Life Goes On

In the days and weeks following our California Trip, life happened to go on. There were lots of little things I could have blogged about like hot summer days, mowing the lawn, a birthday party and swimming to name a few. But I didn't want to get sidetracked from my 'trip' posts and just let the other ideas pile up. Now if I try to go back and blog about each of them, more stuff will pile up and I'll never be up to date.

Next week we're going to Walla Walla for conference if everything goes according to plan and I'm sure we're going to be busy between now and then. Sir wants to check out the oil, tires, brakes and spare tire attachment on the van before we go, he also has a Dr. appointment to attend that I scheduled for him. I have the packing to do, and there's preparations for PC's 1st birthday party that need to be done. We'll get home on Monday, Tuesday I have a prenatal appointment scheduled, Wednesday is laundry day and meeting night and that leaves Thursday and Friday to finish up all the last minute stuff and make the cake. Oh, and there's Father's Day somewhere in the mix.

Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get a bunch of stuff done, but it won't be blogging I'm pretty certain. Sir likes to remind me what my month's post total will be, at the blogging rate I'm going at. I don't mind... too much.

I should go. The timer will be going off soon reminding me that it's time to switch the laundry and PC will be waking up any minute which means it's about time to start thinking about lunch. I could go on and on, but it's just life.

California Trip - Day 7

Monday - May 21st, 2007

I woke up around 6am and I'm sure the cold car had a lot to do with it. I got Sir to switch places with me so he could continue sleeping and I started driving. The kids were just starting to wake up. Dolly said she needed to go potty so I stopped at the first place that looked like it might have a washroom. It turned out to be a little gas station in the middle of nowhere. Once everyone had had a turn in the washroom, I continued driving.

I stopped at a rest area just south of Portland since the kids were getting a bit restless, and it was too early for breakfast. I got them dressed and let them run around a bit in the crisp morning air before we discovered the blackbirds and sparrows. I had been about to put the kids back in the car and was tossing out the snack pieces that had collected in the bottom of PC's carseat when a couple brave blackbirds took the risk and snatched up the crumbs. Dolly was delighted to see the birds so close to her, so instead of loading the kids up, we sat down on the curb, crushed up crackers and cookies and tossed the crumbs to the birds. The kids loved it and after about half an hour we had to get on our way. Sir slept through the whole stop and woke up a bit as we were getting back on the road. He told me where to stop for gas and then started gradually waking up.

We got gas somewhere in Portland and then after switching off again, Sir drove across that area of town to a Denny's where we stopped for breakfast. After eating, loading the kids back into the car and dumping the melted ice from the coolers, we got started homeward again. As we reached the northern limits of Portland, we saw the TA that we had stopped at on our way down in search for pillows. We decided to stop again, this time so Sir could shower. The kids were already dozing off to sleep again, so I stayed in the car with them and we all fell asleep to some Sousa marches (yes, we were a little tired). When Sir got back and I had repacked the shower stuff, we started off again. At 10:30 we were slowly making progress. The kids were still sleeping so we set up the audio book again and listened to it all the way to Kelso where we stopped at a Sizzler restaurant for lunch. After all the driving, a salad bar sounded like just the thing. It was a great choice too, because the kids were able to enjoy stuff they loved like jello, olives and ice cream.

Not long after lunch we decided to give the kids a break one last time and pulled into a rest area somewhere between Portland and Seattle. Dolly was so excited about all the big trucks parked on the other side of the rest area that she was ecstatic when I told her I'd take a picture of her with the trucks. While Sir checked his e-mail, the kids had a blast kicking their ball around until Sir joined them. Then they had a real game of toddler soccer going. It was so much fun to watch and I actually remembered to grab the camera!

PC found his very own big stick that evidently tasted perfect and Dolly had a blast getting away from PC since she could run faster. She did let him catch her once and I got a cute sequence of PC 'getting' her and receiving a hug in return. Once the kids were just about worn out, we packed them up again and they settled down for naps while we listened to the audio book whenever the stations on the transmitter were free.

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We made it just in time for Seattle traffic around 5:30ish and once we got through that, we decided that we'd rather have a late dinner at home than stop again less than two and a half hours away. We did have to stop in Marysville for gas and while we were there I took the kids for a mini walk and blew some bubbles for them to pop. Sir grabbed some jerky and ended up getting a quarter of it probably since the kids love 'meat' and we were on our way again. I gave the kids some Cheetos and set up the audio book again while they were happily stuffing themselves.

