Breyerfest 2010

Ever since I was little and collected Breyer horses and found out that there was a place where other people like me got together to live model horses and real horses together.... I knew I had to make it out to Kentucky. Then I move here, less than an hour away from the Kentucky Horse Park and it still took me a couple of years to get there.

This year I was really excited to be able to make that trek with my little girl who collects Breyer horses and loves the real ones like I do/did. It was a good day for a road trip...just for the girls.... on day one. Megan was planning on going with two friends for the entire weekend, but the two couldn't make it on Friday so it was just Megan and I. Which worked out great.

It was exciting pulling up to the park. Even before you get near the exit ramp off of the interstate, you are passing it. Rolling hills with miles and miles of white fences and all kinds of different barns scattered around. It is horse heaven. It is also neat to have just traveled through some of the most expensive thoroughbred farms in the world. Some of them are tree lined with the biggest old trees, and have huge ornate gates and flags, and barns nicer than homes.

Megan and I went in and the first thing we did was walk through all of the vendors. Many had the newer horses still in boxes but some had tables with open horses that I remember from my childhood. I would smile when i'd see a horse I can remember exactly when I got it for a certain holiday or birthday. Like seeing the original Lady Phase box! It sent me right back to being (probably 8) to Easter when I woke up and saw the box. We went to the river in AZ with my cousins and I remember taking that horse with me. She was always one of my favorites! Seeing stuff like that was cool.

Megan found a horse that she had been wanting and bought it. Then we went into the covered arena and watched a little bit of the show that was going on all day. There were different things going on all day, including horses that Breyer has made models of. That was strange, seeing a horse you've "known" in miniature and seeing the real thing in the arena. Little girls everywhere would gasp...like they had just seen Bono out there. haha.

One model that Megan has, that has been one of my favorites for a long time O'leary's Irish Diamond was there. We watched him in the arena and then later went to visit him in the stable. Where while I was petting him he decided to sneeze green hay snot all over me. I guess that keeps him still one of my favorites....model and in real life because we have a story about him that made us laugh.

below: O'leary's Irish Diamond in his stall.

below: O'leary's Irish Diamond warming up before the indoor arena.

Then we went to stand in line to get our celebration model. Each year when you buy your three day pass, you get a model that has something to do with the theme of the year, and it is only available through Breyerfest. This year was All Glory.

below: All Glory tacked up and ready to go before the show. He is a standardbred with a tail that drags on the ground it is so long. It's always tied up when he's not at a show. He is gorgeous.

We did a little more shopping and took all of our bags out to the car to get our lunch that was in a cooler in the trunk and to smell that new Breyer smell. (My family knows what I'm talking about...it's the smell of childhood!)

It was hot. If hell is half as hot then I promise to be a good girl from this day on out. It was somewhat miserable when you were out in the sun, but the occasional breeze would dry you off and you pretty much had to time things between watching the show, shopping or going inside the air conditioned museums.

Megan and I enjoyed our lunch under a big tree enjoying the breeze, loving the fact that our cooler kept things cold even after hours in the car - sub sandwiches, cold grapes and soda. We had a good long chance to cool down before we went back into the park.

We started to head back home a little after 8:30 , and Megan was thrilled with the days purchases. She's been saving for this for a long time. On Friday she still had some money left to finish up her shopping on Saturday and Sunday. I think she ended up pretty much buying a horse each day and came home with four all together. (I'll add a photo of all of them together later.)

Saturday morning Mike and the other girls left early for an overnight stay and two more days of horse stuff.

I wouldn't mind a job here. Or coming back in another life as a horse who gets to live here. LOL.

There are miles upon miles of fences and scenery like this. There are also life size bronze statues scattered all over, like foals playing and a cool one of a horse and rider during an endurance race jumping over the creek like this. Someday I am going back just to get photos of all of the statues that I can find. Some are obvious but some you have to look for.

Breyerfest continued

This is Isadora Cruce - one of the horses that Megan loved. She is so sweet and gentle. I got to see her on Friday too.below: Isadora Cruce once again on day three. (Megan visited her all three days.) This photo makes me laugh since the horse's mouth is open, it looks like it's smiling This is the horse that she bought the model of in the photos further below. It is kind of neat that you can buy a model of horses that you have 'met.'

That is Megan's 'humidity hair' btw....it was hot and humid.

