Happy Birthday Baby!

Dear Lilah,
On September 13th you turned two. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You are beginning to put sentences together, working on potty-training, and learning to ride a tricycle. You love your one Barbie doll, which is constantly "naky" (naked, and you get ANGRY if we try to put clothes on it), and Daddy is embrassed any time he is spotted carrying your clothes-less Barbie. You also love helium balloons and a dog puppet that Mommy had when she was a child. Even though it's technically a dog, you call it your bunny.

On your second birthday we took you to the Sisters City Park. Daddy and Mommy sat on a bench and watched you as you ran around the playground ALL BY YOURSELF! You even climbed to the highest slide and slid down all by yourself. If we tried to help you -- you would point to us and say, "Sit down Daddy! Sit down Mommy!" You are confident with an endless amount of energy!

As we watched you exploring the world on your own, we mused on the last two years. Such a short time frame! You are such your own little person that we sometimes wonder where exactly how you came to be. Don't get us wrong, we DO understand how pregnancy works and remember your birth, but your little soul is so beautiful and unique -- surely your life comes from something beyond us. Mommy is thankful every day that she is here to enjoy you, and you in our lives has been a blessing and a gift.

We love you beyond words, and can't wait to continue watching you grow. Happy Birthday Lilah Rose!

The Black Dunes!!

All summer long, I heard about the mythical Black Dunes, which was supposed to exist somewhere near camp. The problem was, no one could find them. My assistant director Beth tried three exploration parties before finally locating the dunes, which size-wise is equilvant to three football fields. We scoped it out with Lilah in tow, via truck, and plotted our ride for the next day. The ride turned out to be beautiful, relatively easy, and a fun ride. We had a blast racing our horses back and forth on the dunes, and this day will go down on my list of "favorite trail rides"!!

Lilah "swimmin'!" in the sand:


(Lilah thought she was at the beach. She walked around saying, "Beach. Beach." When I asked her where the ocean was, she answered, "gone?" )

The girls:


"Thanks for finding the dunes, Beth!" Lilah says:


The views:


Upclose of 3 Fingered Jack:


Megan and I rolling down the trail:

Where is our racing strip?

My not-so-speed demon Sweet P. :

(although she DID take off with me at one point -- something she has never done with me in 11 years of riding her. We were headed for home and I let her pick up a canter -- next thing I knew we were hurtling towards the trail back to camp, and she was ignoring my "whoa, dammit!" cues. Thankfully, we were on sand dunes, and I used the runaway trucks idea. Since Sweet P. wasn't going to stop or slow, I turned her up a steep sandy hill the same way a trucker would do on a freeway with a runaway truck. She lost steam pretty quickly after that, and I regained control!) :)

Beth and I:

Megan and I with our 'snorses during our lunch break:

The ride was so much fun I went back out with friends a second time this week. Hope to do this ride again, and again, and again.....

Last Day in the Corral

Monday of Labor Day Weekend was camp's last functioning day in the corral. We ran trail rides in the morning, and then did winterizing projects around the corral in the afternoon. All the staff members have gone home now (sniff, sniff) and it's just me left to care for the horses and get them off to their winter homes. I hope to be moved back to Vancouver again by October 1st, but beyond that Nick and I are still figuring out what we will be doing after our camp experience is over.

The remaining horse staff Labor Day Weekend:


Lilah helped scrub dirty horse brushes clean as one of the winterizing projects. Believe me, she was disgustingly DIRTY after this project!


I tried getting on "Turbo", a 2 year-old that hadn't been ridden yet. I've worked with him most of the summer, and all was going well ...


so I climbed all the way on and rode him 5 steps at a walk! (It's a good start...)


then we rode some of our other favorites. I'm on the chesnut:

Lilah even got to ride "the Dude"

Lilah even had her first trot on the Dude!! She loved it!

The Leavin' Party

At the end of all the childrens' summer camp sessions, we had a staff party to celebrate the completion of the kids' sessions, and to say good-bye to half of the staff. We had huge party at a fishing cabin in the Metolius. Very fun, but sad to say good-bye to some of the people I grew so close to in such a short period of time....