BOOM!!
I'm good, where's the ball?
Got it. Now out of my way!
This the view of the back yard after the camp out.
John stayed busy giving tube rides.
The water trampoline was a big hit too.
Haley's Sponge Bob cake
Today is Kierstin and Haley's birthdays. They are twelve years old. Sherry and Keith took the day off work to take them to Disney. Wow, what a great birthday treat and what great parents they have. I spent the day making them a mermaid cake. This was my first attempt at this type of cake. I think the next one will be a princess cake. They came by after Disney and decided not to eat the cake, but to save it for their lake party this weekend. They enjoyed opening their gifts, ice cream and rootbeer floats. May is a busy birthday month for us. We've got: John, Mark, Icee, LaLa, Kierstin, Haley and Cindy D.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you mothers out there. And you know who you are. This is a day to give special thanks to the Mom in your life who has cared for you through thick and thin and in some cases it's time for us to care for them. 
Wow, today (May 10th) is John's birthday (the big 66) AND it's Mother's Day. That makes for a busy day. We had his birthday party yesterday so we could have a quite day and enjoy Mother's Day with my mom today. We had a nice cookout with friends and family, and we were also celebrating our nephew-in-law, Mark's, birthday which is also on the 10th. The weather was hot, but at least there was a breeze coming off the lake. I gave him a nice Sony camcorder and a Sony 9" portable DVD player that he's been wanting for a while. He says that he plans to take the camcorder with him when he's fishing on the river to film some of the huge gators he sees and I know that he wants to film the pups. Especially Icee when she gets so excited over any fish he's catching. Maybe we'll win some money on one of those TV shows which pays for funny home videos. Mom has been staying with us since her four day stay in the hospital this week so we'll take her out to lunch then back home to enjoy her gifts and being pampered by ME!!! 
Happy Birthday to Icee and LaLa. They are eight years old today. We are getting ready to take them to Brewster's Ice Cream for their annual scoop of doggy ice cream. They have had a busy morning chasing lizards and bugs while John was mowing and raking the back yard. Tomorrow they get a bath. Oh boy, oh boy!!! 
Calvin Borel and Mine That Bird ran a awesome race then made the other horses look slow; it was a well-deserved victory. Borel was squeezed out of the gate at the start and then came from dead last to accelerate to the finish line after weaving through the pack and winning by over six lengths. Borel had a fantastic ride. I loved watching him weaving through the pack along the rail then sneaking past the lead horses to take the lead and win. A classic Secretariat move. You can watch the Kentucky Derby video reply at:
Haley's soccer team, The Warhawks, won the Palm Bay Spring Challenge, in Melbourne this past weekend. The went undefeated winning all their games, 8/0, 12/0, 1/0 and 3/0. No one was able to score on them. It seems that their playing the boys in prior games has helped make them more agressive players. Way to go Warhawks!!! These girls are becoming one tough team. 
Splendor Hibiscus
Yellow Harvest Moon Hibiscus
Icee helping bring in the 4.5 pounder
John with Donna's Bass....Nice 6.5 pounder
Kierstin, Canyon and Haley
Haley on Canyon
This is Canyon the horse we looked at on Sherry's birthday. He is a 13 year old, 16.3 hand, TB gelding who has been around the block. He has been shown, Dressage, Jumper and Cross-Country. He is a gentleman on the ground and was very quite for Haley to ride. He is definitely one to consider as he has also been a lesson horse. Seems like we keep finding bays, though at least he has some white. From what I hear the market is flooded with cheap or even free horses. We're getting closer to the right one. The search goes on. (Note....5/1/09: The search ended with Canyon. He's now under lease to Sherry. Can't get the smile off of Haley's face!)
Sherry's Birthday Butterfly Cake
Sherry was 30 something (see I didn't tell your age) on April 17th. I enjoyed going with her, Keith and the girls to look at a horse she was thinking of leasing. I had a nice time watching Sherry and Haley ride Canyon, a BIG 16.3 hand, TB gelding. Watching Sherry ride brought back so many memories of her riding her pony, Spunky, as a child and her horse, Ari, as a teenager. She is still an excellent rider even after not haven ridden regularly for many years. Afterward we celebrated her birthday with some chocolate butterfly cake and ice cream. John even made Root Beer floats. Mmmm good! And, of course, there were gifts. It was a good day.
Feeling like a winner
We attended Haley's first middle school track meet at Sanford Middle School yesterday and she did a great job. The first race was the 4x100m relay where she ran the anchor to impressively win the race, against some boys too. She tied for first in the 200m, then went on to win her leg of the 4x400m relay. All in all she had a great day. We were so happy to see her having a good meet. Can't wait for the next one.
Kierstin's cheerleading team, The Lake Mary All Stars, recently competed at the COA Nationals held at the Gaylord Palms near Disney. She is getting so much better in her jumps (not sure what they call this move). They had a great time between competitions touring the Palms which was an adventure in itself. If you've never been there I here it's an awesome place to visit. 
What a beautiful sunset! While watching the news this evening John pointed out toward the lake and said "look at that sunset". I grabbed the camera and quickly got some shots before it was gone. I have to say we get some of the most beautiful sunsets being on the East end of the lake. Almost looks like a painting doesn't it? 
Icee found some eggs
LaLa guarding her eggs
If you don't try to photograph your pets you have no clue how hard it was to get these little pups to sit still, ears up, looking in the same direction with happy faces while you try to snap shots. These little girls love to chase lizards which were all over the place while I was doing this photo shoot. They were such little troopers staying put under such temptations. Thank goodness for digital cameras. We had a wonderful Easter lunch at Mike and Cindy's house. It was nice to get together with family and enjoy some great food. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
Easter Ginger Bread House
Mini Easter Egg Cakes
Kierstin and Haley came over and we spent the day making an Easter ginger bread house and later some mini Easter Egg cakes which we all decorated. I forgot to take pictures of the cakes the girls took home with them and when I called Sherry to have her e-mail me pictures she said that they were all eaten. Guess they were good. These are some of the mini egg cakes that we all decorated. The Easter house went home with the girls with instructions not to eat it until Easter day. I hope it lasts that long. I think they did a great job on the decorating. I'm sending a bunch of these cakes to work with John tomorrow. (Note added 4.10.09: I'm still finding some of those tiny candy beads from the GB house around the floor of our house) 
Outta my way! That's my ball.
Watch the feet. 
Ya gotta take the bad with the good.
Sorry kid, you aren't coming in wearing that mess!
Chili, Icee and LaLa were chasing lizards through he hedge bushes and all three came out looking like little bushes themselves. I managed to catch these shots of Chili just because she wanted to come back into the house. Of course they were all brushed thoroughly before they could come in. Mulch and dingle berries are two of the hazards of owning dogs with long coats.
