The Olympics - Equestrian, Shooting, and Fencing (revisited)

Next up with Equestrian, where the kids all rode their "horses" over some "hurdles".  This wasn't a timed event like in the Olympics, but was rather a follow-the-leader type race around the house.    Natalie got to ride the horse first, since she is the biggest horse aficianado in the family.

Natalie was going to pass the horse onto the other cousins when one lap was done, but everyone else was happy to just drop the horses and move onto hurdling.  So the next event was a competition between one horseback rider and three hurdlers.  It seems like it would be a little unfair to the poor runners, but they ended up running at about the same pace.  I love Megan's hurdling form!

Air rifle was up next.  There are two different types of rifles being used in this event, both with about the same degree of accuracy.  The kids were shooting towards chalk bullseyes drawn on the fence - I wonder if they are still there?  It took a bit of practice before the kids could hit the bullseyes!

 Even Nathaniel got to take a turn, although he needed some help from his big sister. 

I love how serious Noah looks in his close-up shots, and how he clearly has the best form.

Megan has an unusual technique!  She told me later that she was having a hard time squirting the water shooter while holding it the normal way.  I thought this showed good ingenuity on her part.

I love Natalie's face!

We went back inside and the kids wanted to do more fencing.  Even Megan gave it a try, although she said it was her least favorite event.

And that was it for day one of the Olympics - can you believe we did all that in one day?  Yeah, neither can we!  I am tired just thinking about it.  We put the kids to bed a little early, gave them some talking time, and turned on the Olympics on tv.  It was a relaxing evening.