When we got to Blaine the radio was calling for a two hour border lineup at Peace Arch. Pac Hwy, was supposed to only be 20 min, but looking at it gave us the impression that it was closer to an hour or more. None of the other crossings sounded promising especially since getting to them and back to the 99, would be an extra hour of driving not including the lineup itself, so we got in line at Pac Hwy. To our surprise, the line up was really close to 20 min. It had looked worse because due to construction, the trucks were mixed in with the cars. Once we got past the construction area, things really didn't take long at all. From the border we had just 15 min more before we'd be home and even after grabbing some nuggets at a McDonald's drive through just down the street we made it home at 8:30.

After unloading the car, Sir took it out to a carwash where he vacuumed and washed it. I stayed home with the kids to feed, bathe and get them to bed as soon as possible. Sir picked up his mom on his way back from cleaning out the car and she went with him to drop the rental off. We thought it would be easier to do it that night than have to get up extra early to return the car before Sir had to get to work the next morning. Finally our trip was over. It was long, profitable and a great adventure for our little people!

THE END

California Trip - Day 6

Sunday - May 20th, 2007

To get to meeting on time, we had to be packed, done with breakfast, have the car loaded and be in the car by 9:15. We made it by 9:05. I even thought ahead and saved out travelling clothes (leaving space in one of the suitcases for our meeting clothes to go in later) so we could change into something more comfortable for the drive home. Dolly even got to go to Sunday-school class with Bells, so 'going to meeting in California' was just what she had hoped it would be. There was a potluck after meeting and it was a delicious Turkey dinner. They had an afternoon meeting scheduled for 2, but we wanted to get on our way and said our last goodbyes just as meeting was about to begin.

On our way out of town we stopped at the park where Sir and I were engaged. He needed to check his e-mail so he could stop worrying about work, and I took the opportunity to repack the car after putting our meeting clothes in the suitcase reserved for them. The kids got to enjoy the shade and chance to run around a little. They were especially drawn to the big shiny motorcycle that parked next to our car. If only Daddy and Mommy didn't make such rules like "stay out of the parking lot!" since it really makes life a lot less fun. Of course, I didn't take any pictures because I forgot about the camera until the next morning. I had packed it away very efficiently and it was well out of sight and definitely out of mind.

By the time we made it out of Red Bluff, it was already after 3. On our way down to California, Sir had discovered that my everyday clothes were getting pretty worn. Although I don't mind a few small bleach spots or little bitty holes here and there as long as the clothes are still comfortable (very few people notice right away anyway) Sir thought it was high time for me to start thinking of replacing my wardrobe. Since there was a Walmart Supercenter in Anderson we stopped there so I could take a look to see if there was anything available that I might like. PC was fast asleep, so Sir stayed in the car while Dolly and I killed the better part of an hour wandering through the clothing department. The problem with trying to replace your non-pregnant clothes while pregnant is that you can't tell how the clothes will fit when not pregnant again. Most of my clothes can be worn when I'm pregnant or not because I like loose fitting clothes. I did find two skirts and two tops that I was happy with even if I couldn't find any jumpers or dresses no matter how hard I looked. I'm not sure if the skirts will stay on when I'm not pregnant, but I guess they can always be taken in later.

Over the past few years, Sir and I have developed an 'exit California' tradition of stopping at a nice restaurant on our way out of town. Since it was nearly 4:30 when we left Andersen, we decided to stop for dinner in Redding after filling the car again with gas. We stopped at the Cattlemens restaurant and got free steaks for the kids. Of course they could have shared one free steak, but for each adult entree you could get a free kid's steak so we decided we could always pack steaks with us on our way home. After all, steak is almost as good cold as it is piping hot. We didn't rush and when we were finished, I dressed the kids for bed since there would be no reason to stop again for a few hours. It was almost 8pm so we found the nearest payphone and called Sir's parents to let them know we were on our way. I had forgotten to let them know when we had gotten to California and didn't want to leave them wondering how we were doing again.

Finally we were on our way with nothing but driving home ahead of us. While the kids settled down for bed, I set up an audio book on Sir's laptop for us to listen to while we drove. Sir had downloaded a few books to his computer before we left home and we had picked up an FM transmitter on our way down so we could play stuff over the car speakers. The book really helped the time slip by and it was already 11:30 when we stopped for a washroom, something cold to drink and to check on the ice in the cooler. The kids were still fast asleep, so the stop wasn't long and we were on our way again. By 1am, I started getting too tired to keep listening to the book, so we put it away and I dozed off.

