What Grandpa Did...

Where is Kiki, and what is she doing?
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Grandpa had a surprise waiting for her when we got to Grandma's House.
Riding lessons.
I don't know why I say we're going to Grandma's House when it's really Grandma and Grandpa's House. "Grandma's House" is shorthand for Grandma and Grandpa's because saying Grandma and Grandpa's House takes too long. Over-the-river-and-through-the-woods-to-Grandmother- and-Grandfather's-House-we-go. It's a universal principal.
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Anyway, Grandpa is very much a part of what makes Grandma's House so special.
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Right, Kiki?
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Lessons included tacking up, leading the horse to the covered arena, and...

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Learning from The Best Teacher I've ever seen: Ms. Heather.

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Kiki got to work on a lunge line.

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Which allows the rider to concentrate on their seat instead of worrying about steering.

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Ms. Heather said Kiki was a natural. Which made me happy because Kiki had been dreaming of this moment for years.

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Her first lesson was learning to steer. There are a lot of things to think about at once, remember what it was like to learn how to drive a car?

Same thing. Without the rear view mirrors.

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Grandpa and I sat in the corner and watched the whole thing. It was one of my favorite moments because I got to see my child succeed in something she's talked about for months on end.

Fruition is what it was. A lesson in patience and trusting in God for His timing.

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On the way to her third and last lesson.

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It was a bit of an unusual situation. Because we were here on vacation, we got a crash course in English riding. What usually takes weeks, Kiki learned in three days. This is a transition from a trot into a canter.

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And what really surprised me is that her teacher was confident enough in her progress to let her try a small jump on her last day.

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It was exceedingly, abundantly above anything we could have asked for. Just like what a good Father (and a good Granddaddy) would do.