Bear hunting time!

The bears are on the move, looking for acorns on the ranch. We went earlier this week and saw 2 right away. Tonight we had Jay, Rosie, and Alice in tow with us and we spotted 2 more :) The second one came out of a tree before running away.

I tried to take pictures while holding Leila on my lap and thru a dirty windshield. So the first bear isn't so clear. But the second one was on my side of the truck so I got a better shot at it... to bad it was farther away than the first. :) More to come I'm sure!

Boys had a blast as always and we stopped at our usual lookout spot to enjoy the sunset. Saw a tarantula, played with it, and drove home in the moonlight of the full moon. Perfect ranch evening.

Dirt track

At the beginning of the month, before Billy left to fight the fires in northern Cali, he borrowed one of the ranch tractors and smoothed out a track for us in the dirt field. It was still pretty soft, so the ranch manager & our neighbor with his water tender, packed it down a little with water & the tractor again. It's awesome! It's about a quarter of a mile loop and the boys are loving riding their bikes on it. I have walked it and pushed my double jogger stroller on it too.
Billy has plans to put some jumps in, if he ever gets another day off! Fire season is kicking right now.
Anyway, it's a great track that the boys can ride around and around on without getting to far away where I need to worry about them.
I'm still trying to convince Jameson to give his bike a try out there. We took off his training wheels, because I know he can balance and ride his bike if he tried. But he is being a little timid about it right now. He'll get there soon enough. For now, he doesn't mind running around it or hitching a ride in the stroller with Leila :)

The Ranch Pool

The boys and I (and Leila, but she gets the shade) have had a great week of fun in the sun. We went to the beach Tuesday for playgroup and played in the water and waves and enjoyed a perfect beach day. Wednesday, Friday, and today we went swimming at the ranch pool! The boys are getting really comfortable in the water. Jameson loves his green monster floaty and cruises around the entire pool now without me having to be in the water next to him. Zachary is swimming the length of the pool, diving to the bottom for toys and jumping off the diving board! Of coarse William is doing the same and has been great in the water for a year or two now.

The boys wake up asking to go swimming. It's such a blessing to have a pool available (for the most part) right on the ranch. We are so lucky! They are so tired out at night from 4 plus hours at the pool, it's awesome. Plus, it gives me some relax time for myself as well. When we are at home, all I think about is what I need to get accomplished and chores I need to do. When I'm at the pool, I'm still on life guard duty, snack duty, baby duty and everything in between... but, I can swim with the boys, and enjoy the beautiful day a little bit more. Yesterday, Leila fell asleep pool side under the umbrella and I was able to swim some laps and relax in the sun. It was a small piece of heaven in my day.
Billy enjoyed the beach with us Tuesday, but has been gone the rest of the week. The pool has been a nice way to break up the day for me.

Just another reason we love living on the ranch!