Around 2ish, Sir stopped at another gas station, but I'm not sure where we were. He was starting to get tired and needed to get some snacks to stay awake. At 3, I woke up again because we had stopped at a rest area. Sir was too tired to go any farther and I wasn't awake enough to take over, so we decided to just stop and sleep for a few hours. Because the lights of the rest area were too bright and the car was parked almost downhill, I asked Sir to move the car a bit. We just kept going until we found a small exit where we could pull over on the side of the road. Dark enough and with the car on flat ground, we finally called it a night.

California Trip - Day 5

Saturday - May 19th, 2007

Since we'd hardly spent any time with our hosts during our stay, we had made arrangements to join them for a big family breakfast Saturday morning. My dad wouldn't be up and about until around noon, and we had some last minute shopping to do before heading out to the ranch as well, so we had a little time to spend with Uncle J. and Aunt A. Breakfast consisted mostly of pancakes and bacon, and it was delicious! PC was in such a hurry to inhale his bacon that he bit his tongue for the first time. It was sad, but also very funny to see his thought process as he tried to comprehend how the bacon managed to 'bite'. We had a small battle over his 'last bite of pancake' that in the end I'm not sure who won. PC managed NOT to eat the ONE piece that Sir chose as the last bite, but eventually ate ALL the rest of his chopped up pancake.

Once we'd finished breakfast, chatted with Uncle J. and Aunt A. and packed the diaperbag for our day at the ranch, we said goodbye and headed out. Our first stop was a ranch supply store to look at what was available for fly repellent medication. My mom had recommended that store and we hadn't managed to stop in to check earlier in the week. Not impressed with the selection, we decided to go back to the feed store we had been to the day before. But we were on the opposite side of town so we went ahead and did our gift shopping before grabbing some lunch and heading back to the feed store. We ate in the parking lot and while I cleaned the kids up Sir ran into the feed store and bought the repellent we had originally looked at. While we were there he picked up some leather conditioners and soaps for our boots so we could clean them properly when we got home. With one last stop at the grocery store to pick up a watermelon and some ice, we headed out to the ranch.

As we drove in the driveway, my sister Renée was driving out. Probably to work or to drop Cole off at his dad's house. We waved and continued on to the house. Both of my mom's sisters were already there. Sir and I had arranged to sell two of our horses to them and they had come with a trailer to haul the mares away. We unloaded the kids and the gift for my parents and went inside to visit a little. There was a family dinner planned for the day, but to Sir's and my surprise it was served at 2pm! We had actually eaten lunch in town since we didn't know how late supper would be and didn't want to be starving to death in between. As my brother, Liz and C gradually showed up, and the 'dinner' was put together, I tucked Dolly in for a nap. PC decided he was too awake and I didn't want to battle him on naps in a strange place. Lunch was a ham roast, mashed potatoes, corn and a bean salad. It was suggested that the watermelon that we brought be cut up for dessert or just a snack later, so other than the piece that I gave to PC, it wasn't served with the meal.

After lunch/dinner was cleaned up, my mom told us she wanted to vaccinate and de-worm the horses while so many people were around and then 'maybe some would go for a horse ride'. So, Liz, C and my brother set out to get the horses in. Amusingly enough, the horses ran past the house (away from the kids on foot and in a pickup) at least five times before finally being corralled. By the time they were finally in, it was getting close to 5pm. We caught each horse and gave it two intramuscular injection vaccinations and an oral de-worming paste before moving on to the next one. There were fourteen horses to work so it took a while before we were done. Once our horses were done, I helped my aunts halter and start to load the two horses they were buying from us while the rest of the horses were being medicated. Sir kept our little ones out of the way and where they could watch the excitement with so many horses around. Once the rest of the horses were done, my brother came over to help me load the second horse we were selling. She had never trailered and wasn't very excited about entering a strange metal box. I wasn't too pushy about it either because the last thing I wanted to do at five and half months pregnant was get squished between two frightened horses in a trailer. After much coaxing and a bit of persuasion, we got the second horse into the trailer before taking a break to catch our breaths.

