.

After a very good dressage lesson, Equestrian Girl let Stanley absorb some of that sunshine coming in the barn doors.  Within a half hour, he was out in his pasture absorbing LOTS of sun.

Road Trip with a Friend

Equestrian Girl was invited on a short road trip up north with her friend K.  They managed to get a LOT of trip into 2 days.

They went "golfing".

 Although posing for "golfing pictures" was more fun than playing.

They dipped their toes in Grand Traverse Bay which leads out to Lake Michigan.

They splashed in the water a bit too.

They posed for more pictures.

 And more.

And more.

And then they let the friend's parents get in on the posing agent.  With a giant fish.  Nobody could tell me the story behind this fish.  I'm guessing it's a Rainbow Trout - the Michigan State Fish.

They also went to Gaylord and Frankenmuth - as I mentioned,  a lot of vacation in 2 days.

Jersey is NOT a cow!

This is Jersey.  She's not a cow. She's a reining horse.

A very, very good reining horse actually and Equestrian Girl fell in love with her.

This is why.

Hopefully we have reining horses like this tomorrow at the zone meet for the IEA competition where we have our fingers crossed Equestrian Girl will place in the top 3 and go on to the national competition in Oklahoma!!

Welding Hood

Motocross Boy/Man is taking welding lessons from our very talented neighbor.  He needed his own welding hood and we found this very cool one modeled backwards, forward, and with just the beanie that you wear under it or when you want to look really tough - even if you are standing in front of a closet full of horse showing clothes.  Love him!

Not a Deetroit Sunrise

No, this is just the expressway at a few minutes after 6 a.m.  Blindingly beautiful some mornings...

Peonies

I have two pretty large peony plants.  They've been in the same spots for quite a few years - like more than 15 I think.  And every year we get a bad storm just as they all start blooming and all the beautiful flowers hit the ground. Of course, I could cage them and that would probably help but I never remember to do that until after they've started blooming and I start worrying about the storm that is inevitable.  This year, I managed to cut a few AND even take a few pictures and there are no storms in the forecast for the next few days so I might even get to see them REALLY bloom out!!

Bed head

Love the new hair cut but it sure does some crazy stuff when I'm sleeping!

Horses at Home

I have a friend who has a horse that likes to peek in her kitchen window and beg for treats - this reminded me of her!

The Kaw 250

The other day I posted pics of the naked new bike with no graphics.  It's not naked any longer.

Washing the bike and making sure it's really clean is important. Helps with the aerodynamics.

Legue did the graphics and they turned out great.  There's a reason to use some of these graphics - they protect the plastic under them.  These giant stickers are really thick so when the rider and bike go down and hit the dirt, only the rider gets scratched up, not the bike.  Just kidding!  The riders have lots of gear on to prevent that too.  They just get dirty and a lot of sand in their mouths.

Motocross Boy/Man is racing on this huge monster today (Sunday) so I'm anxious to hear how he does.  Fingers are crossed.

My Favorite Boy

Motocross Boy/Man helped me to celebrate Mother's Day a day early with a special mother-son day together.  We started with going out to lunch together at Olive Garden where the waitress asked if he was buying me lunch of Mother's Day.  He said yes and then had me pass him the cash under the table later to so he could pretend to be paying.  Love this kid!  Just before lunch he gave me a present he made for me in his metal working class. It's a steal heart he cut out and painted.  It's really heavy!  

After lunch we went grocery shopping and my boy/man helped me carry in all the groceries and put them away.  Then it was off to do something he only mildly likes to do - horse back riding!

 He loves Stanley and spent about 3 minutes riding him after I was done.

 Me and my boy/man.

A New Motorcross Bike

Motocross Boy/Man hasn't been sitting still this spring either.  First he got that new 125 and almost instantly upgraded to a 250!  They got a great deal on this almost brand new Kawasaki.  This was the day they got it.  Now it's filled with cool graphics that I have yet to photograph.

As soon as he got it home he grabbed a helmet and tested it going down our little street.  And it stalled.  He forgot to turn the gas on.

Our neighbors probably love us when he gets a new bike. They are LOUD!!

Western Pleasure Class at Spur

Stanley rocks the Western Pleasure Class.  Always.  This judge didn't think so but was very wrong in our humble opinions.

The Bestest Trail Class Horse!

Equestrian Girl and I both like doing the Trail Class and we snuck that in before the Western Classes.  By then I was hot though and had shed the chaps and pretty purple vest. Ditched the slacks for jeans too...  Notice we both get big smiles when we are done?