At the Races!!

It's that time of year again. The Saratoga Race Track is open and the horses are off and running. The architectural firm that Ken works for (WCGS) holds their annual company picnic there every year. 2015 makes the second year that Ken has brought me along with him. We took some photos last year but never published them, so I decided to add some of them with this year's photos. 

The Race Track is amazingly beautiful!  It looks so 19th Century as you approach the gates to enter. We have our catered lunch in the air-conditioned pavilion, At the Rail, (to the far right of this photo).

The miniature jockey statues hold the names of the horses running, while retired horses have stones in the courtyard (the darker squares seen behind this fountain).

The grandstand across the walkway from our pavilion is always decorated in flowers and full of festively-dressed spectators.

Because we have to cross the walkway for the race horses to get to our pavilion, we get the privilege of petting the ushers' horses. 

(This photo is from last year, and taken by a kind woman from another party.)

This year's photo of Ken and I. Lunch was delicious and afterward we posed for this photo, taken by the wife of one of the partners in the firm.

And who could resist their smiling faces. Terry and Greg are the nicest couple. 

We popped out to watch a race that we bet on. Our horse won!

After we ate, and chatted for a while. Ken and Greg, with very little input from me, worked hard at trying to put together some trifectas, in the hopes of winning. 

We all went out to the track to see if our horses would win. Some more of the partners, Woody with his wife JulieAnn, and Pete with his wife Mary came out to cheer us on.

They didn't, but it was exciting to watch.

Looking up at the announcer's booth on top of the grandstand.  

I would never go up there! It looks terrifying.

I actually borrowed this photo from the local news station's twitter feed.

Deere Races at the track.

And another borrow. One of Ken's co-workers shared this on a former co-worker's Facebook wall. I borrowed it from her. 

The only proper use of Coors Light.

Last year I was new to the family known as WCGS, so I didn't interact much with any of Ken's co-workers. The one that I did know had broken her ankle on the way across the parking lot and didn't make it to the picnic. No they didn't shoot her, although many of us wondered. This year, Ken was a lot more open and I was comfortable around everyone. So we had a wonderful time talking to everyone!  

So there you go. A condensed version of the many photos taken during two years of company picnics. We did manage to win $6.80 this year!! Woo-Hoo!!!  We aren't sure how we will spending our vast winnings, but I'll try to let you know what we decide on.