Meeting bloggers IRL: Team Flying Solo and Eventer79

I've been following the Team Flying Solo blog for years, and have admired first Solo and then Encore as she's taken them up through the levels. I knew they were located somewhere in North Carolina, and since hubby and I were headed there for the holidays, we got in touch and made arrangements to meet in person. She even promised that I'd get to meet the famous Solo and sidekick Encore, and get to see the brand-spanking-new Flying Solo Farm! Who could possibly resist such an offer?

Eventer79 proved to be just as awesome in real life as she is in bloggerland. We had a super awesome afternoon with her adorable ponies, followed by a tour of Flying Solo Farm - with is just gorgeous. 

I'm on the left, the Very Famous Solo is in the middle, and Eventer79 is on the right.

Hubby meets Encore, who was very personable. 

Like, REALLY up close and personable!

Solo was a bit more aloof, but was more than happy to help consume the five-pound bag of carrots we brought.

Eventer79 is only the the third blogger I've ever met in person - the other two are Andrea from Project Runaway and Lauren from SheMovedToTexas. Have you ever met any bloggers IRL?

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Twelve Haffies Drumming...

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Twelve Haffies Drumming...

Paddington is already the master of the drum roll... or rolling the drum!

Eleven Haffies Piping...
Ten Haffies Leaping...
Nine Haffies Dancing...
Eight Haffies Milking...
Seven Haffies Swimming...
Six Haffies Laying...
Fiiiiive Gold-en Haffieeeeees!
Four Calling Haffies...
Three French Haffies...
Two Turtle Haffies...
And a Haffieeee in a pear treeeeee. 

Thanks to everyone who stuck with us through the 12 Haffie Days of Christmas. I hope that everyone's 2014 has gotten off to an awesome start! 

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Eleven Haffies Piping...

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Eleven Haffies Piping...

Piper Haffie comes complete with tool belt, pipe wrench, and PVC pipes. Additional accessories are available at your local home improvement store.

Adding pipe wrench to Piper Haffie.

Paddington inspects pipes.

Also Hubby's pockets, in case of peppermints.

3/4 inch PVC is optimal for all your plumbing issues.

Ten Haffies Leaping...
Nine Haffies Dancing...
Eight Haffies Milking...
Seven Haffies Swimming...
Six Haffies Laying...
Fiiiiive Gold-en Haffieeeeees!
Four Calling Haffies...
Three French Haffies...
Two Turtle Haffies...
And a Haffieeee in a pear treeeeee.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Ten Haffies Leaping...

On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Ten Haffies Leaping...

Haffies even leap over things that do not require leaping.

Also? We totally rocked this in our jumping lesson yesterday!

Nine Haffies Dancing...

Eight Haffies Milking...

Seven Haffies Swimming...

Six Haffies Laying...
Fiiiiive Gold-en Haffieeeeees!
Four Calling Haffies...
Three French Haffies...
Two Turtle Haffies...
And a Haffieeee in a pear treeeeee.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... nine Haffies Dancing...

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... nine Haffies Dancing...

Dressage is like dancing, right?

Eight Haffies Milking...

Seven Haffies Swimming...

Six Haffies Laying...
Fiiiiive Gold-en Haffieeeeees!
Four Calling Haffies...
Three French Haffies...
Two Turtle Haffies...
And a Haffieeee in a pear treeeeee.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Eight Haffies Milking (?!?!)...

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Eight Haffies Milking (?!?!)...

(Note: This required some creativity on our part and some imagination on your part. Paddy's no good at milking, and Cash kept insisting that he wasn't a cow, despite his spots. So we had to improvise.)

Note the "milk mustache."

How did we get this awesome picture, you ask? It involved some homemade whipped cream and one Very Tolerant Haffie. Here are the outtakes:

Applying whipped cream to dubious Haffie.

Elias helped by getting the drips.

Ew. Schtop it with the schtuff on the schnoz.

I refuse to pose with a gallon of milk.

Ok well maybe...

Nope! Instead I shall EEET IT!

Thpppbt. The things I put up with for fame.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Seven Haffies a-Swimming

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to meeee... Seven Haffies a-Swimming:

Haffies are slightly less graceful than swans when swimming.

Six Haffies Laying...
Fiiiiive Gold-en Haffieeeeees!
Four Calling Haffies...
Three French Haffies...
Two Turtle Haffies...
And a Haffieeee in a pear treeeeee.

Happy 2014 everyone! When the 12 Haffies of Christmas series is over, I'll post about our 2014 goals. Rest assured they involve world domination by a certain adorable Haflinger... ;)