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| From July 2009 |
Summer had her first competitive ride this weekend. Riding Vera’s horse, she placed 1st overall on Sunday for horsemanship and conditioning. Now, in her favor, she weighs about a third of the average contestant… So, it was no surprise that her horse was prancing at the vet checks! I am not trying to slight her… She did awesome. Rode 12.5 miles… Had blisters on her hands from holding on to her saddle during a gallop… She’s a trooper! See the other July pictures for more of her and Ang at the Endure for the Cure race at Farmdale park in Morton.
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| From July 2009 |
Above: Aiden looks out the window of a helicopter as we fly over lovely Bartonville IL. Oh, and I think he needs a haircut as well. Let Ang know if you agree!
I digress.
I had won tickets to the Air Show this weekend. And thank God for that! And Lite Rock 107. Otherwise I would have felt like it was truly a bust if I had paid for tickets to go on Saturday.
I had read online that the EAA (Some kind of national group of amateur pilots) was sponsoring a free flights for kids event on Saturday and Sunday morning at the Air show. VERY COOL right? Well… I could not find any info on the age requirements. I went to the web at the last minute on Friday night… But nothing was there (Someone said they posted the age in the Peoria Journal Star earlier that week, BUT WHO READS THE PAPER???). These kind of events seem pretty typical at air shows… I found many listings… Other shows in other states mostly said 7 to 17. So, I figured what the Heck… Summer may be able to go, and if we are lucky… Aiden as well.
No No No… Not at the Peoria event.
We got up early on Saturday… Drove all the way to the Airport… Got parked and walked in the gates at 8AM. Walked all the way across the airport to the runways and found the Peoria EAA, Chapter 563, signing kids up.
They were real nice… But said their policy was 8 years old.
Talk about defeated! Man…
There was nothing to do until 10 or so at the Air Show… So, we drove all the way home!
I had asked the folks at the ticket booth if we could come back with the tickets… And they took one look at them and said “No problem”. They were red, some kind of promotional ticket that looked entirely different than what other people were walking up with.
I promised the kids we would come back later with Ang after she got done riding. Well… That bit me in the but as well. Ang didn’t get home till 2. The show ended the flying at 3:30. So, we decided to go back to Farmdale for an awards ceremony and potluck. (Good grub!)
SUNDAY:
This is getting long right?
Aiden went to church with the expectation that we were going to the airshow afterward. Summer went to the horseback ride with Ang (Where she kicked but!). I stayed home and trimmed shrubs and trees.
Like clockwork. Ang and Aiden got home at the same time. 12:30.
Ang had left Summer at the horse park with Vera. Apparently she had won something. (In my mind I am thinking: “Great… Aiden is gonna get screwed out of the Air Show again”)
We watched as Summer got her awards (YES, plural). And then we hightailed it back to Bartonville. We got to the air show at about 2PM. We got right in with our tickets! Thank God for that… I was not going to pay 40.00 to get back in after the letdown on Saturday. We got there just in time to see a DC3 (It looked something like a smaller version of that) doing flips and twists… Followed by a sweet biplane stunt show… And then the grand finale…. The Thunderbirds. Very cool.
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| From July 2009 |
I made a BIG effort get the kids on a Helicopter ride while at the show. I still felt REALLY bad about dragging them out on Saturday morning. We bought tickets during the Thunderbirds. Spent 60.00 on tickets for 3 passengers. The copter only holds a pilot and 3 riders. Ang said she would sit out… And hold it above my head later. I expected nothing less.
3 minutes of glory for the kids. Aiden looked like a raving maniac… His grin was gigantic!
So… It was a good weekend!
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| From July 2009 |
Above: Us in the copter.
Just when you want to relax… Monday evening is the end of swimming lessons… Tuesday, Summer is getting her nails done with Ang in celebration of her birthday. Thursday is Summer’s 8th Birthday.
Always plenty going on in the summer!
And I have not even talked about going on our late summer vacation plans or about having another surgery for my ankle. GEEZ!