24 Hours at SBR

On a whim, I headed to the ranch with the kids for 24 hours this weekend.  Brian has been working crazy on a work project, so I thought it would be nice to get away.  After getting to SBR, Dad took us on a tour of the next door property he is considering buying.  The beauty of this property is a creek with actual water and fish in it.  The kids named it Cousin's Creek and watched the bass swimming around.  

Of course, the fish weren't all moving fast enough for my offspring, so they started throwing rocks in the water to "help" the fish move faster.  It was actually kinda funny.  My mom was trying to stop them or at least warn them to check the rocks they were picking up for scorpions, etc or trying to hold Birdie's hand for fear she would fall in.  

You know the kids, nothing would deter them.  Birdie would just look for the largest rock she could pick up and throw.  I will assume the fish were all smart enough to get out of the way of falling rocks.

 The weather was really nice.  About 87 degrees but with a great breeze.  I love Spring!  Now, if only we could get it to rain a bit.  Usually everything is really green at the ranch this time of year.  But not this year.  We are already headed for a drought year after a really dry winter.  Where is a good tropical storm dumping rain on your area when you need one.  Oops, I should probably be careful what I'm wishing for.  It's almost Hurricane season.

Cousin's Creek

Love Birdie in the Sunshine

Dad hanging out with the mules

 After leaving Cousin's Creek, Dad let Daniel drive the mule for a while.  He had the best time, beaming from ear to ear.  Ashley asked Uncle Jack if she could drive him in their mule.  After arriving back to the house, Uncle Jack confessed he wasn't scared even a little by her driving.  Hmmm...

Ashley driving Uncle Jack back to the house

While the kids were outside playing, suddenly they came back inside, noisily expressing their upset with being sent inside.  As it turns out, Dad and Uncle Jack had a very good reason for sending them inside. They saw a snake outside by the cars.  Dad had to move his car to get a good look, and when they did, Uncle Jack took the machete to the snake.  There is debate over the type of snake - some think it a copperhead and others believe it to be a rat snake.  Let's just say, we didn't want to wait for a kid to get bit to find out.

The dead snake

 Since it was just the kids and I headed to the ranch for 24 hours, we didn't have much to bring.  So, we finally brought some of the old toys sitting on the side of the house.  The red coupe car in this picture will now reside at SBR, as will our sand and water table.  The kids had a ball playing with the sand and water table; only it was not water or sand, but all dirt.  

What kid doesn't love playing in dirt?  Mine certainly do!