Is Anyone Missing a Leg???

Day 24 - Tuesday - August 15, 2006

A Very Merry Unbirthday to You...

When we arrived last night, Betty Lou had just finished decorating the cupcakes. She had planned a birthday party for all of us for today. Complete with a pinata! I told her it was kind of like the Unbirthday Party in Alice in Wonderland.

0745 - Wake up.

Coffee and breakfast outside. We all got to feed the deer and the sheep. When they heard the food rattling in the bucket, they came running! We saw the black buck pronghorn off in the distance. Betty Lou told me that the males will lie in their own scat to absorb the scent which attracts the lady pronghorns. Mmmm... I took lots of pictures! The morning continued with the kids exploring the ranch-within-a-ranch. The best of both worlds, in my opinion. James and Betty Lou have 25 acres within the Tierra Linda working ranch property. Of those 25 acres, the 2 acres around the house are completely 100% (gate and cattle-guard even) fenced! So, I feel safe knowing the kids are "caged" and the kids feel free because they have all this wide open space to explore. Wide open spaces, complete with intrigue and danger(lots of cacti!), and no mom breathing down their necks. We also enjoyed a little Dolly, water-loving labradoodle, playtime. She chases the water coming out of the hose. Very fun to watch! Dolly and Wrangler also love to fetch the frisbee and ball, though Dolly tends to be a bit of a toy hog.

Before lunch we went off for a drive to the dump. We saw cows, horses, deer, ducks, a turtle, and even an abandoned prosthetic leg! We were driving along, stopping every now and then to point out the different animals to the kids as we passed them. We came to an open field and there, about 20 feet from the road, was a prosthetic leg and foot.

Me: "What's with the fake foot?"
Betty Lou: "What?"
Me: "There's a prosthetic leg over there in the field."
Betty Lou: "What? Where?"

So we all looked out the window and wondered what on earth it was doing there. Betty Lou said we'd stop on the way back and pick it up to be delivered to the ranch office.

At the other end of the field, there were about 10 horses gathered in the shade. We stopped and one of them, Rusty, came over looking for food. I rolled down my window and he stuck his whole head in. The kids thought that was hilarious! Before he decided to bite me (after all, we had come without food!), we rolled the window back up and headed on to the dump.

On the way back, we did indeed stop to pick up the leg. I have a picture of the leg in it's original location, should the authorities need it! James measured how many paces from the road he found the leg. And we continued to wonder how it got there and who it belonged to.

James: A lady went out with her boyfriend last night. She didn't want her
husband to chase after her so she stole his leg then lost it.
Betty Lou: Maybe it fell off a cowboy while he was riding his horse.
Ryan: Maybe the guy who lost his leg was killed and he's buried over there (this idea came when he saw a horse pawing at the ground) and the horse is trying to dig him up.

(Yikes! What kind of parent am I that a six year old comes up with that theory?!) Many other theories and lots of jokes continued throughout the day. I think we'll all remember the leg forever! We dropped the leg off at the office and the ranch manager called later to get the whole story again. James promised to fill us in when they find out the true story of the missing leg, so stay posted!

1:30 pm - Lunch time. Sandwiches, veggies, and fruit on the back porch. Felisa wouldn't eat her sandwich so I told her she wouldn't get to eat her cupcake later. She wasn't phased by this but I'm sure she'll be mad later.

2:30 pm - Time for the Unbirthday Party! We each got a cupcake with a candle to blow out. We sang Happy Birthday. Then, we each licked the frosting off our candle. Except for Felisa who was trying to eat the candle. Oops! Forgot to explain the finer points of that one. Felisa did indeed get mad when I told her No Cupcake until you Finish Your Sandwich. James laughed and informed me that Mom stands for Mean Ol' Mom. Among other things... I'm sure the kids will come up with some doozies over the years.

Now time for the pinata. What can I say except that was One Tough Donkey. That, and I wouldn't want to meet Betty Lou in a dark alley! After the kids tried unsuccessfully several times, I took a turn. Also unsuccessful. So then Betty Lou stepped in and Whammo! Big hole in the not-so-tough-anymore donkey. A few more good wacks from the kids and treasure! Cars, party blowers, bubbles, Dora figurines, and twisty puzzles (like Rubic's but MUCH easier!). How fun was that! Thank you, Betty Lou, for another fun activity.

4:30 pm - Felisa finally finished her sandwich so she could have some juice. The cupcake is forgotten so she will just eat it after dinner perhaps. If she eats dinner - she just finished lunch and it's already almost time for dinner!

The kids played and watched a movie (The Shaggy Dog) while I tried to help Betty Lou in the kitchen. She offered me a drink. Rum and coke sounded good so I made one for me and a Rum and Crystal Light for her. Awesome fun hostess that she is, she provided fun fancy glasses, colored straws, and umbrellas! Definitely worth a picture so we recruited James to take a picture of us with our Umbrella Drinks.

Dinner (meatloaf and mac-n-cheese) - yum! - then more playtime outside. We fed the animals again, played fetch with the dogs, then Felisa ended up naked in the doggy/kiddie pool. Bella had a spill on the rocks but only ended up with 2 little scrapes. Then Felisa peed on the carpet. She came inside because she needed to go potty. I was in the kitchen cleaning up dessert dishes when she came running in - "Mommy I pee pee" I look up, just as she reaches the kitchen floor, pees, and slips in the puddle and falls down - all in the blink of an eye. I take her to the bathroom and put her in the bath. I go back to clean up her mess. There is a big puddle in the kitchen and little dribbles all across the dining room from the door to the kitchen. Guess she waited a little too long and couldn't hold it!


9:45 pm - after baths, it is finally time for bed. Felisa goes to sleep immediately but my coke is keeping me awake so I decide to try one of the Sudoku puzzles in the book Betty Lou gave me. She had already done all the easy ones so I tackled a Tricky one. I figured it out but it took me until midnight!

Overall, I would say that the kids and I have been having a GREAT time on the Ranch!