A little R&R...
This past weekend was really, really good. I am SO glad I made the decision to pick up and go for a night. It was really perfect! The weather was absolutely gorgeous - a little cool but clear and sunny most of the time. When we got there and checked in our room was ready so we took our bags up and I loved the room we got. It had more space than the room Kenneth and I have stayed in before and had a King on one side and a twin on the other so we could have our own space. Plus we were up on the 3rd floor and had our own little balcony that we had a fantastic view of the pasture from!
I gave Kent a little tour and showed him where most everything was and the office manager's son (who was about 6 I think) was looking for someone to play with so he and Kent hopped on bikes and rode around the property and up to the barn and he got a "tour" while they were up there. He discovered one of the newer babies, Pickles and absolutely fell in love with him! Pickles was pretty dang cute! :)
I met back up with Kent at the kitchen/cafeteria/chow hall... not really sure what the right name is for it! :D I showed him where they keep all the snacks and pastries out 24/7 and the drinks too. I showed him where the game room was (they have a foos ball table, some board games and a pool table, etc.) We played a couple games of tic tac toe and then he went out to play some more. I discovered a perfectly peaceful activity of working on a puzzle in the sun room and soaked up the quiet and just "being" for a little while!
We enjoyed a delicious and filling lunch of chicken cacciatore and a super yummy roll and Kent played some more and I grabbed a little nap - I propped the door open to the deck and a couple times the sound of a horse galloping by or whinying brought a huge smile to my face. The gentle breeze was just lovely! I took Kent down to the pool and he swam and splashed a little and got in and out of the jacuzzi when he got too cold! We went down to the barn and walked along the paddocks where they keep the horses for trail riding and gave lots of pets and I got lots of great pictures. It was fun to see how much Kent enjoyed the horses too and there were so many to look at! Every size and color! There was even a mule named Daisy that Kent really liked. :)
We headed back to the main house and Kent found another little boy about his age and the three boys played all together for a little while and I got to work on the puzzle some more. Before we knew it, it was dinner time! We had another delicious meal - there was a little bit of everything to pick from, ribs, wings, sandwiches, enchiladas... we were all very full afterwards! We sat with the boy that was about Kent's age and his mom for dinner and enjoyed chatting with them. They were repeat visitors as well and live about an hour on the other side of Atlanta from us. The boys decided to meet up at the swimming pool after dinner. So we went back up to our room and relaxed for a little while and let dinner settle before I took Kent back down. The sun was setting and it was getting fairly chilly but they boys still had a great time splashing around and going back and forth from the hot tub to the pool. The adults just lounged and chatted while they played! Around 8:30 we finally headed back up to our room and Kent got showered up and we put Planet of the Apes on (they have a huge DVD library you can borrow from, and that's the movie he'd picked). So we got some cocoa from the kitchen and watched our movie. After the movie I was feeling hungry (again) so we had a late night kitchen raid and grabbed an apple and a cinnamon roll and headed back to our room! :)
I didn't sleep all that well, lots of tossing and turning and at one point the door to the deck swung open, pushed by the wind! That scared me! Eventually we both got some sleep though, and before I know it, dawn was breaking and it was time to get up and moving. I took a shower and when I got out Kent had gone to the kitchen and brought us both back mugs of cocoa so we could sit on our little porch and watch the horses and sip our warm drinks in the cool morning air. It was so beautiful... it was still a little dark, but you could see the horses without difficulty. It was a special moment we got to share together.
We walked out in the pasture together that morning and petted some of the horses and I got to take lots of great pictures and we played some games in the game room while waiting for breakfast time to roll around. Just after 8:00am they let Kent ring the triangle signaling it was time to eat! He thought that was pretty cool! We enjoyed a delicious breakfast, 2 types of eggs, hashbrowns, cornmeal pancakes, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, milk and juice not to mention homemade douhgnuts... mmmm... That was a great way to start the day and also to end our trip! Kent rode bikes a little while longer while I packed everything up in the room after catching a quick nap. At 10:30 we checked out and it was time to go!
We said our goodbyes and waved to the horses and promised to be back soon. I told Kent if I'm still feeling pretty good next month maybe we can squeeze in one more visit in a few weeks - we'll just have to see how it goes!
