Friday, August 1, 2014

101 Days of Summer Fun - Update #10

Saturday, July 26 - Today we did a lot of errands: the bank, Houles to get items for the horses, Home Depot to get tile for the bathroom, the grocery store, and post office.

Sunday, July 27 - We worked on decluttering some of the hobby shed today. Since it gets humid and none of us enjoy that type of weather, we tried to get the majority of the work done before noon.

After reading and relaxing in the early afternoon, Sophia and Olivia had equine vaulting in the afternoon.

They spent the first part of the lesson practicing on some skills.


Both are working on standing up on the horse. It takes a lot of balance to stand up while the horse is moving.


At 5:30 p.m., the parents and families came to watch the youth in the class show what they have been working on. They demonstrated practicing on the barrel.


This step is necessary before trying these moves on the back of a horse.


They also showed some of the skills they have been improving at the level that are at. For the girls, they are at the trot level.


The next level up is the canter. It is significantly quicker than the trot.


After the class was done, they posed for a picture.


There will be two additional classes for girls who want to keep doing vaulting.

Monday, July 28 - Olivia got her braces on at 11:10 a.m. We stopped and got some sherbet since her teeth are sore. The girls continued to work on their projects for the fair.

Tuesday, July 29 - We brought the projects to the fair in the late morning. It was a beautiful day - one of the coolest ones compared to some years that we've brought projects in.

In the afternoon, we brought the dogs in for a shot that they need to get before going to the kennel tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 30 - We dropped the dogs off at the kennel so we could spend the day volunteering at the Washington County Fair. The dogs are getting groomed and they are experiencing time in a kennel to see how they do.

We met some of the seniors from the nursing home at the fair around 10:15 a.m. After helping unload them from their van and getting them in wheelchairs (if needed), we took them around to look at different parts of the fair.

After looking at the flowers, one of the first stops they wanted to do was get a malt. 


We looked at another building of exhibits and then they were hungry for lunch. They all enjoyed dining in the 4-H building where we could sit down and have a meal together.


We looked at more exhibits and saw how we placed on our projects. Sophia received quite a few Grand Champion and Reserve Champion ribbons.


Olivia received a Reserve Champion on her etching of a wolf. The display case she is standing by held her project alone which was a nice honor!


We spent some time feeding the animals. The goats were particularly eager to be fed.


There was even a camel that Olivia and Bonnie fed.


After the fair, we went to pick up the dogs. They looked so nice after their baths and brush-outs.


They even had small bows attached to their collars. Cooper had a blue one and Aspen had a pink one.


It was a long, but very fun day.

Thursday, July 31 - Today was a day to relax and take it easy. My sister came over and spent some time talking with Sophia about her trip up north. Both she and Sophia have to write a final report and submit it to the Ann Bancroft Foundation which partially paid for some of the activities that Sophia did.

Friday, August 1 - We spent part of the morning doing a presentation about Australia for the seniors at the nursing home.

Sophia and Olivia worked with the seniors to make pavlova - a meringue topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream.



The seniors enjoyed the special treat.

We also played a DVD that featured beautiful scenes, animals, and information about Australia. Many of the seniors watched that while they were eating.


I did a presentation about Australia and we showed photographs from a trip taken there back in the mid-1990s.

We had things for the seniors to taste, look at, touch (like a ginger root and ginger plant - which is grown in Australia), and smell (like eucalyptus and tea tree oils - oils from two types of trees that grown in Australia).

I was told by the wife of one of the senior residents that it was nice to have such strong scents because the sense of smell is one of the things that goes when a person has Parkinson's Disease. Knowing that, it may be good to explore other strongly-scented activities for those with P.D. who live at the nursing home.





1 comment:

Rita said...

Congrats to the girls!!! Both for the horse riding stunts (goodness!) and for the excellent showing at the Fair and all the awards!! Kudos!!

Looks like the seniors really enjoyed the presentation on Australia. I didn't know people with PD lost their sense of smell, either. Great idea to search out some strong scents for activities.

I meant to say earlier that Tobies in Hinckley used to have some of the best sweet rolls and baked goods. I bet they still are delicious. ;)