\vā-ˈkā-shən, və-\

The phonetic pronunciation of vacation. I'm still trying to figure out what it means...I'll have to get back to you on that.

The fam and I are in currently enjoying the Show Me State ( I don't get that yet either...), Missouri, for y'all who aren't from the South. We're enjoying a few days in Branson before moving onto visiting my mom's family out in Kansas.

So far a few highlights have been driving all night through New York state. We kinda fit right in with the big dogs in our box of a van...all that was missing was the CB radio.



One of the pools at our resort is pretty cool; complete with waterfall:


Another highlight occurred last night when we went out to see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. We ate with our fingers. We cheered for the North (the entire show is a competition between the North and the South). And saw crazy stuff like this:

The guy is riding (standing and straddling two horses) through a ring of fire. If that is not considered talent, I'm not sure what is.

I'm excited about going to see these guys tomorrow:

Fun stuff. Pretty cute too.

Stay tuned as we continue our 3,000+ mile journey. It aught to be good for at least a few laughs along the way!

Baby cows, sick lambs, and field trips!

Life has been pretty busy lately. Graduation from NHTI (If you're interested, my mother wrote a blog post about my entire graduation ordeal and you can read it here). Working full time. Big sister. Oldest daughter. Blogger. Yes, sadly that is where blogger remained...at the bottom of the list, BUT I'd like to make it up to you and give you a little update about things on the farm. Spring is certainly my favorite season, hands down. There is lots going on!

For example:

I bought my first piece of livestock for the farm. The deal was mine from beginning to end. Pretty sweet. Wanna know what I bought? ...A miniature horse! Her name is Sadie and she's 4 years old! Such a cutie and great with all the kids that we have around during the spring and summer months; can't wait for her to meet our summer camp kids!


Let's see...what else... I had a lamb that didn't want to make it this past month, so there were days and nights of milking mom to feed the baby. I am proud to announce that little Clarence has come out the other side a stronger man, case in point:


This past week I got to do something really fun! My friend and co-worker Hannah is graduating high school this month and she needed to do a class presentation on something that was really important to her, so she asked me if I could bring up some baby farm animals for her to use in her presentation, so what did I do? Well, I produced, of course! The baby goats loved all of the extra attention:


I'm attempting to bottle feed three calves this summer. We've purchased a Jersey (for hands-on programming purposes). I call him Starsky. He's gunna be a steer...he just doesn't know it yet.

Geesh...only a mamma could love that face.

I'm also raising a Holstein bull calf...soon to be steer. I call him Hutch. Starsky and Hutch...get it? I'm quite original aren't I?



And then, last, but certainly not least, I am raising a Red Angus, which is pretty cool, especially because we don't see too many Red Angus in this part of the country. I call him Big Red. Genius, I know.



So, that's what happening out here on the ranch. We're expecting two more baby calves any time now, so y'all will need to stay tuned for that! Thanks for bearing with me during this busy season, be prepared to check back more frequently, as I'll be writing a lot out summer happenings on the farm and of the goings-on with the fam.

Later gator.