Groundhog Day: Texas Trip -- Day 3

After a good night's rest, we headed back to the farm for a full day of fun with family. For as long as I (Jodi) can remember (and probably way before that), my grandparents have had these deer in their front yard. I think every child in the family has had their picture taken riding one of the deer. So we had to get at least one of Jack!

The inflatable bounce house in the barn was a huge hit with the kids! This is the only decent picture we got of Jack enjoying it, but you can tell he's having a blast!

Jack was enamored with the weather vane. Reminds me a of a line in one of his favorite books -- Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown: "And on top of the barn, a weather vane of course ... a golden flying horse." But this weather vane is even better. It is a tractor!

He also loved this broken thermometer that hangs on the barn (and has forever). He kept calling it a clock!

Playing dominoes in the barn with our new best bud ... Hailey! Love her!

I didn't get an "after" picture, but can you guess what happened right after I took this picture?

Jack thought the perfectly-manicured lawn needed some mowing! Can you believe how beautiful and green their grass is? It is amazing! Jason couldn't get over it and threatened to cut squares out and fill our trunk with it to bring home. It felt as good on bare feet as it looks ... as soft as a carpet! Awesome!

On a clear day, you can see for miles and miles. Very different than what we are used to in Tennessee! I love it! Makes me want to bust out singing "Wide Open Spaces!" It was a much-needed change of scenery for me!

Love this shot ... very patriotic!

I don't know the name of this game, but I remember playing it as a little girl. You blew up a balloon and put it under the box. Then you proceeded to take turns hammering plastic nails into the box. Whoever popped the balloon lost! We didn't put a balloon under the box, but Jack had a great time just hammering nails. I bet they don't make the game anymore, but if they do, we will buy it for him. It allowed us to sit still for at least a few minutes every now and then!

My cousin Daniel has a friend (Meredith) that has a horse. She brought the horse to let the kids pet, feed, and ride. It was very sweet of her, and the older kids especially loved it! Jack didn't seem to care. He didn't even bat an eye when we pointed the horse out. He just kept running around doing his own thing. He did however learn to say "neigh-neigh" before the end of the trip.

Amber was enthralled with the horse ... and with Meredith. (You can see the amazement on her face in this picture.) After feeding and riding the horse, she decided that she wants to be a vet when she grows up! It will be cool if that's what she ends up doing one day. We'll be able to look back and remember the exact moment that impacted her future. Meredith quickly became Amber's best friend (and Meredith was a great sport about it)!