Sassy Six

Last Tuesday was our baby girls birthday!  Six...wow! 

 Kynlee Rose

6 Years

~

Loves playing with her friends, singing, dancing, animals, craft

 and EVERYTHING and ANYTHING horses! 

This girls eats, breathes and dreams horses, and aspires to be a Rodeo Queen!!!

Has a baby doll named Stacey, and insists we tell everyone she is real.

Played Tball for the first time, loved it, and talks about playing every year.

Would eat meat and meat only for every meal

Won't eat blueberries, but loves Raspberries

Collects anything she can get her hands on...you name it, she wants to keep it.

This girl is all sass and attitude topped with lots of love and cuddles, and we just can't get enough of her.  

We love you to pieces "nugs"!  Happy, happy Birthday to you!

Kynlee asked to celebrate her party with friends and family at the Osborne Aquatic Center's outside pool "Otter Beach"...horse themed of course!!!

 

 

Here's the gang

10 Degrees of Relief

Things in our families little world, have been rather stressful these past few months.  Running a business, the household, and still trying to get the kids to and from school, sports, friends, etc...all wear on a person over time.  It's life...we all experience it, and live it every day!  BUT...sometimes you just need to take a deep breath, leave it all behind, and enjoy time together as a family.

 

That's what we did on Sunday.  We are pretty blessed to live within 40 minutes of the coast, and although we don't take advantage of it nearly as often as we should, it's always a great time when we do!  This trip however, definitely topped my list of all time fantastic trips to the beach!!!

The weather report called for high 80's in the valley, and high 60's, low 70's at the coast.  So...we packed up a few things, loaded the car, and headed to the coast for 10 degrees of heat relief, business relief, and just plain stress relief.  The Oregon coast tends to be extremely windy 90% of the time, so we only planned on staying for a bit, letting the kids run in the sand, and maybe touching our toes in the ocean before they froze off in the characteristically cold water. 


We arrived to 71 degrees, clear blue skies, and a SLIGHT breeze...not normal coast wind at all.  Found a great little path to the beach...off the beaten trail for the hundreds of other people who had our same idea...and ran for the water!

Kevin doesn't like the sand...I know..."gasp"...he just doesn't like it getting between his toes, and all over everything.  So...when we climbed down the stairs and hit the beach, he was beyond excited to be walking on hardened sand where the tide once covered it earlier that day.  No soft blowing sand to get between his toes...it was great!

The water was the WARMEST I've ever experienced at the Oregon Coast...Seriously the Warmest!  It didn't take your breath away at all, and the kids ran right out and started swimming.  Unheard of I tell ya!

We even got to introduce the kids to everyone's favorite ocean activity...jumping over the  waves.

 
I sat back, soaked up the rays, enjoyed the giggles and laughter coming from the kids...Kevin included...all the while catching up on some reading!

These are the faces of the cutest kids on the beach that day!!!  They had more fun than they've had in a long time, and kept thanking us for the "Family Day".  A reminder that we need to have more "family days", and less "I've got to get this done" days!

Horse Girl Diva

When we had to sell our horse Kizzie a few years back, I was truly devastated.  I had finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of having my own horse, and the timing just wasn't right for our family.  The plan..my plan that is...was to get another horse some day in the future, when it fit in our lives better.

I never pushed horses on our kids, nor did I ever plan on doing so...however...Kynlee quickly showed that she and I have a similar love affair with the amazing animals.  She recently has been eating, breathing and dreaming horses, spots them in fields from a mile away, and wants nothing in life more than to own HER own horse.  She begged, pleaded, and fluttered her eyelashes enough that we agreed to let her take riding lessons at a local barn, Inavale Farms.  She LOVES it!!!
 

 While our family tends to be a primarily Western/Cowboy type family, Inavale is predominantly English centered.  They get a kick out of Kynlee walking in with her jeans and cowgirl boots on, hoping on a Western Saddle, while they are all in riding pants and working on jumps and dressage.  But...the eventing bug is starting to trickle through Kynlee's little veins, and I'm curious to see how long it takes before she wants to try it out.  

Anyways...Every year Inavale hosts a 3 day event, called the Inavale Farms Horse Trials.  Hundreds of horses and riders travel from all over Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California, to be a part of the event, and it is quite the hoping place, let me tell you.  Kynlee and I, with our friend Mindy, braved the 90 degree temperatures and joined the masses for a few hours on Sunday!  It's so neat to be right up close to the action!  

Heat and all...Kynlee couldn't get enough!