A Day on the Ranch

I am unbelievably far behind on this blog so I will be doing a La-ha-hot of catch up posts in the near future. You see, I have this little problem. Our little family does SO MANY fun things that I have no free time left over to blog about them (not really a "problem" is it?). I have just been so busy doing all of the fun things there are to do here in Houston, spending weekends on our fantastic new boat, keeping my energetic 2-year-old entertained (I've been interrupted about 15 times just writing this paragraph), and maybe also getting addicted to a certain TV show that shall not be named, which kept me distracted during nap time for a solid week or two. But I have finally finished all 6 seasons of the show on Netflix, and I'm ready to make my triumphant return to the blogging world. Maybe one of these days, I'll actually get this thing current! 

Here are a whole lot of pictures of a ridiculously HUGE and FUN place called Oil Ranch that is only about 20 minutes from our house. We spent the day there about 2 months ago and had a fantastic time!

Baby chicks. These are always a favorite of Luke's: "Hi. HI! Hiiii. Hi! ..."

Food? Food? Food?!

No Food? ... We have no use for you.

Seriously, once these guys realized we didn't have any food for them, they wouldn't even let us touch them! Luke just followed them around in a big circle and they stayed just out of his reach. Some "petting" zoo!

Just the sight of these baby cows practically gave me a heart attack! They were SO unbelievably cute! And this one kept licking my hand!

Do yourself a favor and make this picture bigger so you can get a good look at that perfect little face.

Wet willy.

This kid will just climb higher, and higher, and higher if you don't stop him!

I successfully milked this cow on my first try (I was kinda proud of myself because out of the group of about 8 in front of us, only one other person could do it). Luke was a little weirded out by it and Jeff opted out of the experience all together.

Water pump rubber duck races. Awesome.

Luke thought this was the coolest thing.

Bounce house. Always a good time.

Luke was SO excited to ride the train! He ran way ahead of Jeff and I to get to it!

Front of the train!

There was a big lake in the middle of this giant property, surrounded by acres of beautiful green fields. Combined with the bright blue skies, it made for some gorgeous views from the train.

The activities at this place were endless!

Sandbox

These horse tire swings were so cool! Such creativity!

Sun dial. You stand on the current month and your shadow points to the time of day. It was almost accurate.

This giant spinning contraption was the FUNNEST! Somehow we managed to convince Luke to stay strapped in the stroller and watch while Jeff and I played like kids for a few minutes. We would each grab a sandbag and run as hard as we could for a few seconds, and then jump on and enjoy the ride!

This is another picture that needs to be expanded. I took this just as Jeff was jumping onto a sandbag and his facial expression is phenomenal.

A gaggle of geese.

Mini golf. Luke had a fool proof strategy for a hole-in-one every time.

Luke thought the whole course was one big ride. He took every opportunity to lie on something and slide off of it yelling, "Weee!"

Posing with my pig friend.

There was a goose egg inside the teepee. I thought it might be fake until it touched it and it was warm!

This skull wasn't fake either. I think it gave Luke the heebie-jeebies. He refused to pick it up for a picture.

Luke really wanted to pet this goose. It was hilarious to watch him try to catch up with it. He even stopped every time it stopped.

Getting closer...and...

STOP! What? I'm just standing here enjoying the view.

And on to my favorite part of the day. The baby goats! We got to hang out in a little barn with two 3-month-old goats and two 1-month-old goats. I never wanted to leave!

1-month-old baby girl. SO cute!

Luke was a little nervous because the goats were bleating REALLY loud when we first walked in. They were calling for their moms to come back inside and feed them, even though apparently, they had just been fed.

This adorable little thing chewed on everything, including my hair! But that didn't stop me from wanting to take her home with me! I was surprised at how hard it was to leave. I even stayed in the barn for a little while after Jeff and Luke left because I couldn't stand to say goodbye, which sounds completely ridiculous, but I really was so sad I couldn't take them with me!

Luke clearly was not nearly as into this hug as I was.

Luke and I are always game for a pony ride. I'm actually really going to be bummed when he's big enough to ride without me walking next to him because I will really miss getting to walk with and pet the cute ponies!

Back to the bounce house!

Train rides make this boy really happy. And when this boy is happy, so am I.

 

Strange.

Ringing the bell on our way out. What a fun day!

Luke jumped right into his pool when we got home.

Ahh summer.

The girls came over and all three kids helped Jeff weed the backyard.

It was my turn to cook Sunday dinner the following day, so that night I attempted to make the dessert: a strawberry cake with a delicious homemade fresh strawberry filling. It was kind of a disaster. I guess it's pretty important to make sure the bottom layer is completely flat before adding the filling. Mine was ever-so-slightly in the shape of an ant hill, so all of the filling kept running out the sides and the frosting wasn't strong enough to hold it in, no matter how much I globbed on there in my attempts to stop up the leaks. My poor delicious cake ended up looking a lot like one of the ghosts from Mario Bros....

I may have eaten my feelings a little before throwing the rest of the cake out and making cookies instead.