Horseback Riding

For her birthday, Addie really wanted to go horseback riding. After researching and trying to find a place to go we finally settled on this lady not too far from where we live. I tried unsuccessfully to get a hold of a different place to schedule it and she would not get back to me. Really annoying and unprofessional if you ask me. So my friend suggested this lady that owns some horses and takes people for rides. My friend said she was a little quirky, and quirky she was!! But it was affordable and the ride was nice.

 We walked on a trail through a wooded area which was really pretty. To get there we had to first go out on a busy road. It was fun to see the people driving by looking at us. Not everyday that you see horses going down the road! There were some hills so Addie learned how to lean when going up and going down hill. My horse was in the back and I think she liked to slow down and get behind so that we could trot to catch up. I don't blame her. How boring is it to walk on the same trails all the time! Addie absolutely loved it! She has been on a farm/cowgirl kick lately. She says she is going to live on a farm and have 10 kids. Her house is going to be big enough that Daniel and I are going to live there too. Sounds good to me!! She loved this so much that now she wants to take horseback riding lessons. Oh boy, those are not cheap!!

Getting all set up.

That smile shows how excited she was!

My cute mom knows how to pose on a horse for a picture!

Addie wasn't brave enough to steer her horse by herself so the lady lead her horse for her. I think she could have done it. :)

I tried to take some pictures while we were riding but I was scared I was going to drop my phone! This is the best one I got.

Afterwards we went to dinner at Olive Garden. This was the best group picture we got. Sorry Melanie. :)

Thanks Grandma Huckaby for the fun ride! 

Parasailing

Another item on our Summer of Daniel and Jenna bucket list was to go Parasailing! We found a Groupon for a place in Tacoma (about 25 minutes from our house). The Groupon deal included photos of the event so we were pretty excited! 

When we arrived they told us they were running a little bit late which is never cool when you have a reservation! We ended up not waiting too long and soon we were on our way! There was another couple on the boat with us. The husband was celebrating his 50th birthday! They went out first so we were able to watch how it was done. 

Right before we lifted off, the guy told us to ignore the creaking sounds from the lines, not to worry about them. I didn't think much of it until I heard what he was talking about! I kept looking up to make sure everything was still attached, it was so noisy! Daniel had a good time relaxing, I definitely did not let go of my harness the whole time! It was really fun and so peaceful once we were up away from the sound of the boat engine. 

We opted to go for the toe dip halfway through. The driver slowed the boat down so that we gradually started descending just low enough to dip our feet in the water then he gunned it and we took off again! That was pretty exciting!

It looks like the life jacket is choking me. It may have been a little small. :)

All ready for lift off!

And we're off. Up, up and away!!

We went up to 1,000 ft. It was high!!

Mt. Rainier in the background.

Toe dip!!

When I saw this picture I thought, oh how cute. We are holding hands. Then I remembered I refused to take my hands off the harness. Daniel was reaching over poking me and laughing because I was still holding on!

Addie's 8th Birthday!!

Back in January we went to a fundraiser for a friend. We won a princess party that we thought would be prefect for Addie! Since her birthday fell on a Saturday she was able to have the party on her actual birthday. I think she had planned on doing something else for her birthday this year but when we told her about the princess she was pretty excited. This lady is good! She was once a princess at Disney World and now runs her own side business of princess parties. Her real job though is a fire fighter! Shows that you can be pretty and tough at the same time!

I emailed her awhile ago and mentioned that Addie's favorite princess was Aurora and she said she would see what she could do as far as having a costume made. There were some issues I guess when she ordered it and there was a bit of concern that it wouldn't be here in time. Luckily, it did get here in time. She did tell me that her wig arrived the morning of the party though! That was cutting it close! 

We invited a fair amount of girls but I think since school had just ended and everyone was busy with vacations and the ballet recital only a few came. I think I was more bummed than Addie. They all had a good time anyway. I'm thinking this might be the last of the princess parties, for Addie at least!

When she arrived she read to the kids while we waited for everyone to get there. 

Then we moved on to face painting. I was expecting something small on the cheek but of course my kids went for the full face! Oy. I would have tried to talk her out of it but I didn't want to offend the princess and it was Addie's party, she should do what she wants!

Even Johnny got brave enough. He was on his way to another birthday party so he didn't go all out and picked something much smaller.

Melanie and Garrisyn!

We played a kiss the frog game. Kind of like pin the tail on the donkey except I put lipstick on them and they had to kiss the frog. :) Pretty funny!

Addie really likes to make paper fans. We found some fancy, sparkly paper and let them make a few!

Next we moved on to decorating cupcakes! I gave each girl a cupcake and her own tray with sprinkles. I think more sprinkles ended up on the table than on the cupcakes but they had fun!

Garrisyn LOVED Aurora!! She didn't want to get down!

Baby girls!