Back at the Ranch (Finally!)

The boys and I finally made it back to the Peters Ranch this week after being kept away by the heat for the last couple of months. We had a lot of exploring to do!

Check out this treasure in a pile of pipe.

L helped me get it out from under the pipe. Actually, we found two snake skins in this pile. One was about two feet long and was sticking out of the end of one of the pipes.

And then there was this one, which was wrapped around some of the pipe. Doesn't look like the drought's stunted his growth.

I'll take the skin over the snake, that's for sure.

Have I mentioned that I am LOVING this boy-mom business?! Can't wait to teach them how to catch frogs!

Speaking of frogs...

...Um, there were none. (Thank you Drought of 2010-2011.) We spent a long time at the tank watching turtles and the little fish, but saw no frogs.

Oh, and L learned the valuable lesson of not casting dirt into the wind (He was trying to throw it into the tank.). Of course, this is one of life's easier lessons, as he's set to learn about prickly pear next weekend.

The snake skins were the highlight of my day at the ranch, but the highlight of the boys' day was most definitely this:

The Peters' are having a tank dug (good timing, but hard to imagine it actually containing water at this point) and the track hoe operator arrived to work just as we were heading down to look at it.

He was super friendly and answered my questions, including the name of this piece of heavy equipment, which, as I mentioned above, happens to be a track hoe, also called an excavator.

He was kind enough to work right where we could see the bucket scoop the dirt and dump it each time.

The boys were completely enthralled for a long time and could've stayed longer, but I was ready to move on.

On to the tractor.

And then the Bobcat.

L coming across the fence-love these two pics!



We are so fortunate to have the Peters Ranch to explore and play. Thank you for sharing, Mr. & Mrs. Peters! We love you and look forward to spending more time there as the weather gets cooler. :)