Tonight we celebrated Gracen’s Poppop’s 60th birthday with a low-key backyard barbecue. The weather was gorgeous, the company was good, the food was delicious, and most importantly… the pool was warm! Oh, and how can I forget – the cake was only slightly gravel-y… If you follow me on instagram (jkossowan), you know what I’m talking about. ☺
Each day that we’ve been here in the Okanagan, Grandma Charlotte has taken Gracen along on one of her daily walks with Bella, her two year old water spaniel. Besides some quality Manmaw-Gracen time, the result has been Grae becoming much more comfortable around Bella, Bella becoming much more calm and trustworthy around Gracen, and this Mama {and Papa} having an hour of our day to do anything we like. (I must admit, living overseas for the first year of Grae’s life and now living 5 hours away from the nearest grandparent has not allowed us many of these opportunities, so at first I didn’t know what to do with myself… But I quickly realized that the time could be very well spent doing little crafty projects for Gracen’s second birthday party, which will be celebrating at the end of August. Yay for getting things done early!)
The other thing that’s come of these walks is the realization that there were several currant bushes bursting with berries down at the farm. So this morning, rather than sending Gracen and GC on their way, we all headed down the narrow dirt road, pails in hand, with the goal of clearing the bushes and using the currants to make something yummy.
Of course, we had to stop part ways to allow Gracen to give Bella a treat. During the past week, she’s become the official doler of puppy goodies and she takes the job very seriously.
We arrived at the bushes to finding them bursting with tiny, dark berries. While Papa whined pretty much the entire time (hi Babe! ☺) and even tried to sit in the grass and just watch us pick, Gracen loved picking berries. She carefully plucked them off of the branches, gave them a sideways glance, and then popped them into her yellow bucket.
Of course, she made some time to sample them as well.
Before we knew it, the bushes were empty and we were on our way home with a bucket full of currants and a plan to make my yummy baked berry oatmeal for breakfast the next day.
When I heard that there was a zebra farm right here in the teeny tiny town of Lumby (the town that is so small that it’s technically a village), I didn’t really believe it. Zebras, like the ones from Africa, right here in LUMBY? Sure enough, my good friend, Google, confirmed the story. Rawhide Ridge Ranch, located just 25 minutes outside of downtown Lumby (towards Mabel Lake), is not only home to four zebras. but it’s home to turkeys, cows, horses, sheep, chickens, coy, and bison too.
Curious to see what zebras living in Lumby looked like, and knowing Gracen’s love of animals, we picked a day and booked a ranch tour.
Today, we arrived to the ranch to meet James, one of the farm’s hosts, a big friendly rottie named Max, and this sweet little calf named Sophie.
Gracen wasted no time and wanted to go over and say hello to Sophie right away.
Our host, James, was wonderful. He was super friendly, truly excited to tell us all about the farm, and very mindful of the fact that we had a {soon-to-be} two year old with us. He even brought out a bottle of milk for Gracen to feed Sophie.
We spent the first part of our tour oohing over Sophie and this one week old foal, named Sky.
After a quick trip to the pond to admire the gorgeous water lilies and lily pads, it was off to the barn to meet a mystery animal named Tom.
Turned out that Tom was a giant, friendly turkey who roams freely around the ranch.
Such a funny looking guy – and with a personality to match.
We hung out in the barn for a while and visited with the other birds, and then it was time to be on our way.
Next stop – the fish! Strangely enough, this was one of Grae’s very favourite parts of tour (most likely because James gave her the job of feeding some of them).
It wasn’t easy, but when we finally convinced Grae to leave the fish, we headed down to the field to find Lucky, a very friendly ram who happily walks on a rope and visits with guests. We petted him, learned about what to do if he ever puts his head down and looks as though he might charge at you, and some of us (not me!) were even brave enough to try playing a butting game with him.
Then it was off to see the farm’s highlight… The zebras.
When we got up to their enclosure, they were all the way at the very back of it near the forest, so James went in, rounded them up, and got them to come towards us. The four of them, including 3 mares (2 of which are currently pregnant) and one stallion, came right up to the fence to let us admire them. They were beautiful and it was really cool to see zebras happily living in this sort of setting, rather than in a zoo. We learned all about zebra behaviours and even got to witness Apollo, the dominate stallion, keeping the herd close together by nipping the rump of one of his female counterparts.
After a visit to the bison herd, that was our tour. We stopped to see the fish again, visited the beautifully rustic guest house that can be rented out much like a bed and breakfast, said goodbye to Tom, and left with a dozen free-range eggs and Grandma Charlotte’s name on the list for an all-natural free-range Christmas turkey.
We had such a good time at Rawhide Ridge Ranch that I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to visit a real, working farm.
