Sasha's 9th Birthday!

So last year as we were cleaning up from the BIGGEST FAIRY PARTY IMAGINABLE, Sasha turned to me and said "I know just what I want to do for my party NEXT year! Something with horses - like a trail ride!!" I was thinking "Umm, yeah can I have an hour off and a beer or something and maybe, I don't know, an hour or 2 to bask in the glow of a job well done before you start cracking the whip on NEXT year's party?!?". At that time we had no idea that Sasha would be turning 9 in South Africa instead of South Korea and quite frankly the thought of setting up a trail riding birthday party in SK (where I don't think I have ever even SEEN a horse) made me pretty much want to go to bed and sleep for a month.
    Luckily for the princess we ended up living in a place where we are a 10 minute drive from not one but TWO trail riding stables. So we got busy planning a riding party!

Sasha has made the nicest little group of friends here in SA and although 2 of her buddies were away on trips, we had 5 intrepid riders ready to go on Saturday. They all showed up with their bandanas and horse necklaces!

We were going to head out at about 11:45. We had a light snack so we wouldn't be hungry on our ride and then went to take a look at all the horses. The girls wanted a picture with this little foal...

...and the foal decided it really wanted to be in the picture and walked right up to the girls!

 

Finally we were ready to saddle up. Jodi's all set!

Makenzy was ready for the challenge and they gave her a very spirited horse!

It was Zoe's first ride and she was a bit nervous but she overcame her fears like a champion!

And Summer was all smiles!

Sasha was up for anything so they gave her the horse that bucks (!). Then they told us that she had to go last so that no horses would be behind her.

It was a bit "hectic" at the start... a horse came back from a previous ride and got loose and was tearing around the property scattering dogs and people and the owners were like "oh yeah look out for that.." and our horses were ready to go and  crowding each other, ect. Sasha turns to me and goes "Aunnie would be FREAKING out right now!" and I burst out laughing because she was right! Our horse-owning grandparents in OR take no chances with kids and animals. They run a tight ship and safety is ALWAYS first but these people seemed to have the attitude of "People and horses - what could possibly go wrong?!?" Auntie Cris would have put us all back into the car for sure! We finally headed out and Sasha was enjoying her spot at the back of the pack, she would fall behind on purpose and then trot to catch up!

Then the lead guy's hat blew off and our other riding dude went to get it and Sasha's cheeky horse decided to pass mine! Stinker...

I was fine with that though because it put me in a great spot for pictures!

It was a real-deal trail ride. The girls had to get their horses past tough spots and Makenzy's horse especially would stop at hills and she really had to be in charge to get her horse going again and ride it up the hill. Zoe had gotten past her initial nervousness and was smiling and I was super-proud of all of them!

Beautiful scenery!

Then my horse and I had a moment when we weren't paying attention. It was just kind of nice and dreamy. Someone's horse stopped for a minute and my horse and I almost walked right into Sasha's horse. Well her horse Tessa did not like that at ALL and she went up on her front legs and gave my horse a nice solid kick right in the chest. It was a bit scary but Sasha was just like "hey, you better keep your distance, my horse kicks..." Yes Ma'am! Going up another hill and leaving plenty of space for Tessa:

We made it back to the stables and girls were VERY proud of how they did. Veteran riders!

We headed back to the house for some much deserved lunch.

Meanwhile these 2 hooligans had spent the morning together doing boy stuff. Seth and Teddy are BF's and they are in cahoots. Double-trouble for sure! They were standing by in protest waiting for cake!

But they had to wait because the girls wanted to do presents first!

Love how they all sit together...

Sasha wanted a horse cake with a bridle and a lead and she wanted realistic colors ect. She was very specific on the whole thing and when I went to pick up the cake I was blown away! It was beautiful and cost about what you'd pay for a grocery store sheet cake in the U.S. I don't even want to know what you'd pay for this in America...

She was thrilled with it and we lined up candles along the lead.

Time to dig in! (It tasted as good as it looked).

Sasha said it was maybe her favorite party so far. (She says that every year). And she's given me a day off from party-planning with no mention of what she wants for next year so I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday!