"Dry" day at last.

So, after a week I finally came home wearing semi-clean pants, though I'm all sweaty from a long day of working in the sun. My farmer's tan is developing nicely; my forearms are already getting really dark (for me, at least) while my upper arms are still as pasty white as my legs :)
I played with Stellaphone for a while and then I did a couple of stalls. I was soaking with sweat by the time I finished, and the kids came up to me to ask if I'd take them to a small ice cream shop in town. Since I was hot and tired, I was very willing to spend some time sitting under an umbrella and slurping on something cold and sweet. My sister got a cookie dough thing, Elizabeth got a gigantic sundae with extra strawberries, and I got a strawberry milkshake for Larry and a peanut butter milkshake for myself. When we got back to the barn, I shared my milkshake with Abby. She loves peanut butter.
The vet dropped by and checked to see if Sissy could be bred yet. She's not ready yet. I played with the vet's little daughter, Emily, and we played with the poles and jump standards. She really likes to adjust the jumps, and occasionally she'd ask me to help her jump over the jumps. I'd lift her over them and she'd laugh. Then she'd want Abby to jump, so I'd call her over and Abby, being a wonderful little hoo-dog, was glad to entertain little Emily. Emily got a great surprise after jumping on foot--Larry let her ride around on Sissy. Angie, the vet, and I walked alongside Emily as she held onto the saddle and patted the Boobah's neck. Emily was still interested in the jump, so I set it as low as it would go and we held her tight while Larry led her over the pole. Sissy just stepped over, and Emily was thrilled. I love watching little kids with horses.
Later on, Mindy dropped by and Larry worked with all of us on showmanship. It was fun, and Stella and I did a whole lot of work on our pivoting. Then, we actually got a chance to ride. It was a real ride this time!
Stella was all excited to get out and work. As soon as I asked her to trot, I could tell she was ready to spring into a canter. After some trot work, I did let her canter. We had a pretty good time with it. I attempted some counter-canter work, but Stella absolutely refused to pick it up. I tricked her into it by turning around and not asking for a lead change. She's just so set on picking up the inside lead that I thought maybe getting her to feel the counter-canter would help her get used to the idea that it's okay to get it "wrong." She was a little crazy tonight and didn't want to halt when I asked. I should have longed her before I rode her, but I didn't.
Right before I left, I found my sister and Elizabeth sitting in the lounge making prank phone calls to some kind of over-the-phone adult chat thing. It was funny to hear, but they got kicked off of the thing twice before I made them quit. Each time they left one of their silly messages, the thing would respond a minute or two later by telling them that the free service is for adults 18 and over. Ah, the things kids do to entertain themselves...
Then, the sky opened up and dumped out, and I don't think I'm going to get another chance to ride for a long time. So it goes.