My week with the girls in South Carolina was wonderful. It was sheer delight to spend time with some of my favorite kids in the world, and there were great adventures and funny experiences along the way. The time flew by.
I wrote here before I left about the snow we had on my scheduled day of departure. All day, my flight was shown as delayed by 7 hours due to weather. But when I arrived at Gatwick that evening, I learned that the flight had been cancelled -- the flight crew couldn't fly out as they had been on duty too long already that day (waiting for the flight to depart). It was a major ordeal to ensure that I had a seat on the rescheduled flight at noon the next day. And the 24-hour delay in my departure from the UK meant that I missed my connecting flight in the US and my chance to have a reasonable amount of overlap time with Dave's brother Jeff and his wife Carol before they had to leave. To make a long story short, I arrived in the US 24 hours late, was able to get on the last flight of that day from Orlando to Greenville SC, and I got to Jeff & Carol's at midnight -- just hours before their 5am departure! We had just enough time for them to quickly orient me before they left. (Thank goodness my oldest niece, A1, knows all there is to know about taking care of things around their place! She was able to answer all of my questions throughout the week.)
We quickly settled into our routine of breakfast, horse and dog chores, morning home schooling, lunch, afternoon play and horseback riding time, and evening dinner followed by movies or games. All three girls were just great. The two oldest, A1 and A2, were impressively self-motivated about doing their chores and schoolwork, leaving themselves plenty of time for fun in the afternoon. They were also a big help with their little sister, A3, who is as cute as a button but demands a lot of time and attention! Here's A2 making sure that the horses had enough water, and spending some quality time with Apache. (At least I think that's Apache -- with eight of them, I was never sure I knew one horse from another...)
Even little A3 participated in horse chores. Here she is, making sure that her pony, Okey Dokey, has enough hay.
The girls also have 4 chickens. To feed and hydrate them, an adult with long arms must open the top of their coop, reach in and retrieve those red food and water containers you see behind the chickens, fill them, and then replace them. Without letting the chickens out. And without getting pecked. Umm...sure. Easier said than done. But I did it...and with only minor peckage!
This is Silas the Wonder Dog.
Cutest, sweetest dog EVER. (If I could have just wrapped him up and put him in my suitcase, I might have been tempted to bring him back here with me!) He's just a puppy, so he's rambunctious and full of energy and demanding of frequent walks and play time, but he's so adorable that you can't help but oblige. He sleeps in a crate at night, separated from the other two big dogs. One night of my stay, we had a massive thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Silas was severely unhappy and anxious about that -- and he howled and howled. The girls had a friend sleeping over that night, and I knew that the combination of ka-booming thunder and howling dog would mean a sleepless night for all, so I brought Silas into my room and had him sleep peacefully at the foot of my bed. (I didn't tell him that I'm really a cat person -- I thought that might have tempted him to steal my covers.)
The two older girls are preparing for an upcoming horse show, so they were busy practicing both jumping and dressage. Their instructor came to the house on Thursday for lessons -- so fun to watch. Both girls are so accomplished and confident and completely comfortable. Here is A1, with her instructor Justin, practicing jumps.
I wish I had some action shots of the girls jumping -- it's really fantastic to see. Here is A2 practicing her dressage in the backyard ring.
Not content to let her sisters be the only ones having some adventure that afternoon, A3 demonstrated her prowess at climbing UP the sliding board. My "please be careful" admonitions were met with scoffs -- Come on, Aunt A, this is easy peasy!
Gramma came to spend the weekend with us -- and we all had a blast with her. We went to the movies on Friday afternoon (I highly recommend "Horton Hears A Hoo"!) and then out for dinner at TGIFridays. (As opposed to the UK, you can safely assume in the US that you'll be able to stand at the front entrance to any multiplex cinema and see at least 3 or 4 well-known chain restaurants suitable for kids. None of the worries about finding a suitable pub that will allow kids under 12!) A3 especially liked playing "Go Fish" with Gramma -- she doesn't really understand how to play, but she was happy to spend hours asking Gramma whether she had any threes! ("Gramma, you say 'Go Fish" to me now.") Here's Gramma with A2 at our big "Welcome Home" party for Jeff and Carol.
After Jeff and Carol's return, we all went together to Silas's puppy obedience training class. It was amazing to see how well and how quickly the dogs responded to instruction. (I wish ornery cats were so easily trainable!) Here is the family at obedience training. This particular place is known for encouraging everyone in the family to participate in learning the commands with the dog, so Jeff, Carol, and each of the girls took their turn in working with Silas on his various commands. Silas the Wonder Dog was awesome and seemed to love every minute of it.
Here is Jeff, with A3 and Silas.
