Annual Game Ranch Visit (Jeff's Bday)

Every year we celebrate Jeff's birthday as a family at the local Yellow River Game Ranch. Jeff's pick, believe it or not. And we've been doing it since Rhyan was born (so her first visit was at almost a year old). This year was our first of Mack being able to run around on his own... which made it... interesting!

Before we even got into the place, he was chasing the roosters...

My attempts at ONE good pic of both of them

There is a bunny pen at the end where you can pet and feed the bunnies but at the start of the trail there are bunnies who are contained.

We brought lots of crackers for the animals. Apparently, Mack didnt get the memo.

Another mouth full of cracker... required some water to wash it down!

At first I was a little put off by the fact that the deer are now fenced off and unable to roam, but honestly, its kind of cool because there are designated areas to feed the deer so they all congregate there as opposed to the previous years where you might get to feed a deer or they may be awol.

I love these pics of my sweet girl feeding the deer! She LOVED it!

My boys!

Um... you ugly!

Jeff is still obsessed with getting the squirrels to eat out of his hand. This year, he passed on his obsession to RHYAN!

Do these things spit? We kept our distance just in case ;-)

SUCCESS!!! Jeff finally got up close and personal with a squirrel!

And Rhyan worked SO hard and got this little guy to eat from her hand! I didnt get the pic (cause they didnt warn me they were working on it!) but it happened and she was so proud!

And a few attempts of a family pic!

this boy is CRAZY!

... and he's climbing EVERYTHING!

.... apparently RHYAN didnt get the "crackers are for the animals" memo, either!

We headed to the bunny area at the end. Its on a hill and there are a lot of rocks. I insisted that Mack hold my hand and he insisted that he not. He won the battle, but lost the war... cause not even a minute in the bunny area and he busted. BAD. I try really hard to not over react when my kids fall, but literally, his face slapped the dirt maybe an INCH from a big, sharp rock. I tried to hide it but it was for sure a "his life flashed before my eyes" moment. It was super close to being disastrous :-( I was SO grateful he was ok!

... It doesnt look nearly as bad in the pic as it did in real life. He ended up with a big bruise on his forehead and his upper lip and nose were all scabbed up and sad!

Before we left I asked the kids for ONE pic together but Rhyan wasnt having it because she wanted to ride the horse solo. So, admittedly, i bribed her :-)

Only to have Mack not smile! HA! Thats the way it goes with two, folks!

This is one of my very favorite traditions! I love celebrating Jeff's birthday this way! Happy 33!