Megan on a pony! She also got to sit on a shire. One extreme to another!

there is an area under some trees that have these huge chairs. Matthew recognized the girls sitting in one of them from this picture, when he went for a field trip.

leaving with the last day's goods....

summer nights

I had a day off today and we got a lot done. I needed it to catch up a little bit and it was nice to spend an uninterrupted day with the kids. After dinner tonight Mike and I went out on a ride. The past several times we have gone out after dinner we have turned onto this road where we always catch the sun going down. It is gorgeous, and this picture does absolutely no justice. It's always a huge bright orange/red sunset where you can look directly at the sun. It's so pretty setting over the tobacco field here.

At night we've been trying to kill our box of sparklers and fireworks. They are dirt cheap after the 4th.

I love this picture of Matthew....that's him in that blur.

Trevor:

one word.

That's my girl.

summer...continued.....

Well hello beautiful!

This horse was spotted on one of our after dinner rides, which has been my favorite part of this summer so far. Right after dinner.... going out along the farm roads, enjoying the pretty scenery, sunsets and fireflies. The canopy of trees, the cool spots over the creeks that make you shiver from cold, and the smell of endless fields of fresh baled bluegrass hay.

There is a quote I heard once...something that if John Denver wrote that West Virginia was almost heaven....that has to mean that Kentucky IS heaven. Seriously, the nights we've had lately make me believe that!

- of course I also love the stereotypical Kentucky jokes and quotes too. ;) Let's just say that some people perpetuate the stereotype. haha.

Not much going on here. The 4th has come and gone. I was thinking about last year and how it had rained ALL day and spoiled plans for sitting out on the lawn watching the fireworks, and how we were trying to light sparklers in the garage but it was so misty outside nothing wanted to light.

This year we didn't have any plans. I worked for part of the day but got home while it was still light out. We decided not to go to any scheduled fireworks shows or events and kept it low key. Pretty much just watching the fireworks that the neighbors had.

Believe it or not we are already getting in back to school mode. Trevor will be going to an orientation for middle school soon, and we're already buying some new clothes and shoes to get ready. (Loving the employee discount! LOL!) I'm just surprised at how much different this summer seems than last year. Life is crazy!

is this what 11 is really supposed to look like?

Because dang it, I don't think she looks like she's 11 at all. My little girl is getting so big. I wish for a little more time and being able to go back to her little days for awhile. That is part of why I love to scrapbook or blog. It all goes by entirely too fast.

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One thing has remained a constant..... the girl loves to have her picture taken. So I'm not playing favorites here and not having photos of the boys....this was a way to kill some time today. The boys were busy doing their own thing today. - and yes, that is a wardrobe change....something that she loves to do depending on her mood throughout the day. lol.

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Below: don't you wish you could still swing like that and not feel dizzy and like you were going to puke afterwards?

Another perfect Kentucky summer night. We had rain today so the woods were wet and cool. Fireflies were out like crazy.

A lot going on here these days....

Well, maybe not A LOT by old school standards, but for the pace of life things have gone around here for the past couple of months of constant working, working, working and forgetting what day of the week it is....a lot is going on here these days. - I had yesterday off, which was nice....and I took the kids to the pool. We all came home very tan and tired.

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Yesterday was Mike's birthday! 40! Celebrating to be done this weekend.

And speaking of Mike, this morning he went for a run and found this:

I was sleeping in, and he came in and said, "Look!" I opened one eye and thought for sure we had left one of our torties downstairs all night without taking it up to the aquarium when everybody went to bed. I sleepily asked if we did. He said, "No! Look at him!"

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OMGOSH, that isn't one of ours! Mike said that he was out in the road by our house and he picked him up. We will be releasing him in a safer place later tonight. I'm sure he came from the creek behind our house but I think we might relocate him to the park a little further down the road. Less traffic.

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This is the second wild turtle sighting this week. Megan and I had to stop the car the other day to let a snapping turtle cross the road. I don't remember where I heard it or if I'm making it up at this point, but I consider having a turtle cross your path as lucky. So having two in one week in our lives has to mean something right? Lots of good luck?

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After some internet searching, he is a Eastern Box Turtle. He's beautiful. His shell is such a pretty pattern, and I am in love with this little guy. He has such a personality....I'm surprised he's not more afraid of people. He doesn't bring his head in his shell when you pick him up. In fact, he stretches it out pretty far and tolerates being petted on his head and legs. I wish we could keep him. We sure have enjoyed our time with him today though.

And now.... time to get ready for a night of work. Power Hours....Kohl's....where you can expect great things.....and a busy night in the fitting rooms.

Summer so far.....

Summer vacation has been good to us so far. We've only had a couple of days of unbearable heat....but as usual there have been some gorgeous days to outnumber the yucky ones. To have our windows open in June still amazes me.

