That time I threw Rio an epic birthday party...

I had been thinking about throwing Rio an epic 20th birthday ever since he came home from Cornell two years ago. I really wasn't sure he would get to see 20, but I thought if he did, it surely would be something to celebrate. As twenty drew closer, I got worried about planning a party. I'm an anxious person in general, and I was terrified I'd be tempting fate if I planned a big shindig for him. But a few weeks ago I finally made the call to the Big Green Pizza Truck and scheduled the party. And then, as I tend to do, I went all sorts of crazy picking out decorations and props for the photo booth. And then also as I tend to do, I forgot to take photos of most of it. Oops. I have plenty of media though, fear not! It's just poor quality media. We keep things casual at this blog anyway. (Also, I stole some photos from my friend Tanya. I shall give props where it's due though.)
Obviously, for a birthday party you need a nice big banner welcoming people to the party:

I really should have cropped the arms out of this photo. But I didn't. 

Honestly, I'm not sure what to do with that enormous banner now that the party's over... it's really heavy duty, seems a shame to toss it. I guess we can use it next year? But I cannot afford an epic party again next year, sorry Rio. Maybe for 30!
I used inflatable unicorns and real carrots for center pieces on the tables which were covered with plastic table clothes printed like hay.

 My favorite thing at the party was the photo booth area. Because Flat Rio.

Photo by Tanya

I had some fun with Flat Rio on Sunday when he was back in the house. You can torture him really easily unlike the real Rio. People had a great time with all the props, but I'm reluctant to post people and their children on the blog. Sorry. Send me a friend request on FB though, I had no problem posting them there!
The main attraction (other than the birthday boy OBVIOUSLY) was the pizza truck.

Photo by Tanya

The trucks they use are all refurbished antique trucks (painted green of course). This company is fantastic. They show up with salad, pizza, gelato, coffees, and lattes. Not only that, they supply the paper goods too! They make the pizza, set it up on their own tables where ever you want them to, and then clean up after themselves when they leave. They're AMAZING! I highly recommend.
No birthday is complete without some sort of cake. I got a special cake just for Rio and cupcakes for the humans.

photo by Tanya

Photo by Tanya

Rio thought his cake was pretty fantastic:

There were also some other goodies floating around like horse shaped lollipops and goody boxes for the kiddos.

The turnout was great, I think around fifty people came out to celebrate Rio. He has a lot of friends.

I was especially surprised that his guests brought him presents! Lots of treats, more carrots than we know what to do with, and even some saddle pads and other goodies.

It was a such a fun day! I wish I had been better with the camera, or had given the job to someone who would have taken more photos of all the things I forgot. But otherwise it went smoothly! The pizza was delicious, and for the most part, the horses didn't mind the chaos. Romey got a little upset when the kids were being noisy. Dinner settled him down though.
Rio had the best time of course. He stayed outside in his walkout almost the entire time. He's such a ham!

Have you ever thrown a party for a pet?

What's Up Wednesday

Time is a funny thing isn't it? I feel like I just wrote last week's What's Up Wednesday, but then it also seems like my trip to Florida was months ago. I'm glad I keep track of things here on the blog, or I'd be completely lost in space. Probably literally.
With the exception of last night as you already read, the horses have been working pretty steadily. Jamp has worked everyday up until yesterday, and Romey most days too. Rio has it a little easier, but hey, he's retired! Things are going ok with them. Jamp is a spookasaurus rex, but let's be real. He's always like that. I'm the most uncertain about how things are going with Romey. I really need to teach him to lunge. Or find someone to come teach him. Because he's getting really wild and I'm not turning him into the lovely horse I know is in there. I'm not sure if it's in his best interest to wait for my trainer to come home and help with him, or if I should do something sooner. Such decisions. #firstworldproblems
Anyway, here are some photos of them being adorable this past week:

View from Romes

I don't lunge at night Mom.

No place like home... and by home I mean Rio's back

Most handsome almost 20 year old in all the land

If nothing else, at least they're all really photogenic

 The boys got new shoes this weekend which isn't all that exciting except for the fact that it was Romey's first pair! Not ever, I'm sure he wore shoes to race. But his first pair since living with me. And they're so teeny tiny and cute! (As compared to the warmbloods anyway.)

Saturday was like grand central at the farm. Before the farriers arrived, I also got a new load of hay. Should get us through most of the summer.

The rest of the weekend was primarily consumed with getting the place ready for Rio's birthday party this coming Saturday. Believe it or not, so far none of the people selling me things for the party have laughed at me! Not the cake people, not the guy at the liquor store... not even the pizza truck people! The guy at the liquor store actually told me about the 70's themed costume party he threw for his bulldog's first birthday. Those are the kinds of people I like to do business with.

Supplies

Whilst preparing the barn for visitors, I cleaned out the utility room. Which is code for bathroom/laundry room. Part of that job was moving the extra blankets out of the canvas bags they had been stored in and into some rodent proof tubs in one of my sheds. And that's where things got exciting. While I was taking blankets out of one of the bags, something moved. "AHHHH!!!!" and I ran away. But then I remembered that I live alone and that it was still my problem. So I tiptoed my way back to the shed, armed with a rake, to investigate further. It was a little field mouse and her kids. Ugh. Ok. The bag had handles. And I had a rake. Clearly I could handle this situation. I hooked the bag handle with the rake and dragged them out to the edge of the woods to free the family of giant rats field mice.

Mom took off with one baby and left me to deal with the other three. Nice. Guess who's not getting nominated for mother of the year.

It took some nudging with the end of the rake to get them off my ruined blanket. But everyone survived and that dead beat mother did come back for the others. Glad that's over.
Sunday morning I decided before doing anything else, I owed the dogs a walk. It was gorgeous out and I had not gotten them out to enjoy it the day before. I think a mile and a half was bit much for them though. They both decided to plop down in the shade and refuse to go any further when we were on our way back. Thankfully after a photo shoot they got up and walked home.

I got to meet some customers for lunch yesterday so had an easy workday followed by my slacker evening with the horses. Back to the grind today though!
And that's what's up this Wednesday. What's up with you?