Diamond Half Ranch

My husband signed onto a deer lease with Diamond Half Ranch.  The ranch is about 1.5 hours away from our house. It has 7000 acres of land. We toured the ranch a couple of weeks ago. This past weekend was the first time we stayed there. Included in the lease, is access to the three cabins on the property. They are reserved on a first come basis. The ranch manager told us they are usually not busy except during deer season, late October through mid-January. The "cabins" are all in a row in this building. We stayed in cabin 3.

It is like staying in a motel, except it has three sets of bunk beds in the bedroom area. I was so happy to have air conditioning. It was a hot weekend with temperatures reaching 100 degrees F ( 38 degrees C) both Saturday and Sunday. Boogs called a top bunk bed. My husband and I chose the lower bunks.

This is Boogs showing me how much headroom he had on Sunday.

 At the end of the cabins there is a covered porch with tables, chairs, and a pool table.

The front porch also has a nice shady section with tables.

We arrived on Friday evening, ate dinner, unpacked, and went to bed. On Saturday, we headed into town for breakfast then went back to the ranch to tour the deer blinds.

There are 30 blinds on the property. Some were up high, some down low, some were filthy, some were clean.

We spent a few hours touring around the property. It is beautiful.

The cows were keeping cool in the water.

After lunch, Boogs had to make sure to get in his trombone practice for his band practice record.

Later in the afternoon, Boogs and Daddy set up their gear at the firing range.

 They used their Henry .22 lever action rifles for a competition on the dueling tree.

They also practiced shooting the steel targets at the hundred yard mark.

I joined them for a little bit. They both beat me on the dueling tree. It is nice to have a covered area at the firing range.

Boogs shot this clay target and put a hole straight through it. Normally, the clay targets break apart when they are hit.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, about six men showed up to use the firing range for skeet shooting. It got pretty loud so we decided to drive around the property for a bit. After my husband bought the lease, he decided he needed a vehicle that could handle the rough roads on the ranch. He bought an old Land Cruiser, but it is still in the shop (for the second time) getting a few repairs.

A few days later, he bought this truck, a Chevy Colorado. He thought he was going to leave the Land Cruiser on the ranch, but has just about decided to sell it since the Colorado is able to handle the terrain. He is going to make the Colorado his regular vehicle and sell his Tesla. I'm going to miss the Tesla.

We let Boogs try driving the truck. He did a great job for a 12-year-old first time driver. I was very nervous for him. I was not sure if he would be able to make it through the gate and over the bumpy cattle guard without hitting a post. He made it!

Daddy had him keep to an 8 mph speed limit and frequently practice braking.

Boogs drove for almost twenty minutes. Then he said, "Ok, Daddy. I'll trade you places at the tree at the top of this hill."

Saturday night, Boogs and Daddy went out to a deer blind with the night scope. They did not see much activity. On Sunday, we ate breakfast, cleaned the cabin, packed, and headed back home. The plan is to go out to the ranch once or twice a month. We are thinking about taking our dirt bikes out to the ranch next weekend. The forecast looks like there might be thunderstorms, so we might not be able to go. I think the ranch is going to be a great place for hanging out as a family.

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Last Summer Weekend

And just like that... summer is over. Boogs went back to school this week. He is now in 7th grade.

So far, he likes all of his teachers and classes. I hope he has a great year. On the first day of school each year, I make him a special lunch themed to the book The Kissing Hand. We have kept this tradition since the first day of Kindergarten. I'm glad he still lets me do it.

We went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas Amusement Park. It was hot but a lot of fun.

This was the first time Boogs has ridden the Iron Rattler. He was extremely nervous waiting to get on the ride. The Iron Rattler's first drop is 171 feet with an 81 degree angle. The coaster gets up to 70 mph. Here is a park video of it. Boogs said he will ride it again on our next visit.

 One of Boogs favorite rides is the Whirligig giant swings.

Several of our favorite rides were closed when we visited. We found out they are taking out the Scooby Doo ride and replacing it with a Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Luckily, Spinsanity was still going strong.

