Heather Hamel's Blog, page 17

Book Tour – Phase 1 Complete!

Since this next week is my Spring Break away from my ‘day job’, I scheduled a small, cross-Florida book tour.  Phase 1 is complete and I feel was a success!

I spoke to a group of 89 fourth grade students at Maderia Beach Fundamental School, outside of the Clearwater area.  I was nervous and intimidated by them at first – there were just so many of them – all waiting to see what I was going to do to keep them entertained for the next 45 minutes.  They were such a great group of kids and with their awesome questions stretched my time closer to an hour.

With that success under my belt – it’s time to tackle Lake Wales.

Onward and Upward!

War Horse

I was fortunate to be invited to see the War Horse Broadway when it came to Jacksonville, Florida.

What an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity!

The recreation of the horses was amazing.  I’m not sure if they are considered puppets, or what – but whatever they’re called, after a few minutes it’s hard to believe they’re not real horses.  The head movements and ear flicks are so real.  I told my friend (who isn’t a horse person) that I could see Kobi doing every single one of those movements.  At one point the ‘horse’ even scratched an itch on its side.

We weren’t able to take any pictures inside, but I did find a link to internet pictures to help explain this better.

For those of you wondering, yes – I cried…several times.  But I would see it again in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up and highly recommend everyone see it if you can.

A must see!

Bomb proof horses

A few weeks ago, Les and I spent a beautiful Spring day in Olustee, Florida watching the reenactment of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Olustee (or the Battle of Ocean Pond).

Even after our own battle with traffic and finding a place to park, we got there in time for the parade.

We wandered around the encampments, ate some Civil War egg rolls, and wandered to the battle site to get a good seat. We were told to sit closer to the Union side since it was a Confederate win, most of the action would be on the Yankee side.  We had great seats to watch the animals stage and always knew right before the cannons were about to fire.

When the battle began, my eyes were on the horses.  I couldn’t believe how calm they were with people yelling and screaming (think the real Rebel Yell), gunshots going off, not to mention cannons and the subsequent explosions!  They were the definition of ‘bomb proof’!

After the battle, the mule drawn wagons came to clear the field.

But in the end, every human and animal was safe – allowed to fight another day.

Wild West Train Ride

When I was searching for something fun to do for Les’s birthday, I saw an advertisement come on tv for a local train ride taking guests through the Wild West.

I was intrigued, especially living in Florida.  The train ride was hosted by the St. Mary’s Railroad in south Georgia.  Only an hour and a half drive from here, I ordered our tickets.

The day for our ride was rainy and gloomy (like our entire winter/spring has been) and I was a little nervous since it was an open air train car with no refunds given for any reason.

By the time we got to St. Mary’s the rain had stopped, but it was still gray and cloudy.  I had nothing to worry about though.  The train cars were open on the sides, but had a roof over, so even in the rain we would have stayed dry.

We checked out the Indian camp before boarding.

The Wild West entertainment were local community theater actors on-board the train, interacting with each other and the passengers.

After 45 minutes or so, we stopped at the ‘town’ where robbers held up the bank.

It was fun, campy humor which led to a fun, memorable birthday!

Kobi’s Western Show

This is the last video to go along with Kobi’s story.  For those of you who have followed his journey so far, you know that I’m the rider on this one, and Kobi tried to hold his own despite me!

This video is pretty long, but includes his unwillingness in the trail class – enjoy my frustration!

Jake Shows Off

Not to be outdone by Kobi’s last video, I wanted to show some of Jake’s moves as well.

Kobi’s Championship Ride

This one makes me cry every time I watch it – all the work that went into getting Kobi (and me) there.  It’s a bit long as not only did I tape his class, but the award ceremony as well!

If you haven’t read to this part in his book yet – Wait!  Don’t let this clip ruin the surprise!

Jake’s Halloween

Trying to stay in chronological order…since Kobi’s first show was in September (many years ago), October and Halloween should be next.

This clip shows Jake using some ingenuity and attempting to drink all the water out of the apple bobbing bucket instead of having to submerge his head!

Footage from Kobi’s First Show

This is the actual video from Kobi‘s first dressage show.  He made me  so proud (of course)…and yes, I cried!

Jake Vs. the Watermelon

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you who won:)

This next clip I want to share shows a bit more of Jake’s personality while he devours a watermelon – his favorite snack.