Chief Joseph Days

This weekend we went to Joseph, OR for Chief Joseph days and to spend time with my mom’s family for my grandma’s birthday. The weather was super nice and we all had a great time. Kenzington got to hang out with all of the great-grandkids on the Schmidt side, there are 7 of them ranging from ages 4 to 3 ½ months. Kenzie and Sam are only three months apart, but you would never know it. Sam is so cute and chubby! His mom told me he weighed 13 lbs at his 2 month appointment (Kenzie only weighed 12lbs 4 oz at her 4 month!). We all hung out on Friday night and some people rode the go-carts. On Saturday we took Kenzie to her first parade and then we walked around Joseph for a while. After that we headed back to our cabins and just talked to everyone and went on a little walk to the lake, some of the family went up in the tram to the top of the mountain. Later on we all went to the rodeo. I like rodeos, but it really don’t recommend them if you have 7 kids under 4, not the best idea ever. All the kids were great, but the bleacher seats were so close to each other there was not any room for them or their stuff, and kids always want food or have to use the bathroom etc. Anyway, that was a zoo. On Sunday we had a big breakfast and got pictures of the entire family. Everyone was there expect one of my uncles and 2 of my cousins who live in Texas. (Also 2 of the babies were sleeping, so they were there but not in the pictures). Now comes the most exciting part of the entire weekend….are you ready? For those of you who know me, you know that horses are about my LEAST favorite thing in the entire world. You could definitely say that I hate them. Well, in Joseph they have horseback riding trips that you can go on. And my mom and my husband sort of forced me into this little endeavor. I thought that maybe they would let me ride with Waylon, but no go, I had to ride my own and no one was going to lead it. Oh geez, I thought will I make it through this?? I donned my helmet (yes I know, you can laugh all you want, but I was going to wear that helmet.) And we got the loading dock (don’t ask). They told me I was going to ride rebel, the big black horse, then as soon as I was about to get on it, they said no, that’s probably not a good idea (WHAT!!) and so I got to ride César instead. Ok, so hold the reigns, pull back to stop, but don’t pull too much or the horse will go backward, kick it to go, (don’t me afraid to kick it hard), do you think I am really going to kick the dang horse?? I would be happy just to sit here I think. Ok, so off we go, I was right behind the leader of the group, I guess in case I had trouble, although I was not really sure that she would be able to help me either way. We rode down the road, through the woods, over the river (just kidding). We did go up a mountain. The trail was a bit steep but not too bad, my horse did great even when there were rocks that we had to go up. The only issue I had was when Waylon’s horse came up behind mine. I guess Cesar did not like Dodger (that was Waylon’s horse) because he kind of reared up a bit, but I was ok (amazingly). And we all made it back in one piece (thank God!). Later we watched some parasailing, and then we packed up and went home. The ride home was somewhat of a disaster as Kenzie did not want to be in the car seat, so for the 85 mile trip home we had to make 3 stops and she screamed for almost the entire way, but we made it and all is good at the Blevins household.