Pandemonium has been Boogs go to ride for a long time. It is a roller coaster that has spinning seats.

The new Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster was scary. Boogs didn't ride it but my husband and I did. It is the world's first single rail roller coaster.

It has a 90 degree drop and also speeds up to 70 mph. You feel like you are going to fall right out of your seat. It was a great ride.

We rode most of the big rides at the park and then went over to the water park area. Boogs and Daddy spent about three hours playing there. I found a comfortable chair in a shady spot and read a book. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

My husband bought a deer lease on a ranch about an 1.5 hours from our house. Over the weekend, we took a tour of the property. It has 7000 acres to play on. My husband is so excited. It has a shooting range, cabins, 30 deer blinds, two fishing ponds, fire pit area, hook-ups for an RV, plenty of road/trails for motor bikes, plenty of places to set up a primitive campsite, and beautiful views. There are only 36 people on the lease of the property. The owner said it is only really busy during deer season, October through January. The rest of the year, it is pretty quiet. I already know where we will be spending our weekends in the future.

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Mayborn Museum

Boogs asked to go back to the Mayborn Museum in Waco. It has been several years since we last visited. We called the JBoys, who now live close to Waco, to see if they wanted to join us. I love this children's museum. There are so many things for kids to do. I was a little worried that it might be too young for Boogs and the JBoys, but they had a great time hanging out and exploring together.

There were turtles, snakes, fish, spiders, and a few other critters to see in the vertebrates and invertebrates exhibit rooms.

The museum docent was a very nice retired teacher. She came over and talked with us and the boys while they were working on drawing and naming their own planets.

 There were high school students organizing a few activities.

We went into the communications room next. It had old telephones, typewriters, and several different code languages for you to explore. The boys liked learning some of the symbols in Hobo. The symbols were used by train jumpers and homeless travelers back in the great depression. 

Our crew was full of energy. The docent suggested that we take a look at the outdoor exhibits and let the boys run for a bit to burn off some energy. We have been going to this museum since Boogs was 3 and I never knew there were outdoor exhibits. There is an entire historic village behind the museum.

We were lucky, the museum was not crowded at all. The boys were able to go from building to building and easily play with the materials without any wait time. I like this pic of the boys in the school house.

There were several games on the lawn - hoops, horseshoes, milk jugs to knock down, bean bags to throw in baskets, and a couple of other things.

There was a washboard, roller dryer, and a clothesline set up in the shade of a tree. Boogs grabbed a buck and went to the well for water. He brought the water back and the boys washed the towels that were hanging on the line.

 I was surprised how engaged they all were in this activity.

D and I were laughing so hard when the boys were playing in the pioneer house. They gave themselves names and called us in to "et" our possum dinner.

I made Boogs sit in this beautiful tree for a picture. He was less than thrilled.

After viewing the entire village, the boys took off running back to the entrance door.

It took a while for D and I to catch up to them. When we opened the door, we found them like this. They were dead tired from the heat. Goofy boys!

 We toured through the forest, cave, and mammoth rooms.

Here is a picture of Boogs on the glass floor over the mammoth skeleton when he was 6 (I think).

We had a cool view of the train table from upstairs.

 It is a good thing the museum was so empty because their drum beating was way too loud.

I've always loved the water and bubbles room. Boogs blew a humongous bubble  from this sheet of bubble solution.

Everyone tried to make the hula hoop bubble go above their heads. J2 was the only one to make it happen. Boogs bubble burst right after I took this picture.

 Making a water pathway in the water table.

The light and sound exhibits were really neat. They played all of the instruments and then moved on to playing with light, mirrors, and shadow.

 These were supposed to be foam builders but the boys decided to turn them into hitting clubs.

The simple machines room had plenty of hands on activities to play with. It was hard to roll a square wheel on the track.

 Lifting weights with different numbers of pulleys.

 A giant spirograph.

 When Boogs was little, we used to spend a long time in the pioneer room.

 He has grown quite a bit since he last played in here.

We had a great time exploring the Mayborn Museum. I wonder if Boogs will want to go back again next summer or if he will be too grown up for it.

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