♥
UPDATE: Rawhide Ridge Guest Ranch has closed since our visit.
Rawhide Ridge Guest Ranch is located on Siglet Road in Lumby, BC. Contact them at rawhideridge@gmail.com to book a tour. Tours are $10 for adults, $5 for children, free for munchkins 4 and under and can be booked from April 1st to October 31st.
I knew I would (I may have sat in the back of the taxi with silent tears streaming down my face as we drove away from our baby girl’s first ever home and made our way to the smoke-filled airport for the very last time), but I miss it more than I expected to. No, I don’t miss the insanity of the highways, the snail’s pace at which government processes happen there, the nearly impossible task of finding black beans on grocery shelves, or the dust storms that turn the sky orange and coat your apartment in a thick layer of sand.
What I do miss though, is the community we had there. I miss being constantly being surrounded by friends and fellow stay-at-home-mamas. I miss impromptu baby play dates that were as easy as taking an elevator a few floors up or down. I miss walking over to the building next door for take out and homemade wine with friends. I miss our door being knocked on by people just stopping by to say hello.
But then I see photos like these {taken by Bradley while out for a walk with Miss G this morning}… And they remind me of why we’re at home in Canada right now. Because a little girl meandering through a field of flowers surrounded by fresh air and tree-covered mountains just doesn’t happen in Kuwait…
This afternoon we headed into town to visit with Manmaw Sue {and Rorie and my Aunt and Uncle}. We met at our favourite spot – Davison Orchards and Grae didn’t waste any time letting everyone know just what she wanted to do – feed the animals. Luckily, Grandma Sue and Rorie came armed with a pocket full of quarters because I think we fed every single animal on the farm. Twice. Grae was even brave enough to feed a few of the animals on her own.
Putting those quarters to use!
Lulu and Manmaw.
Hungry goat.
Brave girl!
Feeding the sheep.
Sending a cup full of treats up to the top.
Spreading the love to Salsa, the 26 year old donkey.
Snacks and stickers.
The afternoon ended with a sudden thunder storm so violent that it caused Grae to break into tears, which in turn led our very sweet cashier to retrieve a big white chocolate chunk cookie for her, which in turn led me to have to {very awkwardly} explain our choice to not feed Gracen refined sugar or junk food… But that’s another story…
I know I shared a couple of photos taken by Gracen’s Auntie Roz a little while ago, but over the course of this past week, my inbox has received several new surprises and I just can’t help but share. They’re just so beautiful.
Love, love, love them.
If you love Roz’s photography style too, you should head on over and like her Facebook page. She’s amidst a 365 days project where she shares a gorgeous new photo everyday (some of my favourites: this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one). You’ll be happy you visited, trust me.
As I mentioned before, my dad (a.k.a. ‘Gido), rode up to the Okanagan on his motorcycle this weekend to spend some time with us. This morning, we all met up at the Vernon Lodge for brunch before parting ways and heading home. After breakfast, we decided to try and get a shot of all of the kids with their Gido, which never proves to be an easy task. Kinslee did not enjoy our mini photo shoot whatsoever, and Chay wanted nothing to do with having his photo taken, but turned on his charm when bribed with a giant chocolate brownie. Grae just kind of sat there, and Korbin Jack hammed up the camera the entire time. Here’s what we ended up with:
Despite the poor weather forecast, we woke up to a GORGEOUS, sunshiny Canada day. And thank goodness, because what would Canada Day be without picnics, playgrounds, and outdoor concerts? We spent our morning at Davison Orchards (again!) with friends and our afternoon at Polson Park with Gido, Grandma Charlotte, and a visit from “my Vernon kids” (a family I babysat for from the time I was 12 years old until I was 25!), and then finished the day off with a pizza party in Grandma Sue’s backyard. Could we have asked for a better day? I think not.
Gracen and Kinslee, ready to celebrate.
Very happy to be back at Davison Ochards’ Kiddie Corral.
Taking in the view.
Spish splash.
Wheeeee!
Kinslee and Uncle Gary inspecting the duck run.
‘I spy a donkey, Mama.’
Sheep feeding with ‘Auntie’ Hayley and Sloan.
Love.
Munchkins! Gracen, Sloan, Korbin, and Kins.
Although not thrilled about it, Chay joined us for a group shot too.
Two firsts occurred while visiting Gido up at Davison Orchards today – Gracen tried her first ever Appleanche (a delicious slushy drink made of Davison’s own fresh-pressed pure apple juice) and she sat on her first ever motorcycle (Gido’s). So much fun.
The other day, while shopping for craft supplies, Miss G spotted a shelf of mini wooden bird houses and immediately got excited. Having painted her own bird