Christmas in July

Keith moves every few weeks to a new area of the ranch to work with new foremen. Each of these areas are numbered units and there are 13 of them. He's been on his new unit for over a week now. It's been a change from the others, I'm seeing bit more of him which has been nice! The new foreman he's working with suggested that we visit Fort Christmas while we were here. I've been to a fair share of historical sites in my lifetime and generally found them to be pretty interesting and informative. This one sounded kind of fun too. I mean it has Christmas in it's name, how could it not be. Without knowing anything about Fort Christmas we drove north to find it. We pulled into Christmas, FL and were welcomed with Jolly 'ol St. Nick and his year-round Christmas tree right away.

Nothing screams Christmas like 90 degree, sunny Florida in July!

We got to the fort we found a map and wandered around. In simplest terms this fort was named Fort Christmas because construction began on December 25th. It was during the Second Seminole Indian War but was only used for storage-not a bullet was shot. It wasn't the most historical of sites we've ever visited... but we had fun none-the-less. 

Within the park there are also seven pioneer homes that they've restored. We walked through a few of them which was fun as well. Then we headed to the gift shop and got ourselves some root beer candy and the game pick up sticks. They had a big map out front that people put pins on where they were from. No one had marked anywhere near Inkom/Pocatello so Keith proudly left his mark!

After we left we headed to the closest theater and used some movie tickets we got for Christmas (Thank you Grandpa McNabb and Mindy!) and saw Ice Age 3. We had a good laugh and it was fun to get out. We enjoyed our Christmas weekend in July!!

4th of July part 2

Lucky for us the rain stopped just in time for the sun to dry everything out a little. The ranch had a Fourth of July celebration planned on the rodeo grounds with food, horse races, and a firework show. We headed over a little early and helped set up. They served hamburgers and hotdogs and they were delish. How could hamburgers not be good on a cattle ranch? There were free treats galore- snowcones, ice cream, and popcorn just to name a few. After, they had the horse races. We had heard a little about them but because Keith doesn't have a trailer and his own horse he wasn't going to participate. Once we got there though, one of the guys he works with talked him into doing a few of the games and races with him.

The Egg Toss

Keith's on the right in the white hat

 He did the egg toss with our neighbor Keenan who is also doing the cattle internship. They didn't last long. The little kids had the right idea, throwing it and not being able to catch it so it landed in the soft dirt.

The Grocery Race

This is a three-man race on a bareback horse. They start standing and once they say go all three people have to get on the horse, ride it to the other end where there is a barrel with groceries on it. A watermelon, an egg, and a cup of water. Once there, they have to get off, get the groceries, and all get back on to race to the other end.

The dream team: Keith (back) Kennan (middle) and Samuel (front)

Here is Keith, watermelon in hand, boosting Samuel with his shoulder. "Push me on!"

 You can see they made it to the groceries before the other two teams, no problem.

 I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as when I saw Keith mount this horse John Wayne style. He claims he's never done it before but it was too perfect for a first time.

Of course they won and each got a hat and shirt out of the deal.

The Sweetheart Race

Sadly I didn't get many good pictures of the next race they participated in. It started getting dark so the lighting was bad. This is a two-man race. One of the two runs the length of the arena to the barrel where he climbs on top and puts on a dress and ties a bonnet to their head. Once dressed the other person on the horse has to go pick up their sweetheart! Keith was the sweetheart and the first boy man enough to put on the dress. Wise move because he smoked the girls to the barrel! Seeing the male-advantage other men were willing to play the sweetheart in other heats.

They won this round too, getting me a hat and a shirt! He makes a good sweetheart if I do say so myself. 

We ended the night with a firework show. We had a ton of fun and some seriously good laughs. It wasn't our traditional 4th of July but this one we'll never forget.

4th of July part 1

We love the 4th of July! Growing up my family always went up to Idaho Falls to celebrate with my grandma because it's her birthday. She used to tell us when she was little she felt so lucky to get fireworks just for her! Keith's family always has a large presence in the Inkom candy parade making it a fun celebration! After we met we convinced our families to celebrate together. Keith and I even got to be in the parade together last year! So when we realized we would be in Florida for the 4th this year we were a little upset to say the least! We didn't have too high of hopes because Keith had to work. He left about 5 and around 10:30 I got a text asking if I wanted a surprise. I knew what it was right away! I was so excited!

To celebrate his workless day we decided to head to the beach! We went to Melbourne beach which is the closest one.

We played in the water for awhile. After, I relaxed and read Keith fell asleep...

Next time his hand won't be on his belly and maybe we'll remember to put on more sunscreen. For now, aloe is his friend.

We spent a few hours there before we were ready to head out. Our timing was impeccable. On the drive home the sky started to look a little gloomy. 

 And by the time we got home it was POURING. We were a little worried the firework show that evening would be rained out!

To be continued.

Busch Gardens

I have a little bit of catch up to do. We've been busy having fun! This past weekend we went to Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay. It was little over a two hour drive there so we woke up early and headed out. I'm not sure we'd get anywhere without our GPS.

Much like Sea World there was a lot to do and see only a whole lot more land to cover. There were some crazy roller coasters--some that go from 0-60 mph and one with a 90 degree drop. They put the Sea World roller coasters to shame! We saw a few shows, beautiful gardens, and a lot of animals!

Sunbathing at its finest!

As we walked around I spied a funnel cake stop. I couldn't help myself! I may have felt sick after but it was so worth it.

We came home exhausted but it was fun!