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A great birthday

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Today I turned 38.  Last night Anna and I went out to dinner without the kids.  Since I took a few days of leave this week, I was able to get up before dawn and spend the morning hunting.  While I didn’t harvest any deer, I did enjoy the morning in the foggy woods.  When I came in from my hunt, Amanda was following me around giving me “gifts”.  They were basically items she collected around the house and wrapped up in her blankets, but she was very excited to share with me.  I had a short sit in the tree stand in the afternoon and then went to trim a few horses this evening.  When I returned, we had dinner (venison and potatoes!) and cake.

Vicki made the cake from scratch.  Apparently this recipe required 8 egg yolks, so today she learned how to separate the white and yolk (manually using the shells).  She used pre-made icing, because my favorite cake is yellow cake with chocolate icing.

wpid-20141112_204057.jpgVicki also made me a birthday present.  She used her loom to make a little pouch, and inside, she put 38 hunting passes.  She was very excited because they don’t have any expiration date or restrictions.  I think I know who will be using some of them with me.

So what made it a great day?  Family.

 

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Games and candy

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I work in the War Gaming Department at the Naval War College.  The topics covered in war games we produce are as diverse as the military missions.  Some are more conference like discussions.  Some are purely experiential for the players.  But occasionally, we play a game for the staff.

Every year, the staff plays a game based on the Battle of Trafalgar.  Families are invited to attend, however, since it is normally during the day, kids are usually in school. Since we home school now, Alex and Vicki got to play the Battle of Trafalgar yesterday.  Alex did a history lesson about the battle itself in prep for the game (in fact he knew more about the battle than most of the staff playing).

The kids had a great time and Alex actually won the cannonball award for the most kills in the battle.

In the evening, we went to the Voluntown Trunk or Treat.  It was nice because the kids got their fill of trick or treating (it was chilly) and we were back home before 7.  Alex spent almost 2 weeks making his costume.  He laid out a grid and painted every square on the costume.

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Alex as a creeper (from Minecraft), Vicki as a witch, and Amanda as Belle.
horse, kids, Uncategorized

Pony Club Horse Trials

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Every year, Mystic Pony Club and Shetucket Valley Pony Club put on a show together at Mystic Valley Hunt Club.  It is typically the end of October and one of the last outdoor shows in the area.  It was actually cancelled in 2012 due to snow falling the night before and covering the course.  This year there was no snow, but there was definitely wind.  It was in the mid 50s and windy today.

This was the first time Alex and Vicki did this type of show. The show included dressage classes, 2 phase (dressage and stadium jumping), and 3 phase (dressage, stadium jumping, and cross-country jumping).  Alex and Vicki entered in Grasshopper 2 phase which means they did a walk-trot dressage test and a stadium jump course of 10 jumps up to 18″ in height.  They both also did an extra walk-trot dressage test.  Alexis, Vicki’s friend and one of Anna’s students, rode in 2 dressage tests.

Alex and Nike got 2nd in 2 phase, and 1st in dressage.  Vicki and Devil got 4th in 2 phase and disqualified in dressage because Devil decided to exit the ring a little early.  Both of them rode a clear round in the jumping and had a blast.  Alexis and Huey got 2nd and 3rd in dressage.

 

kids, marriage

Assateague 2014

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The last week of September, we took our travel trailer for a family vacation to Assateague National Park, an island in Maryland.  Anna and I had been before in the late 90s, and we thought the kids would enjoy the wild ponies, bird watching, and beaches.  We were right.  As part of the home school curriculum, the kids did some bird watching lessons in preparation for the trip.  My parents rented a Class C motor home and joined us and my brother and his family also came.  We had 3 camping spots in a row for the week.  The mosquitoes were brutal the first couple of days, but it got better through the week.

The kids LOVED playing on the beach.  The water was definitely cool, and an hour was about the maximum they could handle.  Through the week, the waves on the ocean side got stronger and only Alex was big enough to handle them.  However, the bay side of the island was much more protected and the cousins were able to play there daily.

We had a campfire most evenings.  The kids made some camp bread (that didn’t turn out too well – but they had fun) and smores.  Mostly, they enjoyed hanging out and telling ghost stories.

We did a couple of walks to look at birds.  And of course, the ponies who would walk right into camp.

I couldn’t pass an opportunity to take a look at the hooves of the wild ponies.

