An Equestrian Goes On Vacation...

Rainbow over Hershey, PA.
It ends in a pot of chocolate.
Which I ate. Yummy!

It's summertime, and like countless other families around the world, our family took some time off to go on holiday.  As anyone who has ever watched National Lampoon's Vacation knows, family holidays are always interesting, to say the least. Finding a vacation that fits all family member's activity levels and interests is bloody challenging, if nigh upon impossible.  Mom may prefer to park her butt on a beach with the latest hot summer read, Dad might prefer to golf, one child might want to explore old battlefields while the other would rather boogeyboard in the surf. Needless to say, it's an exercise in compromise.

The first compromise in our vacation planning came at the outset.  The kids wanted to bring the horses.  I liked the idea, but knew my husband would rather pluck his eyeballs out with a spork.  "Hell no!" was his exact response when the kids broached the idea.  Okay, nix the horses. 

After some deliberation, we decided on Hershey Park.  Lots of rides for the kids and hubby, water park for all of us, outlets for back-to-school shopping, and most importantly, CHOCOLATE FOR MOMMY!  I did not pay as much attention to the planning details as I should have.  Hershey Park is mostly roller coasters.  I don't do roller coasters.  I don't mind admitting that I'm a big old wussy pants. 

The Skyrush.  Which I didn't go on.

As soon as we got to the park the rest of the family raced to get on the Skyrush.  I went on the swings. And promptly confirmed that since my concussion I can't ride on anything that goes in rapid circles. Took me 20 minutes and a bottle of water to finally calm my stomach.  Next the family went on the SooperDooperLooper.  I tried my luck at Skeeball.  They tried the Sidewinder.  I went on the railroad. So it went for the rest of the day as the family went on eleven of the park's twelve coasters.

One thing we noticed as time went on was you can take the horsey family away from the horses, but you can't take the horsey outta the family.  Or however that saying goes.  Doesn't matter.  Wherever we are, we are still thinking ponies. 


Yep.  This ride is my speed, AND it has horses.
WINNING!



A few examples: 

• We pull in to where we were staying at a friend's house, and the first thing my daughter says is, "Look at the size of this lawn!  We could put a 2 stall barn and a couple of paddocks back there." Yep, we pretty much assess every place we go to in terms of equine housing potential.
• Every field we see evokes a comment along the lines of, "I bet Sug would love to eat in that field."
• Whenever we pass a field with horses in it my husband preempts the inevitable requests with a "No, we are NOT stopping to pet the horses. We need to make time."  Now in my world, the estimated arrival time on the GPS is considered the Time To Beat, but really, what is the male mandate to Make Time??? 
• We bring apples as snacks for the drive.  This got a bit funky when we realized the kids were saving their cores for the horses.  This is normally okay, but not when you are not going home for several days and said apple cores will be marinating in a hot car...
• The kids want to stop and play every game that offers a stuffed horse/unicorn as a prize.  Vaguely reminiscent of the "It's so fluffy!" scene in Despicable Me.
• We need to ride the carousel.  Several times. And we need to find the horses that look the most like Sugar and Cookie and ride them at least once.

Yep, that's how we roll.  We're the Equestrian Griswalds.