We spent the weekend gallivanting around a five thousand acre ranch at the very southern end of our state.
Troy's family wanted to take a little getaway with us before going back to Hawaii until Christmas, and some friends of theirs invited us to visit their country home. After what should have been about four hours of driving but ended up being seven with the ten stops we took, we happily arrived at Eagle Mountain Ranch. As non-ranchers, we really weren't sure what to expect, but we had a great time.
Blake soaked up every moment of life on the ranch. It was so much fun to watch him discover the world of horses, log cabins, and wide open space for the very first time.
It was eye opening to observe such a drastically different lifestyle than the one we are used to for a few days. We don't often see cowboy getup in our neck of the woods.
The ranch was chock full of fun things to capture every ounce of our boys' attention.
They had countless dogs roaming around the acreage. Normally, Blake is terrified of dogs (and I am too). But the ranch dogs were so calm and mellow that Blake fell in love and asked all sorts of questions about their dog families.
The kind family that invited us have 23 grandchildren, so they had quite the play structure setup. The boys spent hours on their teeter totter, trampoline, and swing set.
They even had a outdoor wooden play house complete with beach shells for the boys to line up.
We saw lots of horses.
And walked around and around the horse corral that Blake determined to be his own carousel.
The biggest highlight was our four wheeling excursion.
Blake was overjoyed to hold on tight and let the wind rip through his hair.
Until we told him we were taking a break to walk around in the mountains.
We saw some breathtaking views.
Nash snuggled right up to the ranch owner.
He was so comfortable that he crashed. He doesn't produce an ounce of shut-eye when riding in a continuously moving car for hours on end, but a bumpy, stop and go, open air ride apparently does the trick. Go figure.
To be continued...
My three favorite pictures: Of course, Nashy falling asleep in the guy's arms--I don't know that I've every seen him asleep anywhere but his crib. Next, Troy pulling the wagon with book in hand, and last, Blake sad because he has to take a break. Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteCan I just point out that the book Troy had in his hand is number 13 in the series, and they are ALL that humongous!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun place! I love that Nash fell asleep on a four wheeler- ha ha! Like your mom, I too laughed that Troy's reading a book while pulling the wagon. So funny.
ReplyDeletelooks like so much fun!! so do you have any good road trip tips? you are always so brave to travel with your kids. we're driving to portland in a few weeks and i'm dreading the drive!! (hendrix doesn't sleep in the car either)
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