Jared, Ruben, Maya, and Angie arrived at our house tonight and we're thrilled to spend a little time with them before they catch their flights back home! Joseph just can't stop laughing at Ruben's funny tricks...

and Rosalie is following Maya around everywhere! It's always fun to have family here with us in San Antonio!

It's no surprise that we started out the day today with a little more bike riding!

Jared accidentally got his rental car stuck in the slippery mud across the creek, so Grandpa headed off in the tractor to rescue them. Here's Aunt Angie catching some shots of him bringing Maya back to firmer ground...

and after the big rescue, here's Grandpa giving Rosalie a ride, too!

Angie took this amazing shot, too. What a classic!

The kids are all still having a lot of fun watching the rocks splash in the creek. Here's Kalie helping Rosalie toss a few in!

Our little honey bunny is finding lots of things to do outside today, actually. Here she is contemplating the grand scheme of things on her bike...

helping throw a few balls to Atlas and Jade...

getting a little assistance from Grandpa climbing up and down these boulders...

and carrying around this big stick!

Here are Jared and Maya snuggled up on the couch together this afternoon. One of the best things about being on vacation, of course, is being able to nap at will just like this!

Since Angie's arrival, Rosalie has been fascinated by all of her gorgeous jewelry, so this afternoon she got out her entire stash and Rosalie is in girly heaven!



She insisted on trying on every single piece, and here are a couple glam shots of her wearing all the necklaces at once! We'll be heading back home tomorrow, but we sure have enjoyed all our time up here at the Ranch this year!

After breakfast this morning, the kiddos zipped outside for a little more bike riding. Rosalie may not be zooming around in quite the same way as Joseph yet, but she gets a little faster every time, and she sure is having fun!



The creek is actually running pretty high right now, and all the kids are having fun throwing rocks down into the swimming hole. It's a little too cold for people to swim right now, but the dogs sure are enjoying it!

A little later, we all headed down the road for a walk. Rosalie thinks the cows in the front field are pretty neat...

and judging by the crowd of cows gathering around her, they apparently return the sentiment!

Today is officially Joseph's birthday, and here's our big four-year-old opening his first gift of the evening. He'll open the rest after dinner and cake, but hopefully having this new abacus to play with will help stave off the anticipation!

Now it's time for the whole family to sing...

and for Joseph to blow out the candles on his cake!

Two down, two to go!

Whew! All that work paid off and it's finally time...

to eat some cake! We had plenty of goodies leftover from Thanksgiving, so we decided not to make Joseph a new cake of his own. He certainly wasn't complaining, though, because his mouth was too full of cake!

Now it's time to open his family gifts! Here's his super-long train card from Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman...

the new chapter of his "Good Times with Grandma and Grandpa Allison" scrapbook from Grandma Cindy...

and some Richard Scarry books from me and Tim!

After Joseph's party, we're all having fun just sitting around and chatting before bed. My cousin Kim bought this nifty head massager, and Rosalie's face here pretty much sums up how it feels! It's been another fun day here together at the Ranch!

My sister Angie flew in from San Francisco yesterday night and now we're on our way up to 7D Ranch, my grandmother's home out in the country near Lampasas, TX. Angie has a fancy new Nikon 700D and is having fun taking a few shots of Rosalie from the back seat. Rosalie is just happy to have someone to look at along the way!

We're here! Here's the sign over the road coming in...

the cows in the neighboring field...

and Granni's house. That's Rosalie to the right of the door to the garage, tagging along after Uncle Gary!



Joseph got his bike out almost immediately and is having a blast riding it pretty much wherever he pleases!

Kevin was so patient waiting for a turn on the bike, following Joseph around and around. Joseph loved having a friend to play with!

Meanwhile, Collin got to try out Rosalie's bike. He was so focused and determined to master it!

Surprisingly, I didn't catch any shots of Thanksgiving dinner itself. I guess I was too busy eating all that delicious food! Before the day was done, though, Angie took this gorgeous shot of the setting sun. It's been a great Thanksgiving Day here at the Ranch!

Tim has the day off of work today, so we decided to head down to Sea World for the morning. The whole place is decorated for Christmas and looks so fun and festive!





We headed over to say hello to the dolphins first and Rosalie is so excited to see them swimming around and eating fish!

I love how friendly dolphins always look!

Joseph isn't in this picture, because he decided it was more interesting to push the stroller around than stand around watching dolphins...



but now that we've moved on to Happy Harbor, he just can't get enough of these slides!





Frankly, we're all enjoying them quite a bit!

Before heading home, we stopped in to watch the orca show. It's pretty impressive to see an animal that big flip upside-down out of the water like this! With it being a pretty chilly day, we're definitely steering clear of the wet zone, but there are some people down there getting splashed. In any case, our Thanksgiving weekend is already off to a great start!