Ridem' cowboy

We hit the trails yesterday with our annual trip to Shmick State Park. My family of 5, plus Pop, left in the a.m. with Grandma Belle bringing all the goodies a little later for our noon meal.

It was an exciting trip with a few Davis Adventures. I'm not so sure Dawson's pony, Tiger, isn't part mountain goat...he trudged through EVERYTHING! With no picture you won't quite grasp the true image but let me try....Dan was leading the "herd" and encountered a pretty steep, wet clay climb. His horse was sinking in terrible.....all you could hear was that suction sound of the horses legs pulling up from deep down in the wet clay. Dawson & Tiger were following hot on Dan's tail. I seriously thought the twosome were stuck when I saw Tiger sink to his belly & momentarily stall. When the rest of the "herd" made it around and to the top of the hill(Pop found a better route for the rest of us) we saw ole' Tiger had mud covering his nose, in his mouth, caked on his bit, in his stirrups and completely covering his underside.

The picture was priceless & the laughter was loud!

Go Tiger and Ridem' cowboy!

Zucchini Chip Snack Cake

Typical to this time of year, I'm always looking for recipes to use up my over abundance of zucchini. I made this cake yesterday and it tastes even better today(seriously, I ate an entire row!)

I thought I would share....the recipe, lol:)

1/2 c butter or margarine, softened

1-3/4 c sugar

1/2 c vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-1/2 c flour

2 T baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 c buttermilk

2 cups shredded peeled zucchini

2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in oil, eggs, and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in zucchini.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. bake at 350* for 45-50 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

FROG

Perhaps I'm the only one that doesn't know this?

A wise friend informed me of the meaning of the "FROG"S I have chosen as a background for the Davis Herd blog. I will honestly admit that I got rid of the flowers and chose the frogs because of their boyishness( I realize...not a real word) and because earlier this spring, specifically June, my backyard contained a cooler with multiple frogs :) F R O G; however, stands for Fully Rely On GOD! What an awesome reminder!

Now, every time I encounter one(or more) of those slimy, slick, leapin' frog creatures I'll be reminded to let go of the days stresses and Fully Rely On GOD!

10 things

10 Things I've learned the past week...

1. Hanging with the girls is good for the spirit

2. Laughter is an awesome ab workout

3. Cheap tents leak

4. MO roads exist in IA

5. ANYONE can ride a bicycle

6. Wearing Spandex for 7 days is NOT comfortable

7. An overloaded school bus can only go 45 mph(and that's on the down hill)

8. Port-a-potty business owners (ragbrai term: kybos) are getting creative. My favorite "Party Poopers" lol :)

9. I really do like riding my "lil' orange bike"

And........

10. 7 days is tooooo long to be gone from "my boys"

I'm off

Wish me luck! I'm off on my 4th ragbrai adventure tomorrow and looking forward to the challenge. I have some training miles....not the most I've ever had BUT as many as I'm going to get. Unfortunately; I travel with the 1000 mile club and they like to get in my head with all their, "how many miles do you have?" I've told them I'm throwing away my odometer :)

The week of ragbrai, for me, is a time to reconnect with the kid inside. It's time spent with silly girls, the big orange beast of a bus, my coleman sleeping bag, crisp fresh morning air, my little orange bicycle, curbside snacks, fun music, ice cold drinks, my natural beauty(NO makeup for a week! ) & overall "life is good" jolly people.

My home away from home...the SIC bus! (Southern Iowa Cyclists)

I'll be back in a week!

WARNING: my story might be different after 442 miles on a bike with 7 nights sleep in tent..lol)!

2.5 seconds...and NO picture!

Last Thursday we loaded up the trailer with 1 horse, 2 horse ponies, 2 ponies, 2 adults, 3 energetic boys & enough "stuff" to stay gone for a month. We were gone 4 days:) Dan competed in 2 rodeos and the boys finished out the weekend with 2 youth rodeos of their own. It was a fun 4 days....mud and all! Anyhoo, I'm proud to announce that Jaxson & Baldy recorded the fastest time of the Clarke County Youth Rodeo Sunday with a 2.5 seconds in the breakaway calf roping event! BoY, did that make for 2 proud cowboys(Jaxson & his Dad) and a handful of proud spectators (Mom, Pop, Belle & brothers)!

Shooooooot......No picture!

Up!

"UP!" The famous word you holler to the boat driver when trying to teach someone to water ski..usually comes after a few "down"s. BUT Dexter got up his first attempt...no lie! I sat bobbing in the water, in the middle of the cove, for a good 15 minutes as I watched Dexter ski away...He did awesome! I'm not sure how far he went but it was the length of the cove, a nice wide curve and until he ran into our own return boat waves. Way to go, Dex!

July 4th

We've had a busy 4th of July with many rodeos on the Davis schedule. Over the last 4 days we've been at hot rodeos, dry rodeos, wet rodeos & the coolest 4th of July rodeo I can remember! I must say this is the first time I remember wearing fleece in July AND wishing I had some gloves! CrAzY:) The rain did stop long enough for the boys to mount up and ride in the Ft. Bloomfield Rodeo Parade. Below are pictures of the boys headed out.

Dexter & Pocan

Jaxson & Baldy

Dawson & Tiger

As the fire works displayed overhead last night I was filled with a since of pride as I reflected on what it means to be an American! I'm SO lucky to be a USA gal!