The fall weather continues to be amazing!

We spent a day down in Twin at Tubb's pumpkin patch and then the Haunted Swamp.  Kaitlyn and Emily had a great time shooting paintballs and the apple cannon, wandering the hay maze (a pig was the design), and we were even able to pick raspberries this year.  

 

Emily finally got her ears pierced! 

The fall weather has been beautiful.  She loves "working" at Picabo Ranch with Meghan ... but work usually turns out to be a trail ride on a horse that needs some exercise.  This property is a beautiful place to ride.  920 acres of it is part of a conservation easement and it neighbors a nature preserve, Silver Creek,  where many people fish and float.  There's a volcano crater as well, which is where they typically ride.  So it's not a bad place to volunteer for a few hours a week.  She ends with a lesson, which this past week was jumping 2.5' on Smokey.  

 

 August flew by with more shooting matches for Aaron and Emily.  There were a few horseback riding lessons and a week of "horse sitting" when her instructor Meghan was out of town.  

She started online classes on the 21st, her freshman year.  But on the 31st Aaron and Emily left for two weeks to shoot a match in Utah before flying to Alabama to compete at nationals in Talladega.  

Emily finished 262 out of 431 overall, 178th out of 275 in open class, 15th out of 60 in b class, and 5th lady. Really great for a 14 year old on a national level! 

There aren't many big matches left for the year, but school is keeping her busy.  She is also working as a gymnastics coach two days a week for the young kids' rec classes. She'll continue riding once a week, but in addition to her lesson, she will also be putting in some work hours on the ranch.  

Sint Maarten

Day 5 was on Saint Martin.  Our excursion took us to Maho Beach. This beach is on the Dutch side of this Caribbean island and is famous for being adjacent to the Princess Juliana International Airport.  It's popular with tourists as you can watch aircraft on their final approach just above your head or feel the jet blast at take off.  

Emi is bottom left in the sunhat and blue sun shirt. 

June 22, 2015

July 19, 2023

St. Thomas

 Day 4 was in St. Thomas, a port that we have visited in the past.  We skipped the excursions and spent the day shopping. 

Perfect Day at Coco Cay

 Day 2 was at the private island, Coco Cay.  We went to the aqua thrill park. 

Harmony of the Seas cruise

 On July 22nd we returned to cruising on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas.  We boarded the ship around 10 am that morning.  Emily checked out the water slides, which were too slow to try again during the cruise.  We watched the ship leave the port of Miami around 4:45 and went to dinner.  While we were eating, we noticed that the ship was doing a u turn.  After we were finished, we walked out on the deck to realize that we were docking again at the port.  Everyone was curious who was so important that the ship would turn around for them.  These cars were a sign that it was someone important.  

While the staff was tight lipped about who it was, they did indicate where we should go stand so we could see for ourselves when David and Victoria Beckham and Messi disembarked.  

Rumor on the deck was that Messi was signing for Beckham's Inter Miami soccer team on the helipad for a photo op.  

Days 3, 6, and 7 were sea days.

The only shows we went to were the aqua shows. 

This transparent overhang lets you look down at the water from the 15th deck. 

Ziplining - Emily is in the yellow shirt above the H waiting to start. 

The Abyss is a pair of dry slides that run 10 decks. 

The Stowaway Piano man randomly plays in one of the 24 guest  elevators.  
We were lucky to find him once. 

Mix and Mingle was the robot bar that could even make Emily a mocktail.

The Rising Tide Bar could ferry you between the 5th and 8th decks. 

Boardwalk