Back at the Ranch!

This past Friday, we headed north after the big kids got out of school.  It was a beautiful 70 degree day and we were so excited to be out of the city, if only for a little while.

Minutes after we arrived, Little Bit asked to swing on the horsey.  She looks so old to me these days, especially when I think back to a year ago and how I couldn't let go of her on this swing for fear she might fall off. 

Friday evening we went to see the horses and then went for a ride to see the cows and llamas before it got dark.

The next morning, two of my best ranch hands were ready to take a few country pics.  It started out like this...big brother asking Lila to hold his hand...which you can see she was not really fond of doing.

But after a few minutes, she had warmed up to him and even let him put his hand on her shoulder.  Success!  She's a stinker, sometimes:)

A little while later we all went down to ride the horses.  Before we could saddle them, though, they needed a good brushing.  The kids were all over this task! 

I think the horses appreciated some TLC, too!  Our horse, Princess, was especially friendly to us.  Lila had been talking for two days about, "Ride horse with you, Mom!" so I was really glad that Princess was very calm.  We rode for a good 10 minutes before she declared, "done riding."

After lunch, it was time for the weekend trail ride.  Gigi had never been on one of these.  She was a little scared, but I heard that she did great.  Way to go, Gigi!! 

That afternoon, I had a few dates.  I shot some targets with the hubby and then went on a four-wheeling expedition with Jackson.  The girls and Gigi went to feed the horses some cookies and were so excited to tell me all about it after I got back.  We had a fantastic afternoon. 
Towards the end of the day, the big kids wanted to see if they could ride the swing at the same time. 
They loved it when it actually worked--check out their huge smiles!

Before we had to head on back, the kids and Daddo gathered some wood and made a little campfire.  Turns out the big kids are pretty good gatherers!  Could come in handy someday if we're camping in the woods, cause goodness knows Jared and I aren't going to be much help in hunting any animals!  Out of about 80 tries of hitting a stationary target, we were only successful 4 times.  4 times.  It was kind of comical after a while.

We loved hanging outside this weekend.  I want to go back already:)