Rolling Ridge Ranch

We've been to Rolling Ridge Ranch before, but not lately and not with Byron. This is an Amish run farm that houses common and exotic animals for your viewing pleasure. Much to the boys' dismay, by exotic, we mean cattle and birds not lions and tigers and elephants. However, they still had a good time. We spent the early part of our stay looking 'round at the baby ducks and rabbits and taking everyone to the port a john. You laugh, because you have no idea how hard it can be to take a bug-a-phobic child into a port a potty and tell them to use it. Instead of the desired effect of a child who is ready to undertake an hour a half long wagon ride, you have a child, crying, shaking and screaming at the "bee" in the port a potty. I say "bee" because it was just a common house fly, but there was no talking said child out of bee.

I gave up trying to have this child use the potty and we got ready to board the wagon for our ride through the fields and woods viewing the various and sundry animals. The kids all had fun, for the most part. The three oldest were just dandy, Byron wasn't too sure and Babykins slept the whole time.

I was a little leery of taking all five kids by myself (well, without Chris, I was there with a bunch of other people, but they all had another person to help wrangle kids) but it worked out pretty well. The kids behaved well for the most part and it was a good day.

Group Shot (all the kids except for 2 babies, Nate and Andrew. We intended to get a group shot when they got there, but totally forgot!)
Ruth, Gabriel (back row)
Byron, David, Kathleen, Rory, Joanna, Grace, Isaiah (middle row)
James, Moriah (bottom row)

I just had to put in all three that I took because with a group this big, you just can't get a good shot, ya know?

Where's Moriah?

Ruth was old/big enough this year to pick up and hold the ducks on her own with no assistance from me.

Grace was borderline, but I let her do it herself, too, with lots of supervision

My gang and Jo.

The Emu.

David and Andrew are pretty good friends, I think. Here they are, in a deep conversation.

Doh! He saw the camera!

My candid cover is blown.

A scary cow with big scary horns.

More scary horned cows

David just loved the water buffalo (seen here). He would get so excited regaling anyone and everyone with tales of the water buffalo "and he was in the WATER!"

Moving on...."Hey Kath-a-LEEN!"

Who is the boy and why is he talking so much?

And David manages to engage Kathleen in conversation as well.

Mo, attempting to escape. Foiled again, Mo.

Dave and Jo singing.

Ruth, feeding the ostrich

Byron, having a go at feeding him, too.

More feeding, thanks to Aunt Amy. I was too busy trying to record this for posterity.

I just love a good peacock.

James and David playing follow the leader, only I think James' game was a little more random than David is used to.

I took the kids out to eat after RRR. They were pretty tired by then (it was nearly 2:30), but they perked right up after some food. Perked up enough to behave badly and embarrass me. Stinkers.