Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Ranching in Wyoming




I grew up going to "The Ranch" every Memorial and Labor Day for as long as I can remember. Since we moved to Houston, I hadn't been since Rhett was 8 months old! I missed it so much!

Mitch had Friday and Saturday off- a "golden weekend" in residency terms- normal life for most other folks, so we left Friday morning right after Mitch had worked a long night shift. I drove, don't worry. The whole drive up, I had so many memories of the ranch flooding back to me and I realized how much I had missed it! It's so fun for kids to have a place that's familiar but so different from every day life. At the ranch, the closest neighbors are cows, the loudest noises are crickets and coyotes, the brightest lights are the stars, and the biggest worry is not having enough time at the ranch. Heaven!

We were the first ones up there and had the place to ourselves. It was unusually green up there because of all the rain and everything was beautiful!

 
We got there just in time to see a shipment of cattle unloading.



There were lots of manly father-son moments too- Rhett learned how to pee off a fence- thanks Mitch. Rhett now knows he does not need a potty to go. Rhett was loving all his daddy time, especially after three crazy months in a row not seeing him much.


 
 


Good old Fatcats. Been running forever. 

 
Mitch drove Rhett through the biggest mud puddle they could find and both were soaked head to toe. By the end of the first day, Rhett had already been through three changes of clothes.



 We even got to go see the barn owls, at least a dozen times. Rhett is obsessed with owls. He loved looking for their feathers too.


Ruby was loving the great outdoors too. She loved all the dogs running around that our cousins had brought, she loved the horses, being outside, and lots of time all together.




I have a picture of me just a little bit older in this exact same chair in the same spot. Not sure if that's a good thing. 





She wasn't loving this though...


Minds and I left the kids with the boys one morning and ran up to beautiful Fremont Lake. I love having a running buddy. And such a beautiful place to run. Mitch had to leave Saturday night so he could make it to work early Sunday morning, but we got to stay till Monday.



The Varners brought their horses up and were nice enough to let us ride them too. Rhett can't get enough of riding horses. I have to beg him to get down. 




Here he is on his third horse ride. Bomps is one good looking cowboy too.
 

Nana bought all the little boys pop guns and they were a hit. It is little boy heaven up there with all the cousins around, mud, guns, bow and arrows, 4-wheelers, and lots and lots of wide open space.











 Till next time Wyoming...