A Camping Weekend With the Quads and Their Parents!!

While it looked for a little while that I would be all alone on the ranch Thursday - Louis Dean returned before dark after Sherry had met him half way to get Dean. We ended up with a camper full of visitors visitors before midnight!!

Look who came to see us!!!

Amber and Mike opted to drive at night and arrive late as opposed to getting up early.

Other than Mike - who can do mornings as well as anyone - the rest of the crowd are so NOT morning people!! All of a sudden, it was Party Time!!!

Logan read to Granddad using her 'voices.'

She held his hand through the entire story!

So sweet hearing her do this 'reading.'

Harrison was a little sick earlier in the day but was bound and determined to be well enough to come to the camper!! Isn't he adorable looking at me through the camper door?? That camper door was a total fascination to the kids.

I loved this shot of Granddad and Trystan as they watched Mike putting their 6 man tent up!

This was the quads' first camping experience and they loved it!!

Night, NIGHT!!!!

Now THIS is how my daughter camps!!!

SHE slept inside the camper in the girl bunk.

Friday morning I had three little girls wanting to help me do the critter chores!

They were still in their pajamas!!

Logan loved Thumper!

We fed ducks, chickens, fish, goats and cats!!

I even checked on the duck eggs incubating to see if any had hatched.

Then we all went back to the camper to get dressed before going off to explore.

Miss Kailey took a lot of my pictures for me.

She even told me how to hold the stick she wanted to photograph!

Then she took some of me which I edited so they are a little kinder to me with no make up!

The kids had a ball here in the meadow and could run and play, chase the chickens and roosters, climb trees and pick wildflowers.

We visited all the critters!

This is the peacock pen......

The colors are so beautiful!

The horses! Oh, the HORSES!!!

I think they were probably the favorite of them all.

Amber was especially drawn to them, having been in a riding club when she was young.

She even gave serious thought of becoming a horse vet.....

You can tell her girls love them as well!!

The cows live both 'next door' and across the road!

The girls spent a long time cow gazing!

Logan thought if she could just stand still long enough, they would come up and she could pet them.

They did come up again.....but not that close.

Mike took the family down to the tank to fish for the afternoon!

And fish, they DID!!!

Mike couldn't keep up with the four of them!

They reeled them in faster than he could take them off!

Harrison got pretty good at shaking his pole until the fish came free and then nudging it back down to the water with his boot. Once I heard him say, "LOOK! I caught the same one! AGAIN!!!"

Granddad enjoyed his fishing time as well.

Love little Logan's stance!

Amber brought all the fixings for a good sandwich lunch!!

After they finished we all retired back up to the camper where Mike and Harrison napped in the tent and the girls and Amber watched a video and I retired to my curtained off bedroom where I went soundly asleep!

In the country, everything revolves around meals.

Mike had a great menu planned and he worked it well!

Friday morning was breakfast taquitos.....

Friday night was grilled chicken, fresh pineapple......

and my contribution of fried cabbage - in honor of Saint Patrick's Day!

A happy ending to a VERY happy day!!

Saturday

This is what I saw when I stepped out of the camper Saturday morning!!

The horses dearly love sugar cubes!

The girls, once again, helped me do Critter Chores and we found the same snake sunning himself on a dead tree hanging across the tank. Their favorite thing was feeding the ducks - and the fish! They practically hop out of the water for the duck food pellets!

Their Uncle Dean told me where a goose nest was so I took them up to see it.

All sorts of beautiful creatures live here!

Back to the camper where Dada was preparing a brunch for his bunch!

He cooked outside on the deck.....

while Mama cooked inside the camper.

Together they made an amazing meal!!

Which was eaten as brunch!

I told you none of us are morning people so an early snack and then a big brunch fits the bill!!

After wards, Trystan and Harrison opted to stay with Dada ad Granddad while Logan and Kailey wanted to go to 'town' with their mama and MeeMaw.

Our destination was Leon's Junction in Mart!

That shop is a jewel!

The owners are so kind and allowed the girls to use the bathroom in their apartment.

Of course, who could resist that sweet smile on Logan's face??

This was part of the 'loot' I bought!

The candles are amazing and these three were on sale!

The metal grasshopper has movable wings and I LOVE the faux asparagus!

PLUS, I bought FOUR burlap bags for bag races in the future......and then I will cut them up and use them for crafts.

This box with vintage index cards plus ABC divider cards caught Kailey's eye. Priced at just $2, I bought it for her, thinking she would forget about it and I would use it for recipes from Estelle's!

So I was surprised when Amber told me that Kailey said, "I'm going to work on my project now but I need a pencil." Of course, I had a pencil.

Just look at those cute Minnie Mouse shoes Amber picked up for $4 at the local Dollar Store.

She also found the fragrant Tahitian Vanilla/Vanilla Sugar/Coconut Vanilla Candle that I love so much and burn so frequently!

Amber had all sorts of activities for the quads such as art projects and 

glow in the dark necklaces for night time.

I asked the what their favorite thing was.

Horses were their VERY favorite, feeding the goats....being at the camper....

and when I said I would miss them, Kailey said, "You know we will be back soon!"

In the late afternoon, we brought some firewood up from the meadow for our campfire.

Uncle Dean has a couple of cool wagons to use.

After Harrison unloaded the twigs he'd gathered, he decided to take his girls for a ride.

(Sorry....all the other videos loaded.....I will try again tomorrow!)

 That was a pretty big load for a little boy!

Then they progressed to the bigger wagon.

I could NOT figure out how to fasten that back little side.

I told Kailey it was broken. 

NOT! She figured out how it worked!

And off they went with Trystan pointing the way and Kailey pushing as Logan pulled.

Amber paused to take a photo of the two of us to remember the weekend by.

The time simply flew by and soon we were at the end of their time here.

One last campfire and a wiener roast.....

with slices of watermelon followed by their first s'mores.

You can hear Harrison say, "I don't know WHY she likes to sing so much!"

But she does and I love it!!

Dean had accidently left Rufus behind when he had truck trouble on Thursday.

He got left in the back seat of Dean's truck. I let him out and that poor dog moped around all weekend!

They had a joyful reunion this afternoon!!!

In the meantime - Louis Dean had bonded with Granddog Rufus!

So here I am catching up on my journal entry for the weekend.

Summer has been doing well at home and has had several friends and family members checking in on her. Her Aunt Luann took her out to eat today at Saltgrass and spent some quality time together.

We still have a few more days down here and I will be working on my book tomorrow.

Dean is down here visiting as I finish up this post and has invited me to his Tai Chi class tomorrow night. Our adventure continues......