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Night time is awesome. Sunset especially. My favorite thing to do this year is to go out after dinner and drive down some of the back roads to see the fireflies that are out like crazy. I wish there was a way to capture them with a camera....with the windows down, the pockets of cold air when you go under the huge trees that cover the roads, and the fireflies. Summer can be so pretty. I think I actually get excited about the beginnings of every season here. They all have their own special thing about them.

Near my home: The Abner Gaines home. Federal Style mansion built in 1790. Built by Abner Gaines who was the owner of the first stage line between Lexington and Cincinnati. The house was used as an inn and a stagecoach stop. It has three stairways and six fireplaces with carved mantels. (A bit of trivia.) I pass this house on the Dixie Highway in between my old house and where I live now.


A lot of rain has brought a lot of pretty wildflowers.

Waiting for a train to pass...

My pot of baby basil on my deck. I also have cilantro and lettuce for the torties.

Last day of school...2010.

This year has been....odd. We started out in a different school district, and ended in another one. Somehow the two seem like entirely different years. Stuff from the other school is such a distant memory. I remember being sad when I signed all the papers to transfer but as we moved and got used to new things this part of our year has flown by.

Matthew will be in third grade next year. He had a GREAT year in his new school. He had a great teacher who made all the difference. It's strange to think that next year when he goes back, he'll be my only one at the elementary school.

Trevor's year....wow. He had a great year too. ANOTHER amazing teacher who made such a difference in the way his year went. She was so amazed at how smart he was when he transferred that she got him into gifted programs right away. This time more than just advanced math. She loved him, and he loved her. We always got good reports about T.

below: last day of school for the classroom awards....

Trevor receiving an award for the A honor roll.

Next year he'll be at the middle school with Megan. I didn't tear up until the principal was talking about how much fun they'll have in the new school and how it's hard to believe that these kids will be entering 5th grade and how quickly it seemed since they were just kindergartners. *Gulp* that hit my mommy heart. Middle school. It sounds so....grown up. Technically I still go by the 'middle school' years the way it was defined in Phoenix, being 7th and 8th grade. So somewhere in my heart I think that they'd still be elementary kids for another couple of years. It is my coping mechanism. haha.

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Trevor went on a trip to the middle school last week to get a tour. He's extremely excited! He said the only thing he is nervous about is the locker situation. He's already worried he won't be able to find it the first week of school and that he'll forget his combination. That's normal. I told him they are all feeling the same way and that it's to be expected the first week to not be able to remember which locker is yours. Before he knows it, it will all be easy. (I didn't tell him that as an adult...from this day forward he'll probably have that weird reoccurring nightmare that you forget your locker combination, even decades after having to deal with lockers!) I didn't want to scare him!

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Megan had a great start to her summer vacation right after school. She was invited to go up to King's Island with some friends right after school got out. I didn't get to see her until late. My baby girl will be in 7th grade next year! It will be nice to have her show Trevor the ropes to help him ease into it next year, and nice to have them both at the same school.

So now I have done my favorite part of the last day of school...purged all the papers from backpacks, thrown away the lunch menu from the front of my refrigerator and and thrown away the yucky lunchboxes that could barely stand one more trip into the washing machine for the year!

Summer vacation has officially begun!

Finally! The Great American Ballpark or bust!

Finally... a blog update and a much anticipated event. It has been a long time since I have sat down to blog anything! Guess where the kids went this past weekend? background: cool new skyscraper being built.)

below: Believe it or not...that is a smile. A huge smile. It's hard to tell with the missing front teeth.

Mike surprised the kids with a Reds game. The weather was perfect, blue sky, enough cloud cover at times to cool things down a bit and a ticket package that included free hats and skateboard decks. They got there hours early to make sure they got one before they ran out. There were a lot of activities to keep them busy until the game started.

more....

There is an area where kids can run the bases and they are timed to see how fast they can do it. Looking at these photos, I really don't know how those skinny boy legs on both of them keep them up.

loading...loading...loading....

checking out the scenery before the game starts...

continued...

Getting to the seats early, so it doesn't look like many people are actually there. - If you aren't entirely into baseball... or the game gets long.... the best seats are actually at the top where you can watch the river traffic going by. Here is a big coal barge being pushed up the river. The bridge on the right hand side is the John Roebling bridge. (Built before, and by the same man as the Brooklyn Bridge...if it looks somewhat familiar.) It is getting some work done on it so there are huge tarps on it right now. It's such a beautiful bridge and fun to drive across since you can see through the roadway.

In the far background is Northern Kentucky.