There were sleepovers in our trailer, and in Grandma and Grandpa’s camper.  And there was just hanging out and playing together.

horse, kids

Lyme Hunter Pace 2014

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Anna, Alex,  and Vicki rode Dakota,  Nike, and Devil in the Lune Hunter Pace today.  King has been lame this week so we sat out.
It was 8.9 miles of gorgeous trails and fun jumps. The kids got to do a few jumps and everyone had fun. Vicki has been logging more time in the saddle and did much better at this one compared to the pace in June.
They didn’t place overall, but they did win the Don Siluk Memorial award that is sponsored by Mystic Pony Club.  It is an award specifically designed for pony clubbers and a parent/guardian. The kids are looking forward to a trip to The Paddock to redeem the gift certificate.

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Before the start

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After the finish

hunting

Grocery shopping in the woods

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CT’s archery deer season opened on Sept 15th.  This afternoon after work, Alex and I headed out to some private land where I have a 2 seater ladder stand.  Alex and Vicki both got to go out with me last year (1 at a time), but I hadn’t taken any deer with them in the stand.  Alex was on lookout duty with the binoculars.

It was a nice afternoon, so I leaned back against the tree and told Alex to wake me if he saw any deer.  A few minutes later I felt him bump into me with his elbow as he shifted in his seat.  The he did it again.  I opened my eyes and he was glued to the binoculars looking straight ahead.  I glanced at the ground in front of the stand and saw 3 deer moving in at 35 yds away.  I whispered “you could have warned me sooner” but apparently they had materialized out of the brush.  A few minutes later, the large doe paused long enough broadside at 25 yards for me to take a shot.

We needed to wait a while anyways, and I heard her hit the ground not too far away, so we settled back into our seats.  After all, we still had 1:15 minutes of hunting time left.  Over the next 45 minutes, we were treated to a pair of young does hanging out about 15-30 yards from the stand and another mature doe 40-50 yards away.  If the mature doe had ever been in a clear lane, we would have doubled down on the harvest.

Alex helped me follow the blood trail, field dress, and haul the doe out.  She was a very nice mature doe.

wpid-20140919_194122.jpgI stopped by the house to drop off Alex who was cold; it’s already getting into the 40s at night in September!  Vicki is excited that she gets to spend some time hunting with me, and Amanda is a little disappointed that she isn’t old enough yet.  But Amanda is quite willing to inspect the harvest.

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horse, kids

Introducing Nike!

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To celebrate Labor Day, we took the kids to Mystic Valley Hunt Club for a lesson with Maureen Pach.  The second reason for our trip was to pick up Nike.  Nike is joining our farm on a long term lease.  As you can see from the pictures, he and Devil will make a great pair in pictures.  Nike is a seasoned school horse and will help Alex advance in the arena work while Dakota continues training with Anna. In the pictures,  Alex is on Devil and Vicki is on Nike (they switched for part of the lesson).  You know it’s a good pony when the owner and 2 of his previous riders come to see him off to his new home!

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Hershey and Kisses

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Last fall Vicki met Alexis on her school bus. It was kind of an accident as Vicki had been left off the schedule for some reason and ended up riding the #10 Jewett City bus. Alexis was a fourth grader and Vicki was sitting in the back of the bus with all the older kids…As always Vicki makes friends easily and about a month later she was invited to go to six flags with Alexis’ family. At six flags Vicki had some spending money and bought a beanie baby shire horse or maybe a clydesdale. Alexis did too. They called them Hershey and Kisses. Since then whenever they play together the ponies come with them. They are pretty worn at this point both feature stitches and have been debeaned and washed multiple times. Today the ponies went swimming at Hopeville Pond.

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horse, kids, Uncategorized

WGHA Hunter Pace #3

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What does 12 miles in 2:35 on a gorgeous Sunday get you?  1st place in the Trailblazer division for me and 1st place in the Junior division for Alex.  Today was our 3rd hunter pace of the summer and it was a fabulous day.  King and Dakota were rock stars, as usual.

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Alex is getting into the hunter paces and decided that we needed to match (I agreed).  So, we wore our khaki breeches, blue farm shirts, matching Mystic Pony Club saddle pads, matching pommel bags, and even our protective vests match.  While we aren’t setting any record speeds, I require the protective vests to instill good habits for the future when I expect he will want to jump a lot more than now.

 

 

Alex has also started to figure out it’s not always bad that there are not a lot of boys at the horse events…

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The story of our lives with horses. And goats.