"Keep going on and looking good"

We just got back from our yearly trip to Wyoming this year to visit Ryan's Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mike on their ranch. We left right after school was out on Friday because I was ready for some relaxing.
Here we are, ready for a great adventure.

We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn in Lander because we are big ballers like that. I was happy with the hot tub and the kids were happy with the pool.

We got to Charlotte's on Saturday which was also Hanna's 12th birthday. Charlotte's present to Hanna was a private riding lesson with Cindy (Uncle Mike's SIL and expert horsewoman) which Hanna loved. Hanna told me that Charlotte is the "cool teenage aunt she always wanted." I thought that was a pretty big compliment since Char isn't a teenage by a long way. I can't really describe how much I like going to Horse Creek Ranch or really why I like it so much. There is just something about it that's almost magical. The scenery is like nothing else and it's peaceful. Mike takes the girls to Dirty Annie's every morning for french toast and bacon. Mike takes the girls out to mend fences and let's them drive the ATV. Charlotte and I suspect he let's the girls drive the car but they swear he doesn't. At night, we all watch Daily Show and Colbert with Mike and talk about how we'd all move to Canada if Sarah Palin was ever elected president. Or we watch a documentary with Charlotte and eat her delicious pan popped popcorn. Charlotte will make us dinner that usually the girls turn their noses up at, but they're dumb. Last night we had stir-fry with swiss chard, tempeh, brown rice, veggies and lemon. It was so good! No one else I know cooks like Char or eats so healthy or practices yoga so religiously. Which is probably why the girls think she is a teenager. She is a great example to me of healthy living and I learn something new from her each time I visit. I'm grateful that she and Mike are interested in me and my girls and open their home up to us.

Char and the girls at "The Depot". She works for the Burlington Northern Railroad as a clerk. Ryan's Grandma is in a nursing home close to Charlotte's and so we went to visit her one day. They were having a music program for the residents that night. Two men from local bands played guitar and sang country and gospel songs. It was really great. After, when we were saying goodbye to Grandma, she told the girls to "keep going on and looking good." Which I thought was a great saying.

Since Hanna had private lessons with Cindy, Grace and Mike did their own riding. Mike said Grace really took off this year. She rode all by herself, no lead, and he thinks next year she'll be ready to trot. Hanna and Cindy spent two hours catching and prepping horses before they rode. Mike's prepping is, "get on and ride."


Those glasses! Hanna thinks these are the cools and I had to laugh when Cindy suggested they be removed before the ride. She must have thought they were ridiculous also.

Mike had to drill new holes in Hanna's stirrups because she is so short. I feel for the kid but she has genetics against her. I really hope this is her summer to grow a few inches.

Ready to ride. They took a good hour ride and Hanna said she learned a lot. Cindy said she did good and Cindy's not one to give false praise.

I had to take a picture of the favorite in home entertainment at Charlotte's. These are the bands she uses to do yoga inversion poses. Here is Hanna demonstrating one. Usually they are swinging off the stairs or using it as a chair when we're watching movies. It provides endless hours of entertainment. On our trip Hanna got sick. She started coughing at 5:35 a.m. in the hotel room and continued for the entire trip. Eventually infecting me and Grace also. I stopped in Worland at the Paminda, where I overheard a man trying to get the pharmacist to give him more of something, "I'm sorry but I can't legally dispense that many pills." Ugh. I spent $15 on Mucinex pills but when I gave it to Hanna she exclaimed, "I can't swallow those!" Not only will this child not get a shot or give blood (without bribery) but she can't swallow a pill bigger than the head of a pin. I cut the pill in half and she did try but it ended in tears. I spent another $15 on Niquil and liquid mucinex in Greybull and she responded well to those. The next day we went to Cody and I forgot to take the medicine. So we had to stop in Cody and get more cough syrup because she was out of control. I think I spent over $40 on medicine on this trip! She's still coughing so I'm thinking she has the consumption and will probably need to be sent to a sanitarium.
Oh, here's the pose. Let the summer begin!