RENA'S FIRST HORSE RIDE

Last Sunday afternoon Rena got to go with her Girl Scout Troop to a horse ranch.  The girls got to brush the horses, ride the horses, give a horse a bath, make horse treats and feed the horses and make a little horse craft to take home.

Rena LOVED it all!  Here she is.......


This was her favorite horse -- polkadot......



Hadley and Rena - they shared polkadot.....


Rena is ready to ride.......







Rena and Ashlyn taking a break from riding and making their art project......


Bath time!......


Time to ride again!  This time they switched horses.....




This was the BIG horse -- Beamer.  At first Rena wanted nothing to do with him, but by the end of the day she was happy to ride him......


Time to let the horses rest -- but first, one last brushing.....


Making special treats to feed to the horses.......


Of course, Rena chose to feed her treat to polkadot......


The troop - Audrey, Lauren, Rena, Ashlyn, Emma, Hadley and Makayla.....


Rena now thinks that she wants to take riding lessons.  Ughhhhhhh!  I might be happier with the idea if I didn't spend 3-1/2 of the 4 hours there at the ranch not being able to breathe!  Allergies hit me as soon as we walked into the barn.  Luckily Rena doesn't have that problem and she had such a great day with her troop and the horses that she didn't want the time to end!  Maybe she can get her dad to take her to some lessons?!!?!!  :)

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

On Sunday over the long Memorial Day Weekend, we drove out to Valley Center for a fun day of swimming, playing, and relaxing with friends.  Our friends, The McCullough's, invited us out to Annie's dad's house for the day.  Valley Center is about 45 minutes from us and her dad lives on 3 acres with lots of fun things to do!

The girls were in the pool about 2 minutes after we arrived......

The boys eventually joined in......

Time to relax.....

.....until the boys attack......

After swimming the boys decided it would be a good time to take The Gator for a spin......

Jeff just couldn't stand sitting out missing out on all of the fun......

.....and then, of course, he had to take a turn in the drivers seat......

Time for more pool time......

The boys put The Gator away and got out their bikes......

Before going home Jeff took his turn holding Annie's niece -- don't they both look happy?..... 

It was another beautiful day and we couldn't have thought of a better way to spend it!

MALEAH IS A BROWNIE

Last Friday Maleah graduated from a Daisy to a Brownie! 

The whole troop (that was half Daisy and half Brownie) had a bridging ceremony and party to celebrate the girls who moved up to Brownie. 
Here's Maleah still as a Daisy.....

She crossed the bridge as a Daisy......

.....and turned into a Brownie.....

All of the girls in the troop are now Brownies!

This is Girl Scout Troop #4613 (and Rena)......

Rena is officially part of another troop, but because Maleah's troop is half Brownies from Rena's grade and class at school they always invite her along for the fun stuff!  She even got a couple of special pins and a flower at the celebration!

ALL AMERICAN PERFORMACE

Last week all of the first grade classes at LaCosta Meadows put on the annual All American Performance.  Maleah's big part in the performance was the "Preamble Rap" and she did a great job.  She has been practicing for months and was so excited when it was actually time perform.
Here she is walking in singing.....

She went up to the microphone with five other kids for the Preamble Rap.....

Here's the whole set-up.....

Maleah's turn to take a bow with her class.....

Maleah after the performance......

Maleah had A LOT of fun and did a great job. 

Cameron was thankful when it was over because he no longer has to listen to Maleah and I sing "You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag......" or "Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony......"

I am thankful that it is over because it means I do not have to watch the same performance again.  As much fun as it is to see the kids up there performing, three consecutive years in first grade meant watching the same program three years in a row -- I'm ready for some new songs and moves to practice!  :)

SOLAR ECLIPSE

Last Sunday, May 20th, we got to witness a Solar Eclipse from our front yard.  At about 5:30 Jeff set us all up in the front yard and the kids each grabbed themselves a little snack (which ended up being dinner).  We sat out front for about an hour waiting for the big excitement.

This is what we were waiting for, according to the experts......
"Those in the direct path of the eclipse will see the moon nudge its way into the center of the sun, leaving a ring of fire visible around the moon's edge. Scientists call this an annular eclipse.  From a vantage point in Southern California, the moon will block about 85% of the sun's diameter, leaving behind a skinny C-shaped crescent sliver."

Here's what we saw -- that's the sun covered by the moon......

Here are the kids trying to stay entertained while we were waiting......

More pics.....

It was really cool to see and according to those same experts that told us what to expect "The next time Los Angeles will see a solar eclipse this impressive will be in 2071."

CAMERON'S BASEBALL PARTY

A couple of weekends ago Cameron's baseball team had an end of season party at Ruby's Diner.  We had the side room reserved and the boys had a great time celebrating together.  All of the kids got a medal.  Here's Cameron getting his.....

Cameron also got an extra award for having the best attitude on the team.  His coaches only gave out 3 extra awards and they chose Cameron for this one.  He got a new bag to carry all of his baseball gear.....

The whole team.....

It was a fun season for the Dirtbags!!

WAY TO GO CAM!

Last weekend Cameron made his pitching debut!

It was the top of the 6th and the Dirtbags were down by 4. Cameron threw his first pitch, it was a swing and a hit -- right to the pitcher, Cameron, who charged the ball, picked it up and threw it to first.....it was close, but after a second of holding our breath......the umpire yelled "he's out"!   Whew -- that was a close one!

Next batter - a pitch goes by, but it's a strike, next pitch it........

You get the idea, right?  (Should I be a sports announcer?!!?!)

Cameron only had to throw 6 pitches (which were all good!) :) and the inning was over!!  It was exciting and Cameron did GREAT!  No runs were scored that inning which gave the Dirtbags a chance to win.  He had the biggest smile on his face when he ran off the field and his coach ran over and picked him up!  It was a big moment for Cameron!

The excitement continued into the bottom of the 6th......Cameron got up to bat, got on base and scored -- unfortunately he got on base because one of the pitches hit him in the head -- thank goodness for those helmets!  :)

The Dirtbags ended up scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th which ended the game in a tie!

Here's Cameron in action.....

It was an exciting game for more than just Cameron -- they ended up giving out 3 game balls because all three of these players had some awesome plays and hits throughout the game.  Here's Cam at the top of the bleachers with his game ball.....

Ezequiel, Cameron and Ryan with their game balls......

WAY TO GO DIRTBAGS!