Family Vacation

Erik wanted to explore the Kissimmee River; he wanted to bring the family; he found a special deal at the River Ranch Inn in Lake Wales, Florida, for Memorial Day weekend. So last weekend we went to the River Ranch Inn for three days along with our friends Jed and Elvia and their daughter Izelle.

We did: swimming, horseback riding, rodeos, farm animal petting, sports, a cookout, hikes, playing, and eating out at the Smokehouse.

Xander is still afraid of the pool but Nick and I went for Nick's first time and he adored it. He splashed his arms and kicked his legs upon entering the water, acting like a pro. He put his face in the water. He leaned toward me to "jump" in the water from the pool ledge. He just loved it.

Xander got to see the adult rodeo with his daddy and Izelle and her parents, which included a calf roundup/chase for the kids. He ran around with all the kids, probably blissed out, definitely not getting the point that he was supposed to try to get a red ribbon off the calves' tails. When the roundup was declared over, guess who was still in the arena? Yep. Xander. Guess who chased the very last calf all the way up to the corral while every single other child was back with their parents? Yep. Xander. Guess who had to grab Xander's hand to finally end his time in the ring, to the sound of everyone in the stands laughing? Erik.

Xander and Izelle also participated in the kids' rodeo the next afternoon. Once again Xander made everyone laugh by starting out on the stick-horse barrel race early, then running round and round the barrels without stopping and without getting back in line. The poor child wore himself out and could not do the other games quite as well because of it: the potato sack race (in which he was worn out and trying so hard), the tug of war (in which the girls fell on top of him and temporarily traumatized him), another calf roundup, and the water balloon shootout (in which Izelle got him good and he got Mommy, which cheered him up). Both kids were recognized by strangers later in the day due to their performances. They were about the littlest kids there and I call them plucky.

We saw and heard a baby lamb, born hours earlier. A deer licked Xander and Nick patted its nose. A little goat rammed Xander with its horns but luckily it didn't seem to hurt. Xander and Izelle rode miniature horses in a circle for a good long time. Xander joined a volleyball game. The adults were very patient with him as he tried and tried and tried and tried and tried to throw the ball back over the net to the other team. Nick was completely entertained and hardly fussy, and even though the babe was woken several times per day with people coming in and out of the room, he always went back to sleep with very little trouble. People at the Smokehouse restaurant thought Nick was extremely cute for stuffing his face per usual, and Xander and Izelle for holding hands and wandering about.

Erik made a fantastic choice for our family vacation. There were so many things to do it was almost like going to Disney World, only the activities were real kid things to do. And no lines! The only thing we couldn't do was explore the areas of the river that Erik wanted to see. Areas were blocked off for restoration in between places he wanted to see so they weren't accessible via boat. I think he had fun anyway.

Later I will try to post some videos.