Horse Country

John and I went out to Kentucky for a long weekend to visit Marian and Randal over my birthday weekend.

We really had a wonderful time. 

They took us to the Kentucky Horse Park where they were finishing up a really important horse thing (something really big and famous in the horse world. don't remember the name. not a derby though.) 

It was obvious we were out of our league because everyone - and I do mean everyone - had big boots on. Not the pretty kind either. Over-sized, plastic, working boots. Those kind of boots. 

We obviously didn't get the memo. 

 We saw the memorials for Secretariat and Man 'O War. 

 We met Da Hoss, who made millions during his racing career.

Marian found this squirrel chomping away at an acorn while nestled perfectly in the tree. 

They took us out to the Shaker Village too. 

I cannot get over how beautiful Kentucky is with its lush, country lane roads lined with trees and horse fields. 

There were several homes near Marian and Randal I wouldn't mind living in - beautiful colonial-type homes with fields surrounding them. 

I also adored spending time with my niece and nephews. It was fun getting to spend time with them, listing to Ethan and Addie play the piano, Addie joining up with John and I for a walk around the block, and Ethan as the master at popcorn making, I also could not get enough of this adorable dude. I could only convince him to cuddle with me a few times because as an avid two-year-old, sitting in one place was not always his favorite thing to do. 

Us adults went out to dinner for my birthday, Marian made a deliciouso cake, and we all played games. 

We stayed up way too late for our ages, but had so much fun visiting that it was worth every minute. 

I can't wait to go back and do it again. 

A week after our Kentucky vacation, we set about tearing down one of the really old sheds in our backyard. Remember that windstorm that knocked down the big pine tree next to our old shed? If you can't, here's the blog posting to remind you: Windstorm 2013

Anyway, the roots of the downed tree completely destroyed the cement underneath the shed, so we spent all day Saturday tearing it down. We plan to put a sandbox in this spot...the girls can't wait. 

Alicia decided it would be more fun to step away from her job and take pictures of us working. 

Don't worry, she was back working to the bone just like the rest of us pretty quickly. 

The retired couple who lives just to the north of us commented on what hard workers our kids are...I guess that's because they have slave driver parents. 

We don't always work though - we play just as hard. 

On Mother's Day we tested out our official regulation Frisbee golf discs we got for Easter. John and I found a free course nestled up next to the Weber River when we went bike riding a couple months ago. We'd never even realized courses like that existed in this area, so we spent a good couple hours trooping around playing as two teams. It really was a lot of fun, and we tied in the end - no kidding. 

What's interesting is that late Sunday night when I was removing stuff from the backpack I had taken with us and putting things back into my purse, I noticed my keys were missing. I checked everywhere in the backpack and car, but no keys. I realized my keys must have slipped out of the backpack somewhere on the 18-hole course. 

They could have been anywhere - the infamous needle in a haystack. 

I called the police station first thing this morning to see if someone had found them, but no luck. 

After I went to the gym this morning, I had about 45 minutes to jaunt up there and search for my keys before I had to pick up Megan from preschool. I figured I would check out the spot where my lotion had fallen out, in hopes that my keys had slipped out in the same area, but it was full of trees, long grass and weeds, so I wasn't entirely hopeful about finding them. 

I had finished scouring the area and figured I was doomed - both of my car keys were on that ring and they are very expensive to replace. On my way back out I noticed another trail I hadn't check yet. Low and behold, I found the keys!!

I was in such shock when I saw them that I actually squeaked! I did a double-take to see if my eyes weren't deceiving me. There really is no way to describe it. I thought there was no way I could possibly find my keys in the park that covered several acres. 

John and I celebrated by going out for ice cream tonight. He was in as much shock as I was that I had found them. Seriously saved us $200. (those keys are $100 each, and that's just for the knock-off version)

Anyway, back to the grind this week. I actually get to start working at Lagoon soon for school days like I did last year. 

Thought you'd never hear me say that again, did you? 

Well, the entire family (including John) talked me into it because we really did have a lot of fun with the season passes I earned.  

I get to be a relief position this year, so it shouldn't be as terrible as last year because I go in later and leave earlier. 

I think I will survive. 

I'll let you know when it's done though.