Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Zion Ponderosa Ranch had so many fun things to do... the best thing was hanging out together in the great house. When we weren't running to a national park we had a great time at the ranch.

We swam (that's my awesome mom on the slide!)...

We ate... and ate... (we made Cafe Rio salads with Brazilian Lemonade when it was our night to cook)...

Sophia went to sleep in the corner while we played games (Ticket to Ride and Trivial Pursuit).

We played on the swings...

...and Sophia was SO cute... she was happy to keep swinging while we...

waited and waited in line for Liv to go on the bungee trampoline...

...and when it was finally her turn, the power on the machine didn't work! She was so disappointed, but she got another ticket to do another activity.

Coleman miniature golfed! He even got a hole-in-one.

We braved family photos! Ryan was so great, I don't think he loves taking family photos, but he was willing to do it for us. We had some challenges with the sun and shadows, so there is a big hole in the top left corner, but it was just too bright there. Looking at it now, it looks like a perfect spot for Matt and his family. We missed them so much! We should photoshop them in (wink, wink).

Look for the above family photo on the blog header soon...

... and these are all of the Cole kids and grandkids.  Again, missing Matt and Ashley and their boys, and always missing Chance.

Above are the Cole siblings (minus Matt)... David, Heather, me, Lauren, Erin, Lindsey, and Megan.

We zip-lined! We had to climb 3 huge flights of stairs to get to the top... and the first time we climbed it we didn't know that we had to check in and get our gear... by the time we got to the top and realized that, Olivia decided it was way too high. After she couldn't do the trampoline, she decided to do the zip line. It was fun! Did I mention that my mom is cool? She did the zip line too! That is her in the bottom right corner.

Our "special" boys found any wild-life they could, including this blue-bellied lizard! There is a Blue-Belly Grill  at the ranch, and when they found this guy we figured out where they got the name.

The kids blew bubbles and played on the stairs (scary!) and we had pow-wows in the closet (which was as big as most of our bedrooms) where Grace and Sophia had their matching jams on.

We really appreciated my mom and Mike for making the arrangements for us to stay at such a fun place!