The Scoop: Canada 2014

A few days before we were scheduled to leave for our trip up to Canada Grandmother had a little fall. She broke her hip and had to have it replaced. As luck would have it we were scheduled to fly out of Dallas so we got to visit her.

We picked Grandad up at the house and brought him along too.

Of course these two mooches ate all of Grandmother dessert.

Then we had a nice dinner with Grandad. The boys chose to sit at the bar.

The kids and I called it an early night and were up bright and early to catch our flight. Cooper was so excited he could hardly stand it.

For a brief moment I wondered if I was crazy for flying with all three kids on my own.

But we managed to get to the airport in time.

THe only hiccup being that American Airlines wouldn't let me bring my double stroller in with me. But these two were troopers and I had my front carrier and we managed ok.

Everyone was pretty happy all day.

Thank you Ilena for loaning us an extra Ipad. It came in very handy.

As did this guy when I needed to take Georgia to the bathroom on every flight.

Cheers to these three for being super travelers.

and this sweet girl did so good.

She was so happy to see Gran at the airport.

Miss Georgia waited patiently for her bag.

Once we landed we still had a 3 hour drive to the ranch. This one managed to convince her Gran she needed some Cheetos. The bag was almost as big as her.

Once we made it the kids were wired....mind you it was well past 1am.

Ruthie did not know what to think of all the trophies everywhere.

Everyone pretty much crashed as soon as their heads hit the pillow. But all the traveling is worth waking up to this.

The kids were pretty happy the next morning. They couldn't wait to get going.

First thing....Four Wheelers. Helmets on

ready to rock n roll

Cooper figured out pretty quickly how to work the gears on the bigger quad.

and then it was time for Georgia to learn on the little one

It was pretty amusing to watch Pops chase her around

She was pretty quick to hit the gas. We are going to have to watch out for this one.

While Ruthie and I napped

Cooper and Georgia got to make pies with Gran.

Georgia and flour (not the neatest pair)

Oh Lordy

My dad made this toddler bed for Coop when he was about Georgia's age. They took turns sleeping in it everynight.

Ruthie of course slept in this beautiful crib and I woke up to Rob's Elk and Moose staring at me. (sometimes I wish I loved in a house with high ceilings, then I remember these would be in my living room)

Gran and Pops let me sleep in so when I woke up everyone was busy already enjoying the sunshine.

Busy helping Gran water her flowers

Jenny, Jeremiah and some of Jen's best friends were supposed to show up at some point. So we decided to take a trip across the river in the truck right after lunch so we could be sure to be back when they got there.

It was a beautiful day. And Cooper was happy to take over "Gate Duty"

The river was crystal clear.

The buffalo were out.

as were the girls

and then the wheels fell off....literally.

So we all patiently waited for Pops to walk back tot he ranch to get the tractor. Georgia slept and these two giggled.

And just when we were about to give up the big green tractor came to the rescue.

And once he got us all back across the river we decided to walk the rest of the way.

Gran and one of her girls!

We ended up getting back in time to enjoy a glass of wine/water on the porch.

and a game of skip bo

It was dark when everyone finally got there. Jenny's best friend Esdra and Velita and Velitas two kiddos came for a couple of days and it was great for the kids to have them to play with. We played outside and rode four wheelers

We cooked hotdogs over the fire for lunch

And had a real life tea party. We used Gran's tea set from when she was a little girl and AJ's formals from high school

It was a hit.

That night Uncle Zach, Cat and ROB were all coming in. We were curious how close they were to the ranch so AJ and Coop loaded up in Pop's plane and they went searching.

The found them on the road and gave them a quick buzz. Finally the whole family at the ranch together.

Zach decided Cat needed to meet Diesel first thing.

I don't know what I was doing but before I new it Ruthie was gone...and this is where I found her.

Perfectly content with Uncle J.

Checking out the horses.

Before the girls and kids left we decided to head up the river to fish and have lunch. We got everyone loaded up.

Cooper and Dylan packed up their own trailer of goodies.

Come on doesn't everyone take a lawnmower fishing?

Rob and I followed basically stopping to pick up everything that fell out of the trailer.

One of my favorite spots

Georgia and Dylan playing in the "sand"

All cuddled up with my cutie

Preparing the fire

Velita was on a mission to find firewood apparently.

Mom accidentally packed breakfast sausage. FYI it does not cook over an open fire very well

Blue thought he could mooch some lunch off of Rob.

Sooooo happy.

Loving that her Daddy is here to fish with

and Pops too!

Rob managed to be the only one to catch a fish.

We spent the next few days playing legos

in the kitchen with Gran

Four wheeling and pouting

and smiling

and relaxing

playing games

pestering Cat in the Hat

modeling our beautiful tshirt from Zach & Cat

Flirting with Uncle J

watching cartoons

exersaucing

keeping Pops hand full

Fourwheeling some more.

fixing four wheelers

napping in the hammock

making more pies with Gran

hauling loads of stuff back and forth

making macaroni

snuggling on a picnic blanket

Flying with Pops

walking the airstrip

swinging

chilling

baking

Cat even managed to fall in the river.

getting dirty

Working on writing

bothering Pops

swinging some more

making Smores

eating smores

loving smores

flirting some more

admiring Pops hands

moving up to the grown up four wheeler

A little kite flying

kite flying with a four wheeler

Getting reacquainted with being on a horse.

Finally fitting into the duster we bought him 3 years ago.

and rocking it.

Riding in moms old saddle

Taking my kiddos for a ride

PJs on the porch

Target practice

and more and more campfires

All of us big kids decided to hike up to Beattie Lake (a few mile across the river) and stay the night. It was a blast. Mom and Dad and the kids dropped us off on the other side of the river. Cooper was so excited he got to ride in the bed of the truck for that trip

This was only about 1/4 of the way there. We were still smiling.

Aren't we a pretty bunch

of very sweaty people

But this lake is well worth the hike.

The sheep even came down to join us for dinner.

Rob and I slept in the tent and got woken up by this awful chewing sound....PORCUPINE! Good thing Rob got it on the toilet. He literally shot it while it was chewing on the plastic toilet seat.

We got buzzed by Pops and Coop

We fished a little more (well until the boat was out of gas and then headed back home) But not before we documented or stay.

The hike back is a little more downhill so we were smiling more.

When we made it back to the pick up we all loaded up and as we headed up the first hill look who we spotted. It was the sweetest thing. Pops and Coop had ridden across the river to meet us and had stopped under a tree to have a snack.