Fun in Brownwood

There was a "must-do" list of things in Brownwood for Abby and Isaac:  driving the "red thing" (ATV) and visiting the caboose at the ranch, playing with toys that can only be found at Bema and Peepaw's house, swimming and tubing behind the boat at the lake.  But we only had one day...  Could everything be checked off?  It was a busy day, but they managed to get everything in before sacking out - even at a more reasonable time than previous weeks.

Dad and I took the kids to the ranch shortly after breakfast in an attempt to beat the heat and get in some "driving lessons."  Ranches are the place to start learning to drive:  lots of room to work with and precious few valuable things to hit.  Isaac was first, "right out of the barn", and took us out to check the water (or lack thereof) in the stock tanks (for those not from around those parts - this is a pond for cows to drink out of).  Abby then took us across the creek the other way looking for a wayward cow.  Peepaw exercised remarkable patience as the little off road buggy headed toward this object or that.  We didn't take out any fences, gates or other stationary objects, so all was well.

Across the creek, the kids enjoyed playing in Peepaw's "tree house" (deer stand) while I explored the woods a bit.  The place is on the market, so I suppose I hope this was my last chance for an explore.   I let them continue driving lessons while I headed toward the barn and caboose-cabin on foot.  I don't think they saw much wildlife with the revving engine and constant "no, other left" instructions, but I saw 8-10 deer, including 2 fawns, as well as an owl and several rodents of various sorts as I snuck around photographing wildflowers.

In the afternoon, we looked to get WET.  In that part of the country, it's the only reasonable way to negotiate a July afternoon.  Mom had invited two other families out for a traditional afternoon at the lake (swim, eat, drink, eat...), and we had a great time catching up with the Wright and Romig clans.  Jenny (Wright) Moore was there from Colorado Springs with her daughter and twin boys, and all the children had a grand time playing in the water together.   Jenny and her husband Andy were both good friends of mine growing up, and I loved seeing the next generation enjoying each other's company too.  This is a relationship to keep up over the years.

As is always the case with a boat, Dad and I had some trouble getting it running (one broken propeller, two jump starts...you see how it goes), but we gave each of the kids a run around our end of Lake Brownwood on a covered inner tube.  It brought me back to our years playing around in that same water, and going boating and tubing in the same patterns 30 years ago.  What a time!

Matt