In July we met Emma and Aaron at the Zoo.\u00a0 Jillian was visiting in Nebraska then and she wanted to go too. She invited her good friend Kelly and her son Sully. . . such a quiet, easy going little guy.\u00a0 The Henry Doorly\u00a0 Zoo is so large it would be difficult for just Ken and I to do it in a day, but with little ones and the July heat we there for most of the morning and then had to leave.\u00a0 I know Emma enjoyed watching the monkeys but I think her favorite thing to do was walk through the misters.\u00a0 Oh, that feels good on a hot day.\u00a0 While we were there we ran into Megan, Steve, Bubba and Berkleigh.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
<\/u>\u00a0 I think everyone had a good time and we talked about going again, maybe when the weather cools down.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n Burwell Rodeo (July 29th<\/sup>)<\/span><\/u><\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n We made it to Burwell for the\u00a0Saturday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0night rodeo.\u00a0 It was a quick trip, drove back late Saturday night\/Sunday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0morning.\u00a0 This is my favorite rodeo and it was great like always.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yxw_Z5qMRvM&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0<\/u>Walks with Zelda<\/span><\/u><\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0<\/u>I\u2019ve been working with Zelda on being on a leash so that we can take walks down the road. Then later, when she listens better, she won\u2019t have to be on a leash.\u00a0 But the way it\u2019s going so far, it will be quite awhile before she\u2019s off the leash.\u00a0 I told Ken the minute you put the leash on her it\u2019s like being tied to a pinball machine. She\u2019s jumping, jerking, twisting, taking off in a burst of energy, then running back and almost knocking your legs out from underneath you. I tried using a choke chain collar on her, but she just wasn\u2019t smart enough to figure out that if she would quit pulling on the leash the collar would loosen and she could breathe again. So Ken suggested that I try cinching a leash around her middle.\u00a0 That seems to work pretty good.\u00a0 When she starts acting like a pinball, I just hold the leash straight up and she does here little dance around in circles, then settles down and we are off on a walk for awhile. Every once and awhile she\u2019ll have to stop to spin circles to see if you can get that leash off, but for the most part she\u2019s getting better about our walks.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0 Eclipse (August 21, 2017)<\/span><\/u><\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0<\/u>Earlier in the month, Jamo had asked if Caleb could come out and setup for the eclipse since he was coming back from Las Vegas for it.\u00a0 We said sure, Aaron, Kalie and Emma were already planning to come out.\u00a0 I had talked to Nancy at Kelsey Ebke\u2019s wedding and invited her if she wanted to come so she did. And she talked with Dennis the day before and invited him so we had a nice group of people out for the viewing. Caleb and his friend (can\u2019t remember his name) had a camera set up that took a picture every 30 seconds I believe Caleb said.\u00a0 It was kind of an overcast day and unfortunately became very cloudy about 20 minutes before the full eclipse and the clouds didn\u2019t lift until about 20 minutes after. So we didn\u2019t get to see the best part, but it was just fun sitting out with everyone and chatting.\u00a0 We don\u2019t usually get to do that, especially during the Steele Picnic so this was nice. Emma had a great time.\u00a0 She spent some time talking to Uncle Dennis. He doesn\u2019t hear too well so when she was done he asked what she said because he couldn\u2019t make out any of it.\u00a0 We told him she just jabbers right now, so he didn\u2019t miss a thing.<\/u><\/p>\n More Livestock??<\/span><\/u><\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0<\/u>So a couple of years ago, when we first started talking seriously about putting up the Party Barn, I had found some playground horse swings that someone had for sale in Missouri Valley, Iowa.\u00a0 Ken wanted to get them put up before the Steele Picnic, and actually before the birthday party of Olivia Onwiler on August 26th.\u00a0 When Aaron was at our house, he helped Ken get started augering the holes and I helped him finish up later.\u00a0 Between the three of us, mostly Ken, the horses were rearing (pun intended) and ready to go by the time Olivia and her parents came to Steele Farm. I didn\u2019t get any pictures of the party because we were giving horse rides in the corral, but when I did walk by it looked like the kids were having a great time.\u00a0 We had put the glider that Ken got at an auction over by the horse swings so that parents would have some place to sit and watch, and we put the bounce house next to the horses as well.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0 A lot of Olivia\u2019s classmates from Blessed Sacrament came to the party. They and their parents were pretty excited about the kids getting to ride horses. JJ Onwiler was very hesitant about climbing on a horse, but after Ken got him up on McLintock and took him around a few times, with Peggy walking along side, he was ready to ride some more.\u00a0 Don and Peggy had to do some good parental talking to JJ about facing his fears. Between that and Ken\u2019s reassurance that he wouldn\u2019t let anything happen, JJ ended up having a great time. . . . along with all the others.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0<\/u>Nebraska State Fair (August 28th<\/sup>)<\/span><\/u><\/u><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/i><\/b>We had a great time at the State Fair this year.\u00a0 We decided to go on a\u00a0Monday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and there\u2019s not a lot of people or events going on then like the draft horse competition we usually like to see, but we found another horse event that we really liked.\u00a0 It was the Ranch Horse Sorting.\u00a0 We did walk around some but spent the better part of the day watching this competition.\u00a0 I like that the playing field is pretty even for men and women in this event. You need a good horse and hope that the cattle cooperate, which they seldom do. Some of the teams were just men, just women, mixed men and women and a few were husbands and wives.\u00a0 Of course you\u2019ve got to consider that many times on the ranch, the wife has to help out with the livestock so the two of them work pretty well together.\u00a0 It was fun to watch.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/steele.farm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/20170721_094542.jpg\")
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