I Love the Mountains, I Love the Daffodils

We have spent much of our time in the mountains on the family ranch with cousins and creatures this vacation.  The kids played in the river, rode motorcycles, rode their bikes, fished, mooned the trained, chased the cows, got lost, shot their BB guns, got gruesomely grubby and did plenty of exploring.  They especially enjoyed going on night rides on the four-wheelers, scaring themselves with tales of grizzly bears and crazy mountain men and checking out the cow and her suckling calf that got zapped by lightening one day. 

An Expert's Guide to Trainspotting

Step 1:  Get your brothers and Great-Grandfather involved.

Step 2:  Find a suitable mode of transportation and don't forget to take a coin.

Step 3:  Place a coin on the track and listen for the train by putting your ear on the rails.

Step 4: Watch in amazement as the train passes and blows its whistle.

Step 5: Collect coin and do a happy dance because you have never seen a quarter so incredibly flat and warm.

Note: In order to make the most of this experience it helps to wear cowboy boots with shorts and go with a retired railroader.

Rocky Mountain High

The first few days of our trip we spent in the mountains with my Gilleland side of the family. My grandparents, Harley and Janice,  have 18 grandchildren and 33 great-grand children with 3 more on the way and almost all of us were there.  Many of my favorite childhood memories took place on the ranch with my cousins. I love to see my own kids having so much fun fighting and playing with their cousins just like I did. One summer when Scott was in Colorado I remember hearing about a family reunion he attended where he got into a fight with his Colorado cousins. He was upset because they were senselessly killing mice.  I remembered thinking at the time, (I was probably 14) what a city slicker and wuss he was to be upset about killing mice. Well, things came full circle when my boys had an all out battle with their Colorado cousins over killing snakes and caterpillars.  I have a few city slickers of my own now, but I love them just like I loved their dad. Besides the trauma of witnessing the death of a few water snakes, they got to shoot their BB Guns and Bows, explore caves, play in the creek and the river, catch creatures, ride 4-Wheelers and dirt bikes.  It was a little boys paradise and Harley fit right in. We even saw a bear which was really exciting. Sometimes I think I could actually abandon civilization and take my little family into the woods and live that way forever, but then I remember how much I like to shop and eat at McDonald's.