Horseback Riding

When Meredith found out that horseback riding was an option, she told us that riding a horse "not in a circle but on a real trail" was her dream! So, we set out to make that dream a reality.  In not our best planning move, we booked horseback riding for the same day as our hike, which had wiped us out! But we decided to push through and go for the ride.  

Meredith on her horse, Smokey.  Meredith was very excited because she got to be the second horse in the line behind our guide, Mackenzie.  We later found out this was because Smokey likes to be at the front, so he bites all of the horses in line ahead of him until he gets to the front!  He still bit Mackenzie's horse several times, but he didn't get his way.  

Jillian was too young for her own horse, so she and I got to ride together on Thunder.  Thunder was a good horse - but a very hungry horse, so I had to keep my eye on him to keep him from holding up the line by stopping off for a snack! 

Daddy on his horse, Apple.  Apple cheated at one point and cut in line in front of Thunder.  He was tired of waiting on that snack line!

We successfully rode and everyone had a blast!

We hobbled back to our lodge after the ride and took much needed showers before dinner.  Then after dinner, we went to see a magic show.    There were several tricks that had all of us stumped!  The girls really enjoyed it all, especially when the magicians brought out their two young sons to be their assistants!  It was so cute.  The magicians did a Christian twist on their acts - and presented the Gospel through a magic "trick." Their presentation of the Gospel had Jillian asking a lot of questions - it is neat to see her little mind start to grasp those truths of God and Jesus and I was so impressed by this couple using their talent as their mission field.  We were all exhausted after the show and went straight to bed!