As we entered the island the kids started to complain that they wanted to get out and walk around because they “had been sitting in the car for at least an hour” so we took them to the Fielding Garr Ranch first to stretch their legs and roam around. I wasn’t sure what to expect there, but we first had to have a snack, then the adventure began. We wandered into the barn where they raised sheep so the kids got to play in the sheep pens. Then we followed all the other people to the pasture where they had some old ranch vehicles like trucks and tractors and horse buggies. I was surprised how excited the boys were to get in and play on all the equipment. They had to get in everything they could and they pretended to drive and be farmers. We were there for at least an hour playing in the equipment.
On the way out to the pasture there is manure everywhere and Lucas just happened to find a big ol' cow pie that was still somewhat fresh and said, “What’s this mom?” As he steps in it. A woman near by who witnessed this just busted out laughing.
We went to the other side of the barn and explored some of the other building that included the ranch house. The kids got into all sorts of things. Zander found some large nails and screws in what looked like a blacksmith building, then they found some deer antlers, more old tools, buffalo hides, toys, and pictures. They loved looking at all of it. There was a man there that sat outside of the smaller barn who used to be a professional photographer. He had an album of pictures he took of animals on the island. He let the kids each pick one picture to take home with them. Zander chose a buffalo, Lucas chose a rattle snake, and Hannah got some deer.
Outside of the small barn was a place to practice roping cattle and metal horse the kids could sit on. Boy did they have fun on that! Lucas sat on one of the bulls with his rope and pretended to catch bandits that stole his gold while Zander sat atop the the horse and tried his hand at roping the other bull near by. Dad helped to show them how to hold it and swing it so they caught what they were after. At this point Zander kept saying "This is the best trip ever!" When we were done with that part we wandered into the old house which wasn't very big, but had a lot of interesting things in it that the boys kept asking about. The ranch was homesteaded in 1848 and was a working ranch up until 1981.
just outside the door of the house was a heavily wooded area that kind of served as a bird sanctuary. The boys ran down there while I was walking behind another mom who daughter ran after Lucas. She was trying to get her to come back so they could leave when she stopped dead in her tracks and said, "I hope that was a rain drop" as she looked up into the tree canopy. It wasn't. A bird pooped on her, so I offered her some wipes and tried to wipe it out of her hair as best I could. I'm just glad it wasn't me!
We did some more exploring and wandering around while the boys picked up sticks and played. It was starting to get cooler and darker so we decided to head out. Before we did though, the boys had to have a stick fight so they grabbed the longest sticks they could find and fought off their dad. It all ended when dad poked Lucas in the eye. Each child wanted to take a stick home, so they found smaller ones on the way to the car.
We were a little disappointed we didn't see any buffalo on the drive to the ranch; there were some we could see way out a ways from for the ranch, but nothing up close. Zander was sad we didn't see any, so we'll have to go back another weekend. The views were beautiful, we had some laughs, and everyone had a great time.
We picked up some pizza and pop on the way home for dinner. I asked the boys what their favorite part of the trip was. Zander first said it was the deer antlers he found then changed it to roping the cows, but his final favorite thing of all were the big, long nails he found. Lucas said his picture of the rattle snake he got to keep was his favorite, and I believe him because he wouldn't let me put the picture in my bag to keep it safe while they went exploring. He insisted on carrying it himself. Hannah just loved being able to walk and run by herself wherever she wanted. There was s stone path that went uphill that she would hop from rock to rock uphill then she'd run down on the grass and walk back up on the path over and over. What great memories!
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