Dresses, Hats & Horses

My parents surprised me with a trip to the Kentucky Derby in honor of graduation!

"I can't believe I'm wearing a suit to watch horses"- Dad

Downtown Louisville 

167,000 people. You could say it was a little crowded. 

We spent the whole day at Churchill Downs watching races and exploring and checking out the gift shops. 

And of course testing our luck on some horses. 

Dad strategized his bets and won TWENTY WHOLE DOLLARS. 

We're high dollar gamblers. 

The Derby likes pastels...

Placing his bets. 

High $ bets. 

I thought this was interesting: notice english rider attire, western horse attire... humm. 

There were a few people there. 

She's just stunning. 

One hour before the Derby a storm scattered everyone to the tunnels. Dad and I decided we would tough it out, we got soaked... well, dad got soaked- he gave me his jacket. 

Smart people had ponchos, not us. 

The rain lasted all of ten minutes. Just enough to cool us off, a lot. 

Post race. We were beat. 

It took us 3 hours to get back to our hotel because of the traffic. We rushed into Olive Garden for dinner at 10:50 and they were sweet enough to serve us, but no bread sticks... they were out of bread sticks. Our waiter gave us peanut M&Ms to make up for it. That's fair. 

I am so thankful for this time with my parents. It was a blast. We have been struggling though this week trying to catch up from the weekend, but it was worth it! I have to say I was surprised how much horse racing is not about the horses and completely about gambling and drinking. But we had a great time, nonetheless. It was fun to see all the hats and bet a few bucks on a horse. The horses were magnificent and it was amazing to feel the energy from the stadium. I was rooting for Exaggerator but Nyquist is a beast. I'm excited to keep up with him this year. 

It seems like mom spends most of her Mother's Days at horse related events. She's a trooper. 

Oh, and don't think we just left Andy out {well, we kind of did but not on purpose}...he had to study for finals and couldn't afford to take the time off. But summer break is ALMOST here. 

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend!

Thanks for reading. You guys are awesome.