Evie's trip to Rainbow

Two weeks ago Evie was the first of our family to attend Rainbow Bible Ranch since Terry was a kid (I've never been and Noah will go next week). Even though she's only six and didn't know for sure if anyone she knew would even be there, she was SO excited. She was counting down the days from the time it was about a week away. She's just so social and friendly. I love that about her.

So we dropped her off on Thursday June 5th and went back again the very next night to pick her up. Since the kids are so little they don't stay long. She had a fantastic time despite the really poor weather (rain, mist, clouds). Here is her group of 53 kids performing a few songs they learned. She right dead center in the green/yellow/pink shirt looking at the camera.

Another highlight of Rainbow, aside from the horses, are the many kittens. It is a working ranch so it's bound to have those. Of course, they were very tame, as opposed to Terry's mom's cats which are terrified of people. Noah simply loved the kittens and desperately wanted to bring one home (I would have loved that too). I grew up with a cat and have always wanted one. But, alas, Snap kills them. No really. He's killed them at the ranch. So we can't have one. Noah really got his heart set on the idea though. He wanted to name a boy Russell and a girl Lucy. I wanted this kitten right here. When Samuel held it, it bit his chin. Poor Samuel but it was quite funny.

Before we left all the campers took turns to show us that they had learned to ride a bit. This is Evie on her favorite horse, Cinch.

And this is Callie. She's gone on a few trips with Terry and the youth group and is working out there this summer. All the girls love Samuel. Must be his hair. 

Rainbow for Samuel!

On Thursday June 8 we all loaded up and drove Samuel out to Rainbow Bible Ranch for his first ever experience there at Little Ranchers Camp. And how cute is he?!?! 

We arrived a little early and had to wait in line until they opened the door and Shari snapped this completely unscripted photo of the kids that captured their personalities so well. Noah is being all stoic back there, Evie is being whacky, Grace is laughing at Evie, and Sarah is a sourpuss. If only we could see Samuel and Ezra! Oh, yes, Grace attended as well since they are two-day-apart cousins.

Couldn't get my dumb camera to focus but here he is all ready to go!

We went inside, got the paperwork done, dumped his stuff on a bunk, the boys played foosball for a bit, and then the little ranchers were called outside for their first horse lesson. 

He wasn't upset about us leaving at all and neither was Grace.

It was definitely strange not having him on the drive back and of course at home for that day and the next. The kids were all so spaced out that we had Evie come up front. 

I snatched this photo from Rainbow's Facebook page. Samuel is right in the middle.

The next night we loaded up again to go pick him up. We got there a little late to hear all of their songs. You can't see Samuel in this shot but Grace is on the right most bottom row.

There he is sort of tucked back in there!

After some songs and some words, we all headed back into the 95 degree heat to watch the kids wait in line before getting their turn on a horse.

The line. And boy was it hot that day! What a drought we're having. :(

Almost his turn!

There's Grace on the right!

She had a great time. They both did.

Andrew is one of our youth and he's working at Rainbow this summer. 

And he's up.

And he's off.

Samuel blinks so much when I take his picture!

The kids are only six and seven so they need a lot of help.

I cracked up when I saw Samuel kicking the horse though. 

Almost done.

Waving hello. Good job Samuel!

Rainbow 2016

We had a week off after the Middle School bike trip and then Noah and Evie went out to Rainbow Bible Ranch together for the week. It was Evie's first time staying for the whole week and Noah's third time. They were able to be the first on their horses when we dropped them off the evening of Monday June 27. There weren't as many of their church friends attending that week, but this way they had a break after the bike trip and the weather was much cooler than it had been the previous week.

It sure was quiet around the house, but I didn't sit around. I finished my pew and refinished our dining table and the boys played outside with me.

 When we went out there Friday afternoon for their rodeo, Evie was one of the first kids to barrel race. 

She was so slow!

She was rather adorable when she rode the horse back because since she is so small that horse jiggled her all over the place and her hair was flapping. 

