Thanksgiving Weekend in Vernon

Columbus Day is NOT Thanksgiving Day!

Reagan is in Kindergarten now, and it was when I was in Kindergarten that I learned about Columbus sailing across the ocean with the three big ships to discover America.  The day he landed on American soil is what is now celebrated as Columbus Day.  However, in Canada, they consider that day to be Thanksgiving.  Any American child can tell you that it took over a month for the Pilgrims on the Santa Maria to make friends with the Indians who were native to this new discovered land.  The day that they finally were all able to sit down and break bread together is what is supposed to be Thanksgiving Day!!! That is where the idea for the huge NOVEMBER Thanksgiving feast originally came from. I'm sure I am probably only confusing Reagan by teaching her something different than what she is learning at school, but oh well!  I want her to know the REAL story!

Sorry, like I tend to do more often than not, I just got side-tracked.  This is a post about what we did for Thanksgiving/Columbus Day weekend.  Not a history lesson...

We took advantage of the fact that Reagan did not have school on Friday, and we left mid-morning that day to go see Ryan's family in Vernon.  The trip to Vernon usually takes us just over 5 hours to make, and we were anticipating for it to take even longer this time due to the fact that Myers doesn't always do well in his car seat.  This would be, by far, the longest trip that we had ever attempted to make with him, and we weren't necessarily looking forward to the car ride.  We left the house just before what would be time for his morning nap in the hope that he would sleep a good portion of the trip.  Our plan worked!  After we had been on the road for about an hour, Myers finally fell asleep.  He slept for just over an hour, which meant that we still had about an hour to go before our planned stop in Kamloops.  Thanks to the portable DVD player that we had attached to the back of his seat (he is still rear facing in his car seat) we were able to endure the last hour of the Coquihalla Highway with only minimal fussing.

We spent a bit of time in Kamloops, visiting with Ryan's best friend Jeremy (my kids call him Uncle Jeremy) and having lunch.  We then got back on the road to finish our journey to Vernon.  Myers did well for the first little bit of his return to the carseat, but the final hour of the trip was a loud, tearful, screaming mess! Oh well, he did better than we had anticipated, but it still made us worry about the return trip home on Sunday.

We got all set-up and settled-in late in the afternoon on Friday at Ryan's parents' house, and spent some time visiting with them before walking up the hill to also visit with Ryan's brother and his family.  We woke up Saturday morning and went to the Davison Orchards where I instantly fell in love with their homemade caramel!  After eating enough samples of the super sweet stuff to equal Reagan's body weight, I decided to buy some to have at home. I doubt that jar will make it to see the end of the week!

After we left the Orchard, we went back up the hill to Reece & Marla's house for Reagan to have the adventure of her little lifetime.  Reagan has admired her cousin Julia for years now, and she always talks about how she wants to ride horses "just like Julia" one day.  Well, as of this weekend, that day has come!    Sure, Reagan has ridden a pony several times before, but never a BIG horse...

Together, they led Julia's show horse, Cadence, down the road from the stable to the riding ring.

Reagan was trying hard to contain herself when Julia helped her put the helmet on, but I could look at her and tell that she was ready to burst with excitement!

Julia was extremely patient with Reagan.  I told her later that she has found her true calling in life... she needs to work at a horse camp for young children or become a horse riding instructor for kids.  She has a gift, that is for sure!  She instantly had Reagan at ease, while also making sure that Reagan was confident enough to ride Cadence by herself.  Ryan and I sat off to the side of the ring, anxiously watching while grinning from ear to ear.  Reagan looked so small on top of Cadence...

But she also looked so happy that I quickly forgot to be worried about her falling off and I just sat back and enjoyed the incredible moment with her!

I was beginning to think that we would never get her to come out of the ring without having to promise that we would one day get her a horse of her own, but with Julia's persuading, Reagan decided that it was time for Cadence to have a rest.  Of course, Reagan is now convinced that she can ride any horse that she sees without the help of anyone because she's truly a pro now!  Can't you tell that is the case just from looking at these pictures... she's so proud of herself!  She floated on a cloud the rest of the day...

We woke up Sunday morning and decided that we should follow the same plan for returning home as we used for getting to Vernon, so we quickly packed up to be on the road once again in time for Myers's morning nap.  The ride home didn't go quite as smoothly as the initial trip, so it was a long day to say the least.  I don't think I have ever been so thankful to see our house before in my life!  And of course, as soon as he was out of the car for good, Myers went back to being his normal happy little self.  Still, Ryan and I are both grateful to have today off to recuperate from yesterday!

So, as this holiday weekend comes to a close, and we all return to our normal schedules tomorrow, I have one thing left to say...

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY EVERYONE!