Hey Dude, part 1

Lots of catching up to do. The school year went by in such a blur, and I can't even account for all of those hours I was planning to be productive while the kids were otherwise engaged. Wouldn't it be awesome if I had written the Next Great American Novel? Nope. Harper Lee has a new novel coming out though, so probably I am just waiting so I don't have to compete with that.

My parents did an incredibly wonderful and generous thing and took us on vacation last week. We went to a dude ranch near Bandera, Texas, and had such a very fine time. I picked the place based on online reviews, and was a touch apprehensive when we drove up and everything was Exceedingly RUSTIC. It turned out that everyone and everything there was so Exceedingly Wonderful, that the rustic became charming and perfect within a couple of hours. The kids fell in love with the horses and the cowboys and the ranch dogs (the total opposite of Sasha they were) and the goats and donkeys and the creek and the barn swallows and fireflies. I fell in love with the lack of phone service or wi-fi, and also that 3 times a day, a bell would ring alerting us that someone other than me had prepared a meal for us to eat. Here are some pictures:

 

Let's make this a series, shall we?