Week 6 Recap

I finally have arrived with last week's recap....unfortunately the circumstances are less than agreeable. I've been sick all day with some kind of upper respiratory crud, and have alternated between sleeping, reading, and sucking down tea ever since 6 this morning. However, this means that I can write and post blog-related stuff instead of racing around like I normally do!

Boom, baby. Blessing in disguise. So here we go!

Last Sunday Moriah and I were greeting all day, and let me tell you I wouldn't mind doing that again. It was really nice to be able to slow down and chat with the wranglers and ride some of their horses during the downtime.... :D

Looking onto the ranch...I love this place so much. (More after the break!)

Luke!

Casey!

Moriah!

The guys brought their horses over to the truck to chat (it had been rainy, and Moriah and I were hauling water bottles/snacks/other various items that we didn't want to get wet).

These columbines are planted above the water/rock display, and they are so pretty. The ones back at home are only red and yellow.

Ah yes, Moab's brand. Darron was riding Moab that day, and let me take him (the horse) around the greeting area. To say I had fun would be a slight understatement. :P

And here we have Luke, the intrepid wrangler, attempting to ride two horses at once!

It wasn't entirely successful...but it was certainly amusing.

"Who, me?"

Another amusing story concerning Luke: at first it was just Casey and Andrew with us at the gate, and we were all asking each other what they had planned after the summer, etc. I was sitting on the hood of the truck, and a few minutes after Luke rides up I address him with, "Luke, do you have any plans after the summer?"

His response: "Why, are you asking for a date?"

Cue double-take and laughter--he was joking. At least, I'm pretty sure he was joking. O.e

Riding Moab across some poles--he was thinking so hard about those poles. It made me laugh.

Coming back...

Darron stole my camera for these pictures, by the way. I swear, he uses my camera almost as much as I do.

Luke!

Practicing roping, I think...it got a little slow by the gate.

Andrew's horse Mardy...

Making a not-so-quick getaway--I must say, riding with too-long stirrups is a fantastic stretching exercise. That said, I don't recommend it for long term.

...okay, occasionally Darron gets a nice picture. XD

DUCKS!

D and Andrew, chatting...or something.

Moriah got to ride too! She's horse-crazy but has never had the opportunity to actually ride more than a handful of times. I'm always looking for chances for her to go ride, but I think this was the first time after orientation.

Oh yes...I was trying to get a reflection shot here...

...and got busted. O.o

Next day! Some of the ranch kiddos on Firecracker. This horse is so tiny--he's even shorter than Colletta, and she's only 14 hands. I'd love to get a chance to ride him at some point.

A gratuitous shot of Longs--almost all the snow is melted, which is kind of crazy when one remembers how much snow was on it when I first got here.

Deer! Usually there are elk, so seeing a nice, familiar deer was nice. He was so tiny, though. *is spoiled on corn-fed whitetails*

Oh yes, Miss Bev planted grass back in May and it's FINALLY growing. There's something strangely adorable about baby grass.

There's my roommate on the right and fellow homeschooled Illinoisian on the left, doing a hillbilly skit...this comes into play for the hootenanny later. >:D

Tyler! He arrived last week--lots of fun, a bit of a goober, but still pretty great.

Dancing later Monday night...

Everyone except for Cody, that is. He hates to dance but still shows up to the after-square-dance stuff. I don't understand it.

Campbell and I got lassoed. XD

Tuesday morning I got up early and went for a walk down to the wrangler breakfast site to look for my jacket--I thought I had misplaced it down there, but no luck. (A couple days later we found it in the Niner, tossed under some seats. I felt a little silly.)

While walking back from the clearing I saw the horses, and they were all a little uneasy about my being there.

Not sure what these are, but they're awfully pretty.

Also, hummingbird.

Arsty log shot? I dunno...

Jingling away...

I like this one of Lij. :D

I really like this one of Casey--just wish the hoof and hat weren't cut off. :/

Right after saddling and such that morning we got a call from one of the girls who volunteers a couple times a week--she was in the local rodeo, and  her horse wasn't going to work out for the show so she asked to borrow a couple of our horses. Four of us (Darron, Casey, Nick, and myself) skipped breakfast to wash them down, and it was actually a lot of fun. I got to show the guys how to properly brush a horse's tail (Casey was going to just start ripping the brush through the hairs and I just about tackled him to make him stop), and embarrassed myself by trying to shampoo Callahan's mane with conditioner. It was great.

Going in for the kill.... O.e *prepares tackling skills*

On Wednesday after full clean we housekeeping people wandered down to the rock wall to see what else we could do, and were told to suit up in order to climb the wall and zip. Moriah and I were going to go together, but unfortunately around a dozen people showed up after we put harnesses on, and we ended up taking them off and weeding next to the library instead. XD Oh well...some other time, perhaps.

Oh yes, Cody and little!Molly had a race.

I'd have to say that little!Molly won hands down.

Wednesday night was rodeo night, and the majority of us plus the majority of the guests went. I got a LOT of pictures, but here are a couple of my personal favorites (the rest will be in a separate post):

Getting ready to sing the National Anthem...

