Ridin', Golfin' and Lovin' Every Day! Sing it to the tune of Luke Bryan's new song, Huntin', Fishin', Lovin' Every Day - only we've been riding, golfing, playing basketball, dancing and loving life like there's no tomorrow. Let me put it another way - we've been busier than ever, living it up during our favorite time of year - summer vacation! Here are a few pictures from our fun in the sun over the past few days.
Brailey has been so happy to be riding with Patsy on her Materbug. He is such a perfect horse for her. Talk about sweet and easy going! We couldn't ask for a better combination - the best trainer ever with the perfect horse.
Britt has been keeping busy with basketball camps, most recently a big one at the University of Oregon, which went from 8 in the morning until nearly 9 at night. Long day! The first day I picked him up, I fully expected to see a tired, totally worn out boy. Instead, I found a radiant, happy boy full of good energy! He was thrilled that his team had just made a dramatic comeback and won - they were down by 16 points, but pulled off the win. They had several different divisions and teams, and played several games throughout the week - below is the last game of the tournament they had on the last day. As you can see, they played Skins vs. Shirts, which Britt got a kick out of. His team won! They went undefeated the entire week, actually, so this made him very happy. He was on The University of Portland Pilots, which is where I graduated from college! I thought this was a great coincidence. So fun!
He got several autographs from Ducks players and even Coach Altman - he brought a Sharpie all on his own. Kind of a funny story in the picture above - he asked this player if he could sign his shirt, which he had in his bag, and the guy thought he meant the one he was wearing. So he signed both! Oh well... Not every Portland Trailblazer shirt has a signature by an Oregon Duck on it. 
The winning teams got an additional and different shirt as a reward for winning their tournament. It was an extremely well run camp. Britt had the time of his life!
Every camper got a Duck basketball. Below, the boys are rushing the ball holders to get theirs. Can you find Britt? It is kind of like Where's Waldo? Look for the black headband. 
And later that evening, precious time at home after a busy week. I love looking at our horses in the pastures. I love our boys so much! I get an incredible amount of joy looking out and seeing what these guys are up to several times throughout the day. 
We managed to golf not once, but twice over the long 4th of July weekend. Brady was thrilled from his head to his toes! The starter said to us on Sunday morning, "Did you guys just sleep out here last night? You were here when I left and you're already here this morning!" They are so nice at Fiddlers Green Golf Center. We met one of the owners, who is an old friend of Brady's, and he made a special point to come and find us and gave us a bunch of brand new golf balls. Such a sweet gift! We are now known as regulars at this course. Can you imagine?! So funny!
This hole always gets us, and Brailey forgot to use a generic white ball, so her pink one went in the water. There is nothing Britt loves more than finding balls with his ball retriever. They were so cute trying to find it. We lucked out on Saturday evening, and we almost had the course to ourselves. 
And in the end, he did manage to find her pink ball and to get it out of the water for her. She was so happy! 
The next morning, Britt was an Altar Boy at mass, and then we zipped back out to the golf course for another round. Ironically, the guy behind us had done the same thing! He also goes to St. Paul. How cool is that? Fiddlers Green is owned by Catholics, which is also a fun tidbit of information. We pray and then we play, right? This time, we played teams, which we drew by throwing a tee in the air. It ended up being Team Kids vs. Team Parents. To make it fair, we added three strokes to Brady's score. We also played Best Ball.
Poor Brady - he got stuck with me! Nobody wanted me on their team. I can't imagine why! Hahaha! Brailey was on fire with her drives, and Britt was a pitching machine, and because we were playing Best Ball, they beat us soundly and handily. I was handicap enough - adding three to our score really racked the numbers up. YIKES! But it was wonderful to see the improvement in the kids, and I am finally starting to improve, myself. They've had lessons, afterall, from trained professionals - I'm learning from my sweet husband, who has been very patient with me, but I think lessons may be in order down the road. We'll see how it goes, right?
Winner-Winner-Winners!
Brady judged the Firecracker Bull Riding this year in Eugene on the 3rd. Below, the kiddos are with the clown, Danger Dave and his rescue buffalo. The buffalo is just over a year old. This guy was a great clown and very entertaining. It was fun to see a new clown!
Before the rodeo, we got to see the Metal Militia - they are extreme motorcycle trick riders. They perform flips and all kinds of crazy things on their bikes in the air. We've seen them several times before, but it still manages to take my breath away. Craziness!
And this... This horse is completely blind. They took both his eyes out several years ago. This girl saved him, and she taught him how to do everything. He couldn't even walk in a straight line when she got him. And now she competes on him in Western Pleasure competitions. I admit it - this brought tears to my eyes. Talk about a miracle!
Below, just a random shot I thought was kind of fun. I truly love the Fourth of July - it has been my favorite holiday for years! We are so lucky to live in this country. I am grateful to my toes!
One of the handsome judges. The most handsome, if you ask me. 
Old Glory!
My B's - they actually really enjoyed this show! We haven't gone for quite a while, because they were so burned out from going to too many rodeos and bull ridings in their younger years. Now that they are older and understand more things, they really enjoyed the show, and it was a great one! There wasn't a dull moment, and I am so grateful they had a good time.
Brailey was thrilled to her toes to meet Katie Schrock, Miss Rodeo Oregon 2016. Brady and I met her in Denver this past January, and it was so fun to see her again and to visit after the show. She is a special lady, and I can't wait to see her win the Miss Rodeo America title come December! Even Britt was impressed with her, because she played basketball at Oregon State, and she's really tall. We are so proud she is representing our state - she is a class act and doing a fantastic job. 
We ended our weekend with a movie we had been dying to see, Central Intelligence (starring The Rock), and it was even better than we had hoped. There is nothing like the comedy of a funny movie - so much fun! The rest of our Fourth was spent getting Brailey packed for her dance camp this week in Portland, and just catching up around the place. There is nothing more The 4 B's love than staying home, and that is just what we did. Home sweet home, in the full swing of summer. Ain't nothin' better! We could even see several different fireworks from afar in our driveway. What more could we ask for? These are the days. Summer lovin' at it's best!
