Football Season is here!

What's a visit to the ranch without a little touch football among family?

Enjoy this 3+ minute video compilation of some family football plays. Please bear in mind that the girls outnumber the boys 2-1 so that's not your computer squealing, it's the girls. Adjust your volume appropriately!

Breakfast in Texas

A friend passed this on to me and the girls loved it. First they thought it was Papa. Then they were certain it was Uncle Jack. I don't know exactly where it is, but we've never seen this many deer at one time at SBR.

Protection

Thank goodness we don't have any fishermen like these at SBR! Even Brenna & Cameron are learning to cast safely.

Expect we'll be out there in two weeks for Labor Day weekend. Cameron will celebrate her 8th birthday on Sept 2. So if you're around - come join us! (That is unless Hurricane Dean makes landfall in an area that directly affects many of us.)

Always Welcome

We need to find this sign and put one up at SBR.

Feeding the Cows

Just a quick little movie from our last visit.

Independence Day

Despite the reports of flooding in the Hill Country, Bryan & I stole away to SBR for a few days with the girls. The rain gauge held a half-inch on Monday evening (measured since Sunday afternoon) and was almost, but not quite, an inch when we left on Wednesday night. We had scattered rain, but nothing heavy; just enough to keep things soggy.

True to our last few visits, we saw something new at SBR. Cameron & Brenna spotted a Painted Bunting in the grass outside the living room on Monday about 7 p.m. We also saw a doe (a deer, a female deer) twice. Once it was very close to the house looking toward the back from the living room window by the AC unit.

We spent a few hours in Gonzales visiting the Old Jail and the Memorial Museum where we saw the Come & Take It cannon, the Lexington & Concord "Shot Heard 'Round the World" for the Texas Revolution. There was also a memorial to the Immortal 32 - the men from Gonzales to arrived as reinforcements to the Alamo in response to Travis' Victory or Death letter.

Driving back from Gonzales, we stopped and bought some fireworks. Even though it was only July 3rd, we took advantage of a not rainy evening to shoot some off. We easily discovered that we like the box fountains and cone fountains and sparklers, but not the bees, black snakes or firecrackers. The girls enjoyed some confetti poppers and little snappers.

We made a stop at the local feed store and picked up two bags of range cubes and fed the cattle. There was time between the rain for an ATV ride and even a walk to the back pond. I can't remember if I've ever seen it so green there, and it was oddly cool with a breeze for July.

We can't wait to go back again!

Hot Tub Skiing

Not likely to happen at SBR. But if it does, we'll be sure to post a picture!

Group Pictures

We've discovered that SBR is a great place to take pictures of the kids. So, we thought it would be a great weekend to try a group shot of all six grandkids. Below are some of the best ones. How do you think they turned out?

We managed to take some good pictures of small groups of the kids.

And of course, Shelly had to take a picture of all the crazy adults trying to get the kids to look at us, hold still and smile at the same time.

My Family Weekend Update

We had our yearly family weekend with everyone in attendance. Yes, 8 adults and 6 kids. Despite this being our 7th annual weekend, we learned something new. Split up the kids into different houses for sleeping. It sounds so simple, but this was the first time we've done it. Wow, what a difference it makes.

Laurie and Alexander "drove" around the front yard together and rode on the ATVs with their parents. But their absolute favorite thing was a dip in the hot tub (not hot). Wow, they had a great time splashing each other, their mommies and the other kids.

The guys spent the weekend smoking some great meat - ribs, chicken and brisquit. While we were waiting for the meat, they stuffed jalapenos with cheese and wrapped them in bacon. They were great, but really HOT! At one point, I had to pour salt on my tongue. It really does help.

Ashley packed her own suitcase. Can you tell? What a little cowgirl.




Brian relaxed his weekend mowing the yard around the house. I'm not sure if it was relaxing or just venting frustration on the small bushes. He had tried to burn some brush on the burn pile, but even with diesel poured on it, the pile was too wet to catch fire. Don't worry, they got it started the next night. What a fire.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had our yearly family weekend with everyone in attendance. Yes, 8 adults and 6 kids. Despite this being our 5th annual weekend, we learned something new. Split up the kids into different houses for sleeping. It sounds so simple, but this was the first time we've done it. Wow, what a difference it makes.

Repairs

To keep a record - the boys replaced the p-trap in the kitchen sink.

The clog was bad enough that water ran all over the floor in the cabinet. I believe someone sticking a screwdriver into the p-trap to dislodge the clog is what caused the hole. All I know is it wasn't MY Bryan.

Plenty of rain!