This horse was AWESOME. I got some of the best pictures of the evening from him.

Thursday morning jingling! Big surprise, right?

I saw this clear stuff hanging off of the pine cones, and had to get a picture. I think it was sap, but it looked like water or ice from a distance.

 

Several of us cleaned up the workshop on Thursday, and left sweet/threatening notes on the message board. Basically, if the guys mess it up again, we'll be forced to kill them. (Or maybe just severely maim.)

Hootenanny time! I have NO idea what possessed Darron to wear a beard, but he did.

It didn't stay, though.

I have no idea what's going on here. XD

Jason likes to make a dramatic exit every time... XD

Oh! The hillbilly skit! Story-time!

So Emily P and David had been doing this hillbilly thing throughout the week, where they would show up at dinner and sing some parody songs. For the hootnanny they showed up at the end, and the majority of the staff dressed up at their 'cousins' to help them sing 'I'll Fly Away'. So we all go galloping and hooting and hollering up, and had to give our names. (We weren't notified of this at first, but the end result was HILARIOUS. We all made up hillbilly names and ways to introduce ourselves and it was great.)

The original intent for the skit was that Emily P and David, having been singing poorly for the rest of the week, were supposed to have practiced and we were all to sing beautifully with harmonies and all sorts of fanciness. But none of us practiced...and I think I was the only one who knew how the skit was supposed to go. When there's 15 staff members all trying to act like hillbillies, let's just say the end result is chaos. I was trying to sing on key, but between Darron on the right and Tyler on the left singing WAY off key it was really hard. Sigh. I really hope we get another chance to do that skit, because it WAS really funny (and I liked my outfit--will have to get a picture of it sometime).

Wrangler breakfast time...there's EB and Anna...

There's the quintessential Cody face around cameras...

EB, Anna, and Kay!

Oh yes, this is Kay's face for when she's talking for the horses. It is freaking hysterical--several of us will go over to see the horses, and as we ask them questions she 'talks' for them. It's given rise to several jokes and running gags.

See, there's a better picture.

The camera-weary expression...he also isn't able to eat the majority of things served for meals for the next month (he's on a diet for some intestinal testing and stuff) so it may be a general sad face too.

The 'manly man' picture, recreated on-ranch. XD

Casey! I don't have many pictures of just him...will have to remedy that.

I think Charissa was kicking Cody in the shins here. No idea why, but I'm sure there was a legitimate reason at the time.

Annie and Kay!

And then there's Jason, holding Nick's youngest Zane...every week that kid gets more and more alert. It's fantastic.

So Saturday was interesting...I have a friend that I know from back home named Derek (I haven't seen him in a couple of years--we used to be in community theater together), and he got a job less than two miles down the road at a camp called Covenant Heights. We've been trying to figure out a way to meet up for the last month or so, but Saturday was the first day we managed it. He showed up and helped us turn over cabins, and after he left almost everyone was asking me if he was my boyfriend. -.- (For the record, no. XD)

Also, funny thing happened on Sunday: after getting back from church I was in the kitchen helping put away/throw away food. There were 7-8 people wandering around, and John York (head of maintenance--used to run the entire camp, his daughter helps lead the teens program, etc) walks in. Without any preamble he says, "Molly, are you and Derek more than friends?" But what I and everyone else in the kitchen heard was, "Molly, are you and Darron more than friends?"

You could have heard a pin drop--everyone stopped all activity and we all stared at each other. Darron happened to be sitting at the counter, of course, and after a few seconds of wild-eyed panic I said, "Wait, what?"

John repeated the question, and all the confusion cleared up, but Darron started ROLLING. I thought he was going to fall off his seat, he was laughing so hard. (I didn't find it THAT funny, but whatever) Apparently he thought it would have been hilarious for me to actually answer the first question, but he's a little twisted. O.e

Saturday afternoon we all loaded up and headed to Loveland (about an hour away) to go shopping and eat out. There's a family that treats us out to eat once a year at P.F. Chang's...but everyone in my car was more excited about going to Chick-fil-A. 

Claire B (one of my roommates) and Campbell, right before leaving for Loveland!

 

We stopped at Chick-fil-A, and they got to have their picture taken with the manager. They may or may not have been extraordinarily excited about this. (Campbell bought a bunch of sandwiches and brought them home in a cooler. O.o)

This place, my friends, is a happy one. (At least, it usually is.) I got a spiffy leather journal that I'm going to try to copy when I get home and get a chance to try out some more bookbinding.

P.F. Chang's was all right...I wasn't feeling so great that night, so the food didn't taste amazing, but it was all right. Then a Pickle-load of us went to see Despicable Me 2 (while it was funny I don't think it was quite as good at the first one...may have to see it again sometime to make sure though).

For now...I'm still sick and hoping to get to bed early to kick this thing once and for all. It's been making its way through the staff, but I'd rather have something like this than a stomach bug. *shudder* See y'all next week!