We went back to the house for our break and everyone enjoyed some watermelon while we visited a bit more. It was already around 7pm and my aunts wanted to get going so I grabbed the camera and tried to get a few pictures of them before we said goodbye and they loaded the horse they had brought with them and left. Since we still had to pack and would be leaving the next day, we didn't stay very much longer either. I needed to give the kids baths and we wanted to wash some of the dust off the outside of the car before loading it up with our luggage and getting dust inside as well. We visited a little longer with my parents and finally got on our way for the cottage again just after 8pm. Once we got there, Sir took the car out to a carwash, picked up some ground beef that my mom told us was in the freezer at her office for us to take home, some ice for the cooler and grabbed a snack since we hadn't eaten anything other than watermelon since the dinner at 2. While he was gone, I bathed the kids, put them to bed and started the long job of repacking everything for our trip home before taking a shower. When Sir got back we composed our thank you card for our hosts and finally called it a night around 1am. We had hoped to get to bed earlier since we had a long day ahead of us, but overall we felt a bit more rested than we did before we started out on our California trip.

California Trip - Day 4

Friday - May 18th, 2007
See! I have pictures!!

Exhausted from the day before, I slept until PC woke me up at 7. Dolly and Sir were still sound asleep, so PC and I slipped out of the bedroom and sorted through our luggage again. We were creating so much laundry that I needed to start thinking about getting some washed. Since the auction in Cottonwood wasn't going to start until 10:30, we had time and I didn't rush to get ready. We snacked on animal crackers and grapes while we waited for Dolly to wake up. Once she was up, we got dressed and headed in to the big house. Bells and her siblings had already left for school so we had our breakfast with Aunt A as she finished her own.

I finally had to go wake Sir up since we had planned on making a few stops before getting to the auction yard. While he got ready to go, the kids and I played on the swing set as soon as I finished repacking the diaperbag. We actually got on our way around 9:30 which I thought was pretty good. Our first stop was a feed store. We wanted to price some fly repellent medication to put on our crippled cow. We also wanted to show our little ones the baby chicks that were for sale. PC loved it and if the bin had been any smaller, he would have climbed right in with them. It was a little disappointing that the sign said not to pick the chicks up. The kids would have been thrilled had they been allowed to touch them.

From the feed store we headed straight for the auction yard. Within minutes we had found a comfortable spot to see the cows go through from and settled down to watch our kids enjoy the experience. They loved it! PC almost hung over the seat back in front of us in his excitement - bidding for all he was worth. It was a good thing the auctioneer didn't take him seriously since some of the animals going through were bringing some pretty hefty prices!

Dolly really lit up when for some weird reason the program shifted and instead of only cattle like usual, they started running some miscellaneous animals through. I deeply regret not taking pictures of that, but it was so much fun to watch Dolly's excitement that I completely forgot the camera. The worst part was, it was sitting right beside me in the diaperbag the whole time. They ran a pair of Yorkshire sows, a couple goats, half a dozen baby goats, some Suffolk sheep, two sorrel horses, and one other horse was led through on a halter and lead. By the time I remembered the camera it was back to just cattle again. So, I took a few pictures of the different colored cows that went through and grabbed a shot of my kids stuffing themselves on Cheetos to hold them off until lunch.

Just as we were about to go for a late lunch, Mr.&Mrs. Rancher showed up. They're the ones who acted as my second set of grandparents at our wedding and they had hauled the cattle for us the evening before. We said 'hello', watched the cows for a few more minutes, packed up the kids and diaperbag and headed downstairs to the little auction yard restaurant. Once lunch was out of the way, we headed back into the auction area to watch for the cattle we were selling. Mr.&Mrs. Rancher headed out for their own lunch a few minutes later, and we settled our kids down to rest - and to take naps if they could. PC fell asleep right away and had a pretty decent nap, but the noise of the auction was a bit too much for Dolly and the best she could do was to doze on and off for a few minutes. To our surprise my mom and C showed up around 3pm and they joined us for a little while. We had only seen seven of the fifteen head of cattle from the ranch run through by that time.

After a while I remembered my ring at the shop and went in search of a payphone. I called the jewelery shop and found out that the ring was ready for pick-up. Since Sir wanted to stay and watch for the cows, I asked my mom if she wanted to come with me and the kids while I retrieved my ring. She was happy to, so we packed the kids off to the car and drove up to Redding. On our way back to Cottonwood, we grabbed some ice cream cones at a drive-through. My mom had to get going since she needed to get the car back to the ranch in time for my dad to leave for work at 5:30, so as she left I ran down to the 'seller's' window to see if the rest of our cattle had gone through. Sure enough, they had and somehow we had missed them. Probably while we were eating lunch. That was a little frustrating because if they had gone through while we were eating lunch, we had wasted about an hour and a half after the last of our cows had gone through.