We made it home a little after noon and got settled back in pretty easily. Kent got his things put away and went out to play with his friends and I just took it easy on the couch and watched a couple Netflix movies. I was so inspired by the yummy food at the Ranch that I actually COOKED last night for what feels like the first time in forever. We had fried round steak, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and buttered cooked carrots. Yumm!! It was so good and I am looking forward to the leftovers tonight! :)
I gave Kent a little tour and showed him where most everything was and the office manager's son (who was about 6 I think) was looking for someone to play with so he and Kent hopped on bikes and rode around the property and up to the barn and he got a "tour" while they were up there. He discovered one of the newer babies, Pickles and absolutely fell in love with him! Pickles was pretty dang cute! :)
I met back up with Kent at the kitchen/cafeteria/chow hall... not really sure what the right name is for it! :D I showed him where they keep all the snacks and pastries out 24/7 and the drinks too. I showed him where the game room was (they have a foos ball table, some board games and a pool table, etc.) We played a couple games of tic tac toe and then he went out to play some more. I discovered a perfectly peaceful activity of working on a puzzle in the sun room and soaked up the quiet and just "being" for a little while!
We enjoyed a delicious and filling lunch of chicken cacciatore and a super yummy roll and Kent played some more and I grabbed a little nap - I propped the door open to the deck and a couple times the sound of a horse galloping by or whinying brought a huge smile to my face. The gentle breeze was just lovely! I took Kent down to the pool and he swam and splashed a little and got in and out of the jacuzzi when he got too cold! We went down to the barn and walked along the paddocks where they keep the horses for trail riding and gave lots of pets and I got lots of great pictures. It was fun to see how much Kent enjoyed the horses too and there were so many to look at! Every size and color! There was even a mule named Daisy that Kent really liked. :)
We headed back to the main house and Kent found another little boy about his age and the three boys played all together for a little while and I got to work on the puzzle some more. Before we knew it, it was dinner time! We had another delicious meal - there was a little bit of everything to pick from, ribs, wings, sandwiches, enchiladas... we were all very full afterwards! We sat with the boy that was about Kent's age and his mom for dinner and enjoyed chatting with them. They were repeat visitors as well and live about an hour on the other side of Atlanta from us. The boys decided to meet up at the swimming pool after dinner. So we went back up to our room and relaxed for a little while and let dinner settle before I took Kent back down. The sun was setting and it was getting fairly chilly but they boys still had a great time splashing around and going back and forth from the hot tub to the pool. The adults just lounged and chatted while they played! Around 8:30 we finally headed back up to our room and Kent got showered up and we put Planet of the Apes on (they have a huge DVD library you can borrow from, and that's the movie he'd picked). So we got some cocoa from the kitchen and watched our movie. After the movie I was feeling hungry (again) so we had a late night kitchen raid and grabbed an apple and a cinnamon roll and headed back to our room! :)
I didn't sleep all that well, lots of tossing and turning and at one point the door to the deck swung open, pushed by the wind! That scared me! Eventually we both got some sleep though, and before I know it, dawn was breaking and it was time to get up and moving. I took a shower and when I got out Kent had gone to the kitchen and brought us both back mugs of cocoa so we could sit on our little porch and watch the horses and sip our warm drinks in the cool morning air. It was so beautiful... it was still a little dark, but you could see the horses without difficulty. It was a special moment we got to share together.
We walked out in the pasture together that morning and petted some of the horses and I got to take lots of great pictures and we played some games in the game room while waiting for breakfast time to roll around. Just after 8:00am they let Kent ring the triangle signaling it was time to eat! He thought that was pretty cool! We enjoyed a delicious breakfast, 2 types of eggs, hashbrowns, cornmeal pancakes, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, milk and juice not to mention homemade douhgnuts... mmmm... That was a great way to start the day and also to end our trip! Kent rode bikes a little while longer while I packed everything up in the room after catching a quick nap. At 10:30 we checked out and it was time to go!
We said our goodbyes and waved to the horses and promised to be back soon. I told Kent if I'm still feeling pretty good next month maybe we can squeeze in one more visit in a few weeks - we'll just have to see how it goes!
We made it home a little after noon and got settled back in pretty easily. Kent got his things put away and went out to play with his friends and I just took it easy on the couch and watched a couple Netflix movies. I was so inspired by the yummy food at the Ranch that I actually COOKED last night for what feels like the first time in forever. We had fried round steak, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and buttered cooked carrots. Yumm!! It was so good and I am looking forward to the leftovers tonight! :)
Ok, I have to know where this is. That food looks delish and I love horses. Are you allowed to ride the horses or just pet them? My 2 year old is dying to ride a horse but I don't think I'm allowed to go horseback riding when I'm prego...booo.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I didn't put a link in my main post! This is Southern Cross Guest Ranch in Madison, GA. You can definitely ride (they have a minimum age though, I think 4 to be at the ranch?) They have riding and non-riding pricing plans depending on what your going for - obviously we picked the non-riding plan! No riding while preggers!! :) Kent was bummed about not riding and I promised him we will go back after delivery and he'll get a chance then. :)
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