Noah improved greatly from last year when he had been somewhat afraid of the horses. 

Unless you tell those horses who is boss they are rather slow. Mr. Larry spurred a lot of them on behind the riders. 

After barrel racing came a goat exercise where they had to ride down the corral, jump off their horse, grab the tied cloth off the goat's horns, and tag/tackle the flag holder.

Most of of kids knocked her over.  

Evie's turn. It was funny to watch the kids have to chase the goat down. 

Inside after dinner the kids sang for us, Larry gave us a summary of the week, and some of the kids recited Bible verses. 

Evie forgot how to smile while at camp apparently...

Noah is a whiz at memorizing. 

Evie to Rainbow

While Terry was gone on his two week mission trip, the kids and I tried to stay busy in order to more quickly pass the time. 

Wednesday, the third day of his trip, was spent with friends over at our house. The Oaks came to play and even Debbie and her girls stopped by. They were all so helpful and encouraging to me. That night we had another crazy big storm in the middle of the night. I was surprised none of the kids ran into my room. That's what all my friend's kids did!

Thursday June 4th we took Evie out to Rainbow Bible Ranch. This was her second trip. The drive out there was scary because the road was very muddy as a result of all the huge amounts of rain we'd been having. I followed Suzie home so if anything happened to either of us, at least we'd have each other on the road. She took this photo for me :)

A highlight of the trip are the kittens. They all love those babies. I do too! Look how happy Noah is :)

I want one so bad! Stinking Snap dog. He hunts them.

Cowgirls all ready to go!

We went back the following evening to watch their small program. I was late so we missed the beginning. But at least it didn't rain again. The roads were better.

Afterward they showed us their skills on a horse. There were about 60 kids so it took a while to get a turn!

She was happy to see us again and liked getting her picture taken.

Getting on the horse.

She can't ride by herself. Perhaps that's why the lines move slow. The kids have to be led around. What good helpers they have there.

Noah's 2nd trip to Rainbow

A week after Terry returned from his two-week mission trip in mid-May, we dropped Noah off for his second ever week of camp at Rainbow Bible Ranch. It was definitely strange having him absent from the house during that week. It was so quiet! I think it was good for all of us to have a little space though. We were glad to have him back at the end of the week.

Like I've mentioned, we've had a very wet spring/summer. Therefore, the corral at camp was super muddy and soupy. They could only use a fraction of the total space they had and even that was still pretty thick.

They went alphabetically so we got to see Noah right away. When Larry was introducing Noah to the crowd he nearly called him Terry. He went on to say how Noah looked so much like Terry and how Terry spent a lot of time there as a kid. 

When Noah was getting off his horse in the back and the next kid was going, Larry became distracted by what was going on behind him. He laughed and said something like how he wished we could see what was going on back there. Turns out it was Noah - he had fallen in the mud after he dismounted!

We knew that the afternoon would be a long one since the drive was 40 minutes, there was a rodeo, dinner, and then a show. But for some reason we didn't think to leave the two littles with someone. We took them along. Ezra was happy in the stands for about 10 minutes... 

Then Ez got bored. He came down on the ground with me and spend a lot of time playing in the sandbox. Then he wanted to climb the fence and fall into the mud. We compromised and I held him above the mud. 

Shari, her girls and Grampa came out to watch as well. Here's Evie and Grace by the sandbox. 

Grampa and Sarah.

It was a large group and took a long time for all the kids to have their turn.

Once everyone was done going around the barrels, they went in reverse alphabetic order and raced to take a flag off a calves tail. 

The dismount. Check out his muddy jeans. 

See how muddy that corral was! 

Noah sat in the stands after his turn and we got to give him a hug. 

Larry went by and his big horse slopped mud on Terry. Ha! 

Dirty boys. 

We had dinner and then listened to the kids sing a couple songs and Larry tell some stories about the week. 

Noah waved at us a lot. He was glad to go home, but he had a good week.