Once we picked up the auction cheque, we packed up the rest of our stuff and headed out to the ranch. On our way we stopped at a gas station to toss our leftover ice cream cones and the rest of the garbage we'd been accruing since we arrived in the area. My dad had already left for work by the time we got to the ranch, but he was scheduled to be off work the following day so we were hoping to actually get to see him then. Sir did the calculations necessary to figure out how much of the auction cheque was what our cattle had earned and then turned it over to my mom who headed in to town to cashed/deposit it.

Realizing that supper was going to be late again, we decided to head into town ourselves. Dolly had gone through more diapers than I had planned and would need more by the next day. We also decided to get at least a snack for the kids and another flashlight since we hoped to stay later and visit with my family that evening. We did all of our errands and got back to the ranch long before my mom got back. That was nice because we didn't waste time we could have been visiting with her and we got things done that we would have had to put off for the following day which we were planning to spend just visiting with family.

We hadn't been back at the ranch long before my sister Renée showed up. She had been over at the neighbor's and had left her son with my brother to visit for a bit. When we had arrived Wednesday we were told she was down in the central valley visiting a friend and wouldn't be back in the North-state until Friday. After giving each of our kids a present, Renée turned around and went back to get her little boy. Cole was rather shy and he hardly said a word the whole time we were there. He did play with our kids a little before it started getting late and I brought them inside while I hunted something up for them to eat. Before we went inside, I got a few pictures of Cole and his cousins. None of them turned out very well, but at least they're better than nothing at all!

While the kids got to know each other a little, my mom had C start up the barbecue again. We were having more ribs for dinner, but it would be a while before they would be ready so Sir and I started putting one of the cribs together. We wanted the option of putting our kids down for bed and being able to stay later and visit. Constructing the crib took longer than we thought it would and I had just barely tucked our little people into bed when supper was served at 10. The meal was a lot more chaotic than I found enjoyable, but I'm sure part of the frustration was due to the millions of bugs that kept slipping in to beat themselves against the lights each time someone opened the front door. When we had finished our supper, Sir and I went outside to calm down, relax and enjoy the cool air and star-filled sky. It was bittersweet to look back at past memories, but memories are part of the visit each time we go back.

Since it was getting late and most of the kids had disappeared - Renée had left Cole with my mom to put to bed while she dropped her friend Joe off at his house, C drove my brother back over to the neighbor's house, and I have no idea where Liz disappeared to - we spent a few minutes with my mom before packing our little ones up and heading back to the cottage. Thankful that the day had been profitable and that we wouldn't have to worry about the cattle any more, we looked forward to spending the rest of our vacation with nothing but spending time with family planned. Although it was after midnight when we finally welcomed sleep, it was definitely worth it to be able to get some rest!

California Trip - Day 3

Thursday - May 17th, 2007

Caution: If presently bored, you may consider skipping this post for the time being. Sir believes that if you're not bored to start out with, you will be (by the time/if) you reach the end.

PC woke up only once at the cottage that night. I barely remember getting up with him, but it was around 4am. When both of the kids woke up at 6:30, I got up with them and took them out of the bedroom so they wouldn't wake Sir. We sorted through our suitcases until they made sense, got dressed and then joined our hosts for breakfast.

At first the kids were fussy, but I know a lot of it had to do with them still being tired from traveling. We made it through breakfast, saw Bells and her siblings off to school and then joined Aunt A as she did the chores. I was thankful that Dolly started warming up to Aunt A as the morning progressed because Sir and I had made arrangements to leave our children with her while we headed out to the ranch for the day.

There were little chickens to feed, a bunny to pet, cats to adore (PC loved this job), and a skittish dog to befriend (Dolly decided this should be her job much to the poor dog's horror). By the time Sir woke up and got ready to go, the kids were happily exploring the yard, swing set and whatever else they could find. Dolly was even looking forward to going for "a walk in the stroller with 'Aun-T'".

Although we had told my family we wanted to get to the ranch earlier, it was already after 10 by the time we got there due to a couple of stops on our way in search of a flashlight bulb. To our surprise, there didn't seem to be anyone around at all. We had thought that C and maybe my brother would be out to help us move the cattle and sort out the ones we wanted to sell, but when we left Canada we had planned on the possibility or probability of not having any help at all, so it wasn't a big shock to find ourselves alone. The first thing we did was to start looking for the horse gear. That proved more adventurous than we had anticipated and by the time we finally located the 'tack room' the better part of an hour had slipped by. The horses were still in the field behind the house, but the cattle had been turned out of the barnyard corrals since there was no water for them to drink. We weren't too concerned since they would be easy to re-collect and hadn't gone very far overnight.

