Saturday, October 29, 2011

My Birthday

    Now, about a month since it happened, I'm finally writing this post about my 18th birthday! (Oct. 1st)

A good start would be to tell you that the theme was the Kentucky Derby, or horse racing in general.
Jessie and everyone older (except me, obviously) helped decorate, and it turned out great, as you will soon see in the photos. Take note that almost all these photos are by my sister, but I'll say if one isn't.

The general layout...


A mixed bag...note the Clydesdale at the #6 gate!

                                                                 Photos on the walls



                                                                    The "finish line"!

My presents
                                                            Family photos in the morning

What? We were supposed to be ready?

Our Mum took this one, which is why Marjo's in it

A horse shoe shaped dessert and danishes
  A while after breakfast, we went to Sioux passage park for a little while, as they were having some historic stuff going on.
Alexandre, learning how to use a rope maker



I told Marjo to take this photo


Laura-Lise patting a friendly Great Dane (there were a lot of dogs there)

Dressed up...mostly (Katia, L-L, & A)
Afterwards we stopped by Spanish Lake Pond, to see if we could find any wild persimmons. As we were getting out of the van, this immature Red-tailed Hawk landed in a tree nearby! I got the camera to take these next photos of him.



Preening


I got right under him, and you can see how their eyes are set pointing forward


Autumn colors on the walk to find persimmons

Jessie and I, trying to find ripe persimmons. I didn't use to like pictures of me in glasses (I wear them for long-distance),  but they say it makes me look German, which isn't a bad thing! :)
                                                            Scenery across the pond



We found this bat on the walkway, and thought it was sick, but when we came back, he had climbed up a nearby tree.
I think it's a Little Brown Bat (don't say "Well...yeah Sam !", it's a real name!) (my photo)
                                    Trying to find ripe persimmons (there weren't very many! :(  )
K, on my Dad's shoulders, and L-L on mine

Katia looking through a clump

An unintentional Lewis & Clark pose!

Practicing in the field with my new soccer ball
                                                                      The cake!


Katia's wondering "why the funny face?"...

That's what it was supposed to look like! :)


Blowing them out (or about to)

A new knife! How sharp?! ;)

The How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack!! A favorite

An old camera, with the promise for a new one!! =D
  We had a pretty full day, for a birthday! Our bdays usually get eaten up before we're done eating breakfast! ;)


My interest in horses and horse racing came from Walter Farley's "The Black Stallion" series which always stayed in my list of favorite books. A favorite that I later found was the book, "Man O War, a Legend Like Lightning" by Dorothy Ours from the library. This biography about Man O War is one of my favorite books, and I actually got it this year, fitting well with the theme, though Man O War never raced in the Kentucky Derby. Here's a brief overview of Man O War .

11 comments:

Leah Mays said...

Oh, how fun! Wow that is really weird, for a bat to be out in the open like that! Looks like you had lots of fun! Love the horse theme! =)

Starling Man Sam said...

Hi! Yes, I was thinking it had to have rabies or something, and we were going to tell a park agent, if we saw one, but since th bat climbed up the tree, we figured he might just have fallen. (Bats are very clumsy on the ground, and need a tree to take off from)

Leah Mays said...

Yes, they seem to be very frail, flimsy things...But I haven't really studied them myself, so my opinion doesn't count for much.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing the photos, Sam! They're gorgeous! (And I think you do look good & German in glasses, by the way!) It sounds like you had a great birthday! I love the theme & the decorating! :) I miss y'all! Hope to see you soon!

P.I.C.'s by Breanna said...

Nice Theme!! :)I LOVE horses!!
Neat shots of the Hawk!!! =)
Thanks for sharing!! I enjoyed all the pictures!!

P.I.C.'s by Breanna said...

Oh and by the way, isn't that soundtrack AMAZING!!!!!? =)
Okay, so I'm a Huge soundtrack fan, and that one is a favorite!! =D'
Like your choices! :)

Starling Man Sam said...

Thanks for the comments guys! Yes Breanna, John Powell's a phenomenal composer! Have you heard the Kung Fu Panda soundtrack? That's composed by Powell & Hans Zimmer, so you can imagine that it's fantastic! Great, Kate! I'll keep in mind that I not only look german in glasses, but GOOD & german! I always liked good germans!:) (i.e. not the nazis!)

Unknown said...

Do you watch those movies, Sam? Or just listen to the music? I like some of Hans Zimmer's music also. I haven't heard any of Powell's (yet), though. Thanks for the tip!And yes, you DO look good in glasses! Good AND German! What could be better? :D We have a LOT of German in our family tree. And, NO, I don't like the Nazis either! ;)

Starling Man Sam said...

No, I haven't watched a lot of the movies I like the soundtracks for, including the 2 I mentioned.
Proud to be a german-with glasses-, irish without them, and American inside!

Unknown said...

Okay. I was wondering because I'd noticed that you & Marjo both listed movie soundtracks that I didn't think y'all would watch... Thanks for clarifying! :)

My family is a perfect example of the "American melting pot" mentality. We have German, English, French, Irish, Scottish, Bohemian, American Indian etc... Quite a hodge-podge! :)

P.I.C.'s by Breanna said...

No, I haven't heard the Kung-Fu soundtrack yet... Powell and Zimmer, wow, got to be good!! :) I will for sure look into that!! :-) Thanks for the suggestion!
I recently heard part of the new "Three Musketeers" soundtrack and it sounds like it's going to be good too, though I've never heard of the composer (Paul Haslinger)! :-) I thought it sounded a lot like zimmer's music themes! :D Anyway...
Fun reading through yours and Kate's comments. :) Made me laugh! :D
Hope you are having a fantastic day!!