Our Three Girls: May 2012

Tonight Nicole, Allyson and I had brussel sprouts for the first time. I honestly didn't even know what brussel sprouts looked like. They're just cute little baby cabbages. I like cabbage. So, they can't be all bad, right?

Given their reputation, I've never had a desire to try them. But we need some new green vegetables in our lives. Broccoli, string beans, salad and sugar snap peas are getting to be a little too regular.

So... I found this highly rated yet simple recipe for roasting brussel sprouts in a little olive oil, salt and lemon pepper seasoning. I was so optimistic - until I started smelling them. But, cabbage doesn't smell good and I like cabbage, so... still hopeful we bring them to the table. (There were some black spots from being roasted as Nicole points out in this video. They were not actually burned, though.)

Here's Allyson's opinion:

Nicole decided she doesn't like them either (except for the black spots, lol). I definitely don't like them. And Britt actually hates them more than canned green beans and cucumbers. Wow. Thankfully our friend who stopped by for dinner (unexpectedly or I wouldn't have served leftover meatloaf and brussel sprouts) polished them off for us. I think we'll give him the rest of the bag. Ew. Brussel sprouts. They have earned every bit of their reputation. (Although I would still eat them before raisins and canned peas.)

Britt really wanted to make this a special Mother's Day for me and he hit it out of the ball park this year, taking the day off and remembering many of my favorite things. He made quiche for me and I ate breakfast with my girls in bed. (I am purposely not in this picture.)

The girls each gave me a card. And Britt gave me a card with a gift certificate for a massage! Now, I've asked for a massage every year for as long as I can remember and, well, I usually just end up getting my own. But I didn't this year. So I was surprised and so happy he remembered!

Then it was to church. They're promoting an Olympics theme with the summer camps this year. Allyson is in the preschool area but loves to go to the "big kid" area to pick up Nicole and wiggle her way into where they say their Bible verses to get a candy prize. They always give her one even though she obviously doesn't know the Bible verse. Lol. Today she climbed onto the podium as if she had earned a gold medal, too.

I can't believe Nicole is old enough to go to camp this year!! I decided, for her first year, I would go as a counselor. So Nicole and I will both be going to kids camp in July. Hey, I should be up on the podium!

Allyson just being Allyson after church.

The girls love to ride the tram out to the parking lot.

So, we had a quick lunch at home and then the babysitter arrived. Britt hadn't told me where we were going but he did say to wear my cowboy boots. Could he really have remembered I love to go horseback riding??

This was waiting for me at Wilson's Creek Battlefield, a large national park where the second major battle of the civil war was fought. Our friend, Sean McVay, made the sign and had the horses all saddled up and ready for us to ride. This was a big deal for me. Horseback riding is one of my favorite things to do in the world and I rarely have the opportunity to ride. For him to remember and for me to not only be able to ride, but to be able to have such a beautiful place and the freedom to run ... it was just awesome.

Tally (short for Talladega, as in the speedway) is on the left. She is Sean's daughter's horse. On the right is Brandi, Sean's horse. Brandi is 25 (a quarter horse) but the way she runs you'd never know it! Tally is a nine-year-old Arabian quarter horse.

Britt rode Brandi and I took Tally. Notice Britt bought a cowboy hat for the occasion. Lol.

Unfortunately, we weren't very far into our ride when I looked behind me and Britt was nowhere to be found. I called and there was no answer. I went back to look for him and he was gone. At this point I was pretty worried (he had been right behind me). I was racing back where we had been and I finally found him headed back toward the car!

Evidently Brandi got pretty spooked and gave him a really hard time. He says she even acted like she was going to buck at one point. I advised him to let her know who's boss and make her turn around and go back. But he (in probably more wisdom than I had) said he hadn't ridden a horse since he was a little kid and if this one wanted to head the other direction, he was just fine with that! Sean suggested we trade horses. We did but not before I put on a helmet (just in case she got feisty with me).

Both the horses were great. Well, except for when I wanted to go look at this old graveyard. Brandi didn't like the sign for some reason and got a little spooked.

This was as close as I could get her to the sign to take a picture. I gave up as it was hard to control her and keep a hold of my i-phone at the same time. Lol.

This cabin was the headquarters of the confederate army during the civil war battle. We met up with Sean here.

Britt wasn't too keen on running the horses but, knowing I really wanted to, he had Sean take me the rest of the way so I could have a chance to run. He took some video of us before he headed back to the car on foot to wait for us.

We ran a bunch the rest of the way. It was awesome! We crossed a creek and went off the path to where there was another cemetery.

At one point we were running up a hill and Sean asks, "Did you see that copperhead?" Uh, thank God, no, I didn't. And thank God the horses didn't either! I guess we had gone on either side of this guy. Sean was too nice and maybe too crazy when I asked if he would get off his horse and walk over to a poisonous snake to get a picture for me. What was I thinking? (He stayed a good distance, obviously.)

So, after our amazing ride, we invited Sean - and the horses - to have dinner with us. Allyson was pretty excited when we came home. She couldn't believe her dad was a cowboy! (She recently saw him in uniform for the first time and keeps exclaiming, "Daddy, you're a policeman!)

We ALL ate in the back yard.

You should have seen the neighbor's faces when we started to bring these two huge animals into our suburban back yard.

They all came back there to pet the horses and take pictures.

The neighbor's dog, Teddy, was going crazy.

Pretty soon both the girls came out with their cowgirl hats on.

At one point during dinner we saw the horses go down the side of the house. That's when I suddenly remembered our neighbor (who is also named Sean) telling us the gate was open. So we had to round up the horses from the front yard (oh, and the other neighbor's yard). Whew. Britt was corralling Allyson who just said, "But I want to see the horsies run away!"

After rounding up the horses we left Tally and Brandi in the back yard (gate closed) and made a quick trip to Andy's!