Wisely we thought to locate the key to the corrals at the end of the driveway where we'd be taking the cattle before spending the time catching and saddling the horses we would be using. Only, we had no idea where to even start looking for a key. Thankfully the ranch cell phone had been left on the dining room table and the battery wasn't dead. I called my mom's office and spoke with her assistant. We were told that C was on his way back out to the ranch and that he would know where the Rattic Field gate key was. But, when he arrived about 10 minutes later, he had no idea where the key would be. C thought that Liz had a key, but she was in school. When we finally got through to my mom, she said that my dad had confiscated all the keys to all the gates from all of the kids and our best chance would be to wake him up and ask him where we could get a copy.

So, that's what we did. I felt terrible waking my dad up only a few hours after he got off work and to bed, but in less than five minutes, we had ring upon ring of keys and all we had to do was figure out which key unlocked the padlock on the Ratic Field gate. While C drove over to the neighbor's house where my brother lived to recruit him for the day's work, Sir and I hopped into our car and drove down to the gate to try out the keys. To my satisfaction, I found a working key on my second attempt. Sir and I returned to the house and joined C and my brother in catching and saddling the horses we would be using for the day.

I was bitterly disappointed to find my horse not only skittish of being caught, but downright determined not to be part of the activities that day. The worst part of my frustration was because, before I moved away, my horse had been one of the easiest to catch and most gentle horses around. C and my brother tried to convince me to pick a different horse... then suggested that maybe I shouldn't ride in my 'condition'. I was just as set on riding my own horse and ignored them. After all, it could be the last time I got the chance. Sir caught his horse Fancy, we saddled her and he started warming up a little while the rest of us chased our horses around. Finally I gave up chasing my horse and asked my brother to catch her for me. He gave it a try for five or ten minutes and then said that she wasn't going to be caught that day and if we managed to, she'd give me nothing but trouble. Then he went on to finish catching and saddling the horses he and C would ride. I told them to go on ahead and I'd either join them with or without a horse later.

As soon as the three of them were gone, I sorted the horses that I didn't want and put them back into the field behind the house. That left just me and my horse in the yard area. In less than ten minutes, I had caught her, and I had her mostly saddled by the time my mom and Liz showed up about half an hour later. When I finally got all the way up into the saddle, I was sure that the guys had probably finished pushing the cattle down to the corrals. So, I headed in the general direction stopping to take a look at my crippled cow on the way. C and my brother had gone off to bring in the last few pair that had avoided being gathered the day before and I joined Sir at the corrals where he was waiting for me. We rode back toward the house together glad to finally be making progress. My mom sent a girl who claimed to be a friend of my brother's to meet us halfway offering water which we gladly welcomed.

When we reached the house, we rested for a while while and got to know Meg a little while the other kids found and corralled the missing cows. Liz had joined the two boys on another horse when she got home from school. Once all the cattle were collected, Sir and I unsaddled our horses, brushed them down, turned them lose and drove back down to the corrals where we started the long job of sorting out the cattle to be sold. Curious as to what working with cows was all about, Meg was the only one to help us, and although she hardly knew what she was doing, she was a fast learner and turned out to be a huge help. Once we were nearly finished, all the other kids showed up and watched us work from their vehicles.

It was already 4pm and the truck and trailer was due to arrive to haul the cattle at 5. Instead of waiting around, we decided to run back into town to get our kids. We had to get gas and we grabbed a quick bite to eat on the way since we'd missed lunch. My mom was planning a rib dinner, but it didn't look like it would be ready for a while. When we got back to the cottage, everyone was sitting down to supper. I tried calling the cell phone to see how things were going with the cows, but there was no answer. Since our kids were already up to the table with food nearly served, we decided to feed them there instead of later. Besides, chances that supper at the ranch would be late were rather good. We got changed out of our riding clothes, Sir drank just about every open bottle of gatorade, juice or water that we'd put in the fridge from our trip down, we packed up our kids and their pajamas and headed back out to the ranch.

When we got there the truck and trailer had just arrived to haul the last of the cattle and we were able to watch/show the kids/help. It was already 7pm when we got back to the house after walking the rest of the herd back into the main field. My mom had C start the barbecue and preparations for supper began. I was really glad we'd fed our little ones at our host's because it was 9pm by the time supper was served. There were ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans and a salad. After supper we visited a bit before getting our kids dressed for bed and heading back to the cottage for the night. Stiff, sore and dusty, we happily welcomed hot showers before crashing at 11:30. And I manged not to take a single picture throughout the entire day - much to my frustration.