We had a really nice weekend this holiday, with plenty of rain each morning and a few heavy sprinkles during the day. This morning we had 2.5 inches beginning around 5 a.m. This was a common sight as we tried to get back to a paved road.

This road was passable, as the ponding on one side spilled over to the other in a rush. The first turn-off on the regular route wasn't so fortunate.

That's one bridge nobody would be crossing today. We tried did see the "Road Closed / High Water" sign leaning against a fence post on the side, but couldn't reach it without waders. Hopefully anyone passing by knows better than to attempt to go through 3+ feet of rushing water.

We did find an easy, slightly longer, route back to the main highway, and while driving we saw another piece of wildlife we've never seen before in the eight years of coming out to SBR.

I don't know if you can tell in the photo, but it's a Roadrunner!

About to be busy!

What better way to spend Memorial Day than lounging around at SBR for the weekend? Some of the family are already on their way up, while others of us will come up after work tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. The trick with having everyone there at the same time is organizing food, drinks, and sleeping arrangements. As the summer heat arrives, so do the scorpions, which prevents us from bunking the kids on the floor overnight. Now we have to sleep 12 (two babies still in playpens). My two girls will share a bed or a couch, but Lisa's won't. (She tried last time, and it was not a pleasant experience!) So likely some of us will be volunteering to sleep in the bunkhouse up the Red Road.

Gotta go find our boots and pack after work today - see everyone up there tomorrow. Save us some lunch!

Great weekend!

It was a beautiful weekend to be at the ranch. Cool in the mornings with the highs reaching about 80 degrees. Mom & Dad brought Daniel up late Friday night, Pam, Jack, Merr, Kenzie and Avery arrived earlier on Friday and the girls and I arrived around Noon on Saturday. We had a little trouble getting to the ranch on Saturday due to the heavy storms Friday night. Apparently, they were really bad and kept almost everyone up at one point. My drive was going really well until I tried to turn onto the first dirt road off the paved highway. The dirt road was covered in water for a good distance. Uh-oh. I sat in my car thinking about whether or not I wanted to attempt to drive through it, tried to unsuccessfully call the ranch (several times), and finally turned around to head to the nearest little town. I knew there was another way onto the county roads from "town", but didn't know it. So I got back on my phone - couldn't reach the ranch, Dad's cell, Shelly on her cell, I got Brian, but he didn't know the route. Finally, I got David. Yes, I called David for directions. My mistake. This is the guy who wanted to go to Katy in Houston and ended up in Baytown (completely opposite direction about 40 miles apart). He gave me his best directions - I ended up on another dirt road covered with water. About that time, Dad called me from his cell and gave me good directions. All of this took me an extra hour (its only a 2 hour drive). Believe it or not, the girls, even the baby, were great the whole time.

We finally got there. Mom & Dad had friends Gary and Sandra out with their grandson. The kids all ran around and had a ball playing outside. Dad and the guys fixed brisket and ribs in the smoker. It was exellent. Laurie went for her first ATV ride and loved it. She even cried when it stopped.

It was a relaxing weekend and fun with great weather.

March 15-18, 2007

Wednesday, March 15, Marilyn, Shelly, Lisa and the usual children drove out to SBR about 3-6 p.m. in the afternoon. Despite heavy rains and occasional hail in the Houston area, the skies cleared slightly around Flatonia. The ditches on the side of the road were filled with water, but there was no water over the CRs leading up to the gate. Water in the side pond was full, and the rain gauge held 4 inches. Both the front and back ponds had a good amount of water. Rusty joined us that evening. He reported that the hog wallow was holding water.

Wildlife: Blue heron and doe at front pond; big fat armadillo at the ranch gate (Wed.) Several deer in the field (Thursday.) Possum in the trash on the back porch Friday night. (Rusty chased it off with a broom.) Red cardinals and woodpecker. Turkey (heard, not seen). Many turtles - side pond and at least one in the back pond. (Sat/Sun). Junebugs!!

Wildflowers are starting to bloom. We saw plenty of phlox in neighbors fields. Scattered bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush were also available.

Changes? Rusty & Bryan K. framed a roof to the pumphouse and roofed it. They also purchased the Hardiplank siding, but were unable to begin.

Welcome y'all

This blog exists as an easy place to post information about Silver Belle Ranch. If you would like permission to post on this blog, send an email to Shelly at work or home (see the family phone list for her email.) You will be required to sign up for a Google Blogger account. At present, Lisa is the other person with permission to post, though we hope that others such as Pam, Jack, Kay, Marilyn, & Leah will join us.