It was tough to say goodbye to the girls. This is us at the Greenville Spartanburg airport, just before I left. 
Such cutey pies!
I wrote here before I left about the snow we had on my scheduled day of departure. All day, my flight was shown as delayed by 7 hours due to weather. But when I arrived at Gatwick that evening, I learned that the flight had been cancelled -- the flight crew couldn't fly out as they had been on duty too long already that day (waiting for the flight to depart). It was a major ordeal to ensure that I had a seat on the rescheduled flight at noon the next day. And the 24-hour delay in my departure from the UK meant that I missed my connecting flight in the US and my chance to have a reasonable amount of overlap time with Dave's brother Jeff and his wife Carol before they had to leave. To make a long story short, I arrived in the US 24 hours late, was able to get on the last flight of that day from Orlando to Greenville SC, and I got to Jeff & Carol's at midnight -- just hours before their 5am departure! We had just enough time for them to quickly orient me before they left. (Thank goodness my oldest niece, A1, knows all there is to know about taking care of things around their place! She was able to answer all of my questions throughout the week.)
We quickly settled into our routine of breakfast, horse and dog chores, morning home schooling, lunch, afternoon play and horseback riding time, and evening dinner followed by movies or games. All three girls were just great. The two oldest, A1 and A2, were impressively self-motivated about doing their chores and schoolwork, leaving themselves plenty of time for fun in the afternoon. They were also a big help with their little sister, A3, who is as cute as a button but demands a lot of time and attention! Here's A2 making sure that the horses had enough water, and spending some quality time with Apache. (At least I think that's Apache -- with eight of them, I was never sure I knew one horse from another...)
Even little A3 participated in horse chores. Here she is, making sure that her pony, Okey Dokey, has enough hay.The girls also have 4 chickens. To feed and hydrate them, an adult with long arms must open the top of their coop, reach in and retrieve those red food and water containers you see behind the chickens, fill them, and then replace them. Without letting the chickens out. And without getting pecked. Umm...sure. Easier said than done. But I did it...and with only minor peckage! This is Silas the Wonder Dog. Cutest, sweetest dog EVER. (If I could have just wrapped him up and put him in my suitcase, I might have been tempted to bring him back here with me!) He's just a puppy, so he's rambunctious and full of energy and demanding of frequent walks and play time, but he's so adorable that you can't help but oblige. He sleeps in a crate at night, separated from the other two big dogs. One night of my stay, we had a massive thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Silas was severely unhappy and anxious about that -- and he howled and howled. The girls had a friend sleeping over that night, and I knew that the combination of ka-booming thunder and howling dog would mean a sleepless night for all, so I brought Silas into my room and had him sleep peacefully at the foot of my bed. (I didn't tell him that I'm really a cat person -- I thought that might have tempted him to steal my covers.)The two older girls are preparing for an upcoming horse show, so they were busy practicing both jumping and dressage. Their instructor came to the house on Thursday for lessons -- so fun to watch. Both girls are so accomplished and confident and completely comfortable. Here is A1, with her instructor Justin, practicing jumps.
I wish I had some action shots of the girls jumping -- it's really fantastic to see. Here is A2 practicing her dressage in the backyard ring.Not content to let her sisters be the only ones having some adventure that afternoon, A3 demonstrated her prowess at climbing UP the sliding board. My "please be careful" admonitions were met with scoffs -- Come on, Aunt A, this is easy peasy!Gramma came to spend the weekend with us -- and we all had a blast with her. We went to the movies on Friday afternoon (I highly recommend "Horton Hears A Hoo"!) and then out for dinner at TGIFridays. (As opposed to the UK, you can safely assume in the US that you'll be able to stand at the front entrance to any multiplex cinema and see at least 3 or 4 well-known chain restaurants suitable for kids. None of the worries about finding a suitable pub that will allow kids under 12!) A3 especially liked playing "Go Fish" with Gramma -- she doesn't really understand how to play, but she was happy to spend hours asking Gramma whether she had any threes! ("Gramma, you say 'Go Fish" to me now.") Here's Gramma with A2 at our big "Welcome Home" party for Jeff and Carol.After Jeff and Carol's return, we all went together to Silas's puppy obedience training class. It was amazing to see how well and how quickly the dogs responded to instruction. (I wish ornery cats were so easily trainable!) Here is the family at obedience training. This particular place is known for encouraging everyone in the family to participate in learning the commands with the dog, so Jeff, Carol, and each of the girls took their turn in working with Silas on his various commands. Silas the Wonder Dog was awesome and seemed to love every minute of it. Here is Jeff, with A3 and Silas.It was tough to say goodbye to the girls. This is us at the Greenville Spartanburg airport, just before I left. Such cutey pies! 
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