May 18

May 18 Bet It All On The Favorite!

We've taken the tradition-laden "Run for the Roses" and given it a Torrey twist. Think mint juleps AND wine; Kentucky Hot Dip AND a variety of cheeses; horse betting - at a quarter a piece going into a pot split by everyone who voted on the winning thoroughbred. It's the Derby...our way!

Derby line-up, a wine bottle, and toddlers. Perfect party.

My lovely mother-in-law handcrafted a winning Derby hat - literally, she won our hat contest!

So thankful to have my brothers close enough to drive in for a party!

It was a somewhat cloudy, somewhat hot day in Austin, but we managed to toss a few horseshoes and watch the kids race around the backyard on pool noodle ponies. I'm no good with a sewing machine (yet - I have pipe dreams), so the hot glue & pool noodle option worked best for crafting "stick horses" - and they proved a big hit!

Kenzie's form looks great! What's a Derby party without horseshoes?!

After the Thoroughbred race we had a pool noodle pony race - Kenzie came in as the winner!

We sang, ahem, croaked out of tune in poor timing, "My Old Kentucky Home" and waited in anticipation for horse number 20 to get settled in the gate - then they were off! The favorite won (an undefeated horse named after a hockey player....I was SURE he would get Joshua's vote but alas, no JATorrey's made any money on that horse race). Kenz selected a horse by number (4, in honor of her age), and was quite frustrated when Mo Tom failed to make the leaderboard. Judah, as shown above, was distracted by the hats and poor Ms. Liv burst into tears during the final seconds of the race. The noise, crowd, and hats proved her undoing.

What a wonderful day of friends and family! Our children (specifically the boy-child) have been asking when we get to have the Derby party again. Next year little ones, Lord willing, next year. And it'd be wise to bet something on the favorite!!