Labor Day- Horse Show

Sophia has been taking horseback riding lessons since May. Today the school had their in house show. This was the first show Sophia competed in. The in-house shows are informal and a great way to show off what you have learned.

Sophia chose to ride Jenny, a horse she has ridden before. However, Jenny spooked at the very beginning of the show, rearing up with Sophia on her back and me trying to control her. Sophia took this all in stride. The staff quickly helped me get Sophia off that horse and gave her another horse to ride. She rode Noell who she has ridden a lot.

Sophia competed with two other children. The first class was for equitation which is where they judge on form, style and ability while walking, posting trot and two point trot. Sophia took first place in this category.The next class was pleasure which is where they are judged on keeping a smile while walking, posting trot and two point trot. Sophia took third place in this category. They said sometimes a rider gets so intense when they are riding they forget to show they are having fun. I think it was because she was talking about winning first place while she was in the middle of this competition.
The third class was cross rails. She had to jump over a short cross-rail in two point position. Sophia took first place in this category too.
It was a great day. Sophia enjoyed the event and it was a huge self-esteem booster. She is already confident on the horse, even with it rearing up, but I am sure this just adds to her confidence.

August update

Wow! It has been an exciting month but it has gone by too quickly.

We started the month with a trip to Grandma Barbs. We always have fun when we visit. It is filled with shopping and eating out. We also spent some time with Uncle George and Aunt Linda and Sophia's cousins.


Nick came to visit for a weekend. It just happened to be the same time of the year that we get our family pictures done. Nick was able to join up for the first time in five years. We were thrilled.


We went to our yearly Chinese family reunion. It is amazing to see how nicely the girls get along. They played from the moment we got there until the time we left without any fights. I am glad we are committed to making this reunion happen every year. I hope it is something we continue to do as the kids grow older.

Katie went back to her mother's to start band camp at the end of the summer. We miss her but she will be coming to visit this coming weekend. Sophia is thrilled.

Sophia celebrated her last day of daycare with a farewell party. She is going to miss her friends and Mary Beth so much. Mary Beth has taken care of her since December 2006. We have been very fortunate to have Sophia there.

Sophia attended her kindergarten orientation on August 26th. She went to her classroom while the parents met in the media center. She walked right into her classroom and didn't look back. It might have helped that the parents organized two play dates at the park so she knew a few of her classmates before the orientation.
After her orientation, Sophia and I spent our last "Mommy and Me Day" at the state fair. Sophia and I have been doing "Mommy and Me" days every Friday for five years. Now that school is starting those days will be happening less often. We were at the fair for seven hours. Sophia had a blast running from ride to ride and making new friends. We looked at the animals and saw a pig race. It was a great day.
The first day of school was delayed by a day due to the hurricane. Many schools were without electricity. Her first day of school was on Tuesday, Aug 30. She was a bit nervous on Monday night but was thrilled when she woke up on Tuesday. She had a great first day. She was exhausted when she came home but clearly loves school. On Wednesday she woke up early, got dressed, ate breakfast and wanted to wait outside. It was an hour earlier than when we had to leave!
Did I mention that we also had an earthquake this month? As I said it has been exciting month.