10 Year Anniversary

And this year's winner for our most lovable and popular guest is.....(drum roll)...Paula Disney. She's been coming here year for year for 10 years and is practically part of our team here at Echo Valley. We really all had a great time with you!
But our new guests are just as important as our repeat guests and it seems like Europe has developed a taste for our ranch. I think my favorite thing about working at EVR is that opportunity of meeting so many diverse people from different countries. Speaking of which here is the (r-l.) Duncan Family, Mr. Cliff, the Horner Family men and our Falconer Brian. He's blowing a little whistle to signal for the bird to come in....and here he comes.

So after lunch it's time to get back on those horses and work off all of Chef Kim's delightful food.

Alright, 1..2..3..cheese! Thanks Horner Family for posing for that wonderful family portrait. Speaking of which, let me take a moment just to tell everyone that whenever I take your picture, please feel free to approach me if you'd like copies, it doesn't cost anything. I would love for people to take those memories home with them.

And here comes trouble, another red head like me! That's Anna with Bubbles and her brother Henry with Nin. And let me tell you, watching these 2 in their lessons was so much fun...but I'll get to that later.

On my way to the arena I saw John Duncan and his daughters Elizabeth and Madeleine playing cards on the lawn. And you can see our puppy Joy all cuddled up to them too.

So in the arena we've got Bud Kanke with the best and most original hat I've seen so far at the ranch. Now Bud is a fairly laid back guy and so Ernie kept falling asleep in the ring. But let me tell you, I went off to photograph some more guests and when I came back both rider and horse were fully awake and going at a much faster pace.

I love watching lessons with kids (in particular funny ones like Henry and Anna). The activities the wranglers have them do are to build confidence but sometimes...they just look silly. Looks like Henry's about to take flight with Nin!









So throughout the lesson these 2 siblings were just full of giggles and saying the funniest things to their horses.

In the same week we also had 2 avid mountain bikers Christine and Rob Barker who had been here the previous year with their bikes frozen to their car. With warmer temperatures now, they were out biking every day and Christine decided to take advantage of some barrel racing lessons given by wrangler Kayleigh (pictured on right).

And there was a great deal of improvement from one lesson to the next. She was trotting around the barrels with our only barrel-racing horse here Bubbles.




The Duncan Family are all round animal lovers. So if they're not playing in the grass with the puppies, they're out on horseback.













Looks like a Norman Rockwell picture with the family altogether around the tractor. Sometimes you'll see me coming up to ask to take you family picture. And then when you get home you'll find it smiling back at you in the mail. Just a nice little souvenir to remind you of your time at Echo Valley.

The Iveson's LOVE to ride!

Let me introduce you to the Iveson Family from England. We begin with young Alistair, who dreams one day of becoming a barrel racer. And who better to help him out than Kayleigh, our former barrel racer Wrangler.










And then there's Poppy, the youngest of the bunch. Poppy was very easy to photograph until...she started to trot. Look at the photo below and imagine trying to take a picture of this giggling little girl having the time of her life. It was very hard for me to keep my camera straight.
Oldest son Oliver became the star of his dad's home video and his brother Alistair's picture camera too. As you can see he is training to play a role in the next Indiana Jones film.
And even mom made it on a horse, although looking a little insecure before, she looks quite confident in the saddle now as we can see!
And then there's dad. As you saw before he's a hobby video and photographer.
So the family is normal right....? So what are they all doing on the lawn at Echo Valley with fishing rods amongst hundreds of grasshoppers...fishing for grasshoppers?!?! Oh..I see...there's Flint, he's giving them fly fishing lessons. So sorry, carry on then, Happy Fishing!

Carving Carrots and Cucumbers

Spa Manager Jaranya is always happy to share her talents with others...like vegetable carving. She had all the kids attention on Thai night as the kids got to help prepare the plate decorations. They carved leaves and flowers to make all the dishes look extra special!

And there's Angelli, trying to hide a smile as she sits on Nin who's sporting a lovely new pink flower tattoo painted on by Head Wrangler Dirk.

A Ride Before School Starts

School will be starting soon for these boys...but that was the furthest thing from these students minds on their family vacation! The Singleton Family (and extended family) , a wonderful mix of Irish/Japanese and Chinese, were whipping around the arena having the time of their lives!























And son Kenji even got his first pony ride ever from Nin led by wrangler Emma. Could Reika have a bigger smile on her face riding Commanche...wow, you're practically glowing. That's the spirit!

Old McDonald Had a Farm

Being a guest on a ranch can be even more special when you feel like you're part of the daily grind. And for kids week we make a point of getting everyone involved.




So every morning all the kids would go to the chicken coop to collect the eggs. Here's new best friends Alexandra and Megan trying their best not to disturb the poultry.





And let's not forget to introduce former guest and new kid's week employee Angelli. She was a great help to Nicole during the 3 weeks she was here to assist in looking after kids.

Yup, there was no shortage of activities like berry picking, water fights, swimming, catching grasshoppers, playing Frisbee...you name it, they did it! Kids Weeks are the most fun (and probably the wettest too!)

Throw Another Steak on the BarB Mate!

So as per usual we had our Bar-B-Q night but we had a special visitor come by, Glenn. So after everyone had filled their bellies with Kim' s wonderful Bar-b-q delights, Glenn introduced himself. He told stories to us all, chanted with his drumming and even brought a game to the fire.

So there are 2 sticks and one has a ring and the other doesn't, in which hand is he holding which stick. That's the basics but Glenn describes and demonstrates it much better than me. I think everyone definately got a kick out of it and they all stayed until the fire went out.








And there's Megan catching grasshoppers...her new enemy (after her older brothers but loads of them in her bed one evening, poor darling). But she had a good sense of humor about it ...and got her revenge.

So after the game the adults ...I mean the kids...rushed back to the fire to roast some marshmallows and make smores...no wait, I did mean the adults, as you can see. And the biggest smile is on the face of our big kid Nicole.

Anyone who's ever called into our Vancouver office will know who Nicole is. We were lucky for these 3 weeks as Nicole donated her time to come up to the ranch and entertain the kids.



Yes that's right, smores are made of gooey marshmallow mushed together with Hershey's chocolate then all squished between 2 graham crackers, thanks for the demo Megan! Campfires are always a favorite with both big and small and a great way for everyone to get to know each other in a more casual setting!