Gamble Ranch 2011/2012

The week after Christmas, my entire immediate family got together at our family's cattle ranch for a little family reunion of sorts. The cast of players included:

• My Dad (Papa Joe), his wife Xiaoying and their two kids and my brother and sister: Kyle and Samantha (11 yrs)
• Me, Mylo, Ollie and Henry
• My brother Matt, his wife Mary and their two kids: Emma (5 yrs) and Logan (4 yrs)
• My brother Danny and his girlfriend, Jessica
• My Mom (Grandma Sally)

It was a rowdy, fun week and I think we are going to make it an every other year tradition of getting together as an entire family. We spent the first two days at Park City (I have no pictures), which had a mere 18 inches of base. We only skied one day because of the meager snow, but Mylo and I had a great time skiing all afternoon, just the two of us while my mom graciously watched the boys back at the hotel. Day two in Park City was spent swimming at the hotel pool and sledding at the tube park, which was way more fun than skiing. Ollie loved it and I actually got to tube with Ollie most of the time because Henry was happily napping in the ERGO, worn by my non-sledding brother Danny.

After that we headed to the Gamble Ranch. Ollie looooved his cousin time. He doesn't have any first cousins locally yet, so he was absolutely in heaven having cousins to run around with. He kept saying to Emma and Logan, "Cousins, do you want to do "x?", "Cousins, do you want a snack?" It was pretty adorable.

Ollie and Logan checking out the Grandfather clock.

My Dad had the cabin (ahem, lodge) all decked out with Christmas charm and we each got a small gift from my Dad and Xiaoying. Ollie got a John Deere tractor, Henry a little Ferrari, Mylo some nice metal measuring cups/spoons, and I got some new running tights.

Samantha, Emma and Ollie waiting to open presents.

Gift opening chaos

We spent time riding quads and snowmobiles, climbing on tractors, driving tractors, and exploring the Ranch. Although there was 6-8 inches of snow on the ground, it wasn't too terribly cold (30-40's), except for one day when it was a whopping 15 degrees.

Ollie "driving" a broken down tractor - every Ranch needs as least one broken down tractor.

Ollie and his new tractor

The bundled up version of Henry

Is there anything sexier than your man man wearing a baby, namely your baby?

I think not.

The new tractor - the real version.

Papa Joe and his new tractor and the Grandsons with their new tractors.

We also had to love on the horses. We brought them apples, carrots, and mushy pears. Then we wrangled them up to do a little bit of riding - another Ranch trip must.

Petting Rio

Feeding the horses goodies.

Riding Mordock with Samantha (on Rio)

Papa Joe also took us all on a tour of the Ranch in the pick-up truck (the hick version of a sleigh ride). It was supposed to take an hour and half, until we got the truck stuck in a frozen creek on the other side of the 3000 acre ranch.

Ooops.

The men getting the truck unstuck. To their credit, it only took about 25 minutes.

What did we do in the meantime....

Played around on the solidly frozen creek, of course.

Ollie was having a ball scooting around on his bum.

After we were unstuck, we continued our "tour," which fortunately was rather uneventful.

Ollie and Logan checking out the scenery.

On the coldest day we were there (15 degrees not counting the windchill factor), everyone headed out to feed the cows in the morning and move them to a new pasture. Since it was absolutely freezing and windy, Henry and I opted to stay at the warm cabin.

This is how you dress when you are going to feed the cows in 15 degree weather.

Don't forget your cowboy hat.

The cows - Black Angus, of course.

The feeding crew.

We also played a whole lot of Dance Central on the X-Box 360 Kinect - quite possibly the most fun I have ever had. My abs and arms were sore from busting a move. Jessica and Samantha were my two major competitors, but we three pretty much dominated the family dance session.

We had a great time catching up with everyone. We ate too much, played too hard, and slept too little. Now we need a vacation to recover from our vacation.