Weekend at the Ranch

This past weekend Philip, the boys and I headed out to "the ranch" where my parents have some land in East Texas. As usual we spent our time playing outdoors, riding horses and fishing. The boys had a wonderful time and honestly, they are so much more easy to deal with when they have open space to run and burn off energy with out having to worry about traffic, messes or cleaning up toys. We were blessed with beautiful weather on both Friday and Saturday, and spent all day outside, even for meals. All four of us enjoy fishing, and one of the really neat things about the ranch is the ability to head over to one of the several small lakes, hop on a boat and motor around fishing with out having to pay for gas, rentals or worry about upkeep. We all caught a some fish and a few of them were pretty big (by our standards). Levi was thrilled to help me real in a couple of big ones.

one big bass...one happy little guy

sweetest little fisherman ever

Another of the great benefits of the ranch is the equestrian center where you can schedule a ride any day (again, for us, we don't have to worry about rentals, clean up or upkeep of the horses). Saturday, Philip took a trail ride on Nitro during nap time. Earlier, Levi was thrilled to ride Sammy and did a great job starting to learn how to use the reigns to make the pony go where he wanted. He loved riding the "big" pony so much that he asked the stable manager if he could ride Duke (a big older one eyed horse) the next day. We were surprised she said yes, and he actually did a great job on the big old guy! Joel, who is usually fearless on Pistol, the smaller pony, refused to wear a helmet, so much so that he was a blubbering mess and wouldn't even sit on the saddle. After watching Levi ride he did agree to a short (helmetless) ride on Pistol from the arena to the barn, so that "Pistol wouldn't be sad that no one wanted to ride him."

Levi on Sammy riding like a big boy using the reigns

Riding Duke (notice the missing eye) and feeling proud!

finally smiling :)

Sunday was much cooler and only in the 40s in the morning. Despite the cold the boys wanted to go fishing, so we bundled up and headed out to the lakes. Joel, as usual, did great and was undisturbed by the cold, but Levi was a whiny mess and wanted to quit fishing after we caught our first fish. He and I were on one lake and Joel and Philip were on one near by, so we decided to go on a little hike to meet them and as we walked he warmed up a bit and started feeling better. My Dad and brother, Seth, happened to come out to fish that morning, so we got in a little visit with them as well, which is always a treat.

Levi cheered up enough to request to take a picture of me & the fish

We can't wait for my parents to be able to build a home on their land, and spend more time out there with all of my family. It is such a beautiful part of Texas, and I know we will make many memories there with our kiddos. So glad to say see you again soon to the ranch!