WE'RE BACK!

What a fantastic, action-packed weekend we had in Springfield for the Illinois Horse Fair! It really helped that I just happened to have last Friday off from school, which gave me extra time to get things ready and organized. The real question was if we were going to take two vehicles or just one, since there were SIX children going, two dogs, and two horses! As you can probably guess, Craig was not exactly jumping for joy at the idea of spending the weekend at a motel chaperoning and entertaining everyone from toddlers to hormonal adolescents while I demonstrated horses and spoke with people curious about the ASAP program. I decided the best thing was not to nag, and to wait the week out to see what Craig wanted to do in terms of joining us - or not. By Thursday Craig approached me and asked about motel accommodations. I told him we had two rooms at the Lincoln Holiday Inn - Express - WITH A POOL! That made things easier, just to know there would be "something to do" for the older kids.

Friday morning came, and I decided to take the truck and trailer with the horses and dogs down to Springfield ahead of Craig.
By the time we left the driveway, I had Tina and Cookie, Randy and Janimal, and Zachary (6), Rachel (4), Greg (16), Heather (13), and Jordan (13) riding with me! Oh, well, the more the merrier! We booked down the highway, and by the time we got to Dubuque Iowa the kids were restless, so we stopped. Three cans of soda later (I told Jordan not to drink that much in the truck!), we stopped again at a rest area on the other side of Galesburg. The wind gusts had kicked up, and my foster son, Greg, had tied his coat to his bag in the back of the pickup. He commented "Looks like my coat might blow out of the truck". We suggested he get the coat before that happened, but he decided to take his chances. Well...................turning from Peoria to head south on I-155 South it was getting dark. Between mile marker 8 and 9 we had someone behind us flashing their brights. Much to our dismay, Greg's coat had dislodged from the bag in the back of the truck and blown backwards, probably attaching itself to the poor guy's windshield behind us. Well, not even to Springfield yet and something happens!

We met Kellie and Scott at the fairgrounds and unloaded Randy, who was instantly grumpy. He is a great horse, but hates being in a stall away from home. He went to the corner of a stall and moped. Janimal, having never attended a horse fair before, was bright and curious. He had to sniff all the garbage cans on the way in! When he got into his stall he started licking the floor under his shavings (weird). He didn't seem to mind being indoors as much as Randy. It was so warm outside that night that Heather the babysitter and I took out the geldings and rode them bareback underneath the Illinois sky all around the fairgrounds. It was the most peaceful my weekend would ever be, and it was heaven.

Saturday's demonstration was wonderful (see pictures). The little children riding Randy make for quite a testimony for the breed and their temperament. Janimal wasn't quite sure what was going down, but was a willing participant and did great. Kellie did a great job handling him in the demo arena. Special thanks to ISOBA for allowing us to once again participate and for the professional partnership we have. Erv Miller's son did a skillful job demonstrating in racing colors - and he is a middle schooler! Erv was still in Florida, but joined us on Sunday. John Cisna was proud of the elegant booth display which was put together largely by Kellie, with help here and there from me and the family.

After we got back from demonstrating I was in a rush to catch John Lyons in the coliseum. I slipped away, and my family became bored waiting for me, so they left me a note and drove the 24 miles back to the motel in Lincoln. When John Lyons finished I came back to Barn 14 to say "good-bye", but no one was around. I fidgeted in my purse for the keys to our little SUV....then made the horrible realization that the keys were still in my 16 year old's pocket, back in Lincoln!! I did not have a cell phone with me, so begged one off Karen Freese. My poor hubby Craig rounded up the keys and then came back to pick me up (100 miles that day for two round trips to the fairgrounds!). When we got back from eating dinner my 16 year old and our babysitter Heather were "primping". That meant a night of chasing them around the motel, where many teenagers were staying for various reasons. We lost track of them at midnight - they popped back to the room at 3 am, so you can imagine my dismay and lack of sleep on Saturday night!

Sunday was bitterly cold, but it was great in comparison to last year's blizzard conditions. The demonstration looked even better by this, the second day. Many "gasps" went out, admiring the little ones riding solo on my proud gelding Randy. Janimal was such a pro by this time that Kellie had to have a tighter rein - he was ready to fly!!

We packed up and said "so long" to Illinois for another year. Heading home, Craig was driving the truck and trailer and I was behind in the SUV, followed by Kellie and Scott. As we were booking along at 75 miles per hour, a black "thing" came flying out of the back of the truck, hitting the pavement and skidding about 100 feet! It was poor Zachary's Green Bay Packers bag! We rescued it, and all inside was fine. The bag, however, has some nasty skid marks to show for it. Kellie and Scott were so comfortable following behind us (or were they nerved up just being around our crazy family?) that they missed their turn in Peoria and saw more of the city than they had ever seen before heading back for Madison!

We got home Sunday evening around 10:30 pm, tired but relieved to see all the horses, dogs, cats, birds, and fish safe and sound, thanks to Andrea Hanson, who house-sat, taking careful care of all our critters. God truly blesses us and places a hedge of protection around our family and the things we hold dear. How can we ever repay Him? We are so undeserving!

We will be home, now, until Iowa Horse Fair with Iowa Harness Horseman's Association on April 4-6. It will be good to spend time outdoors in the warm weather this weekend!!!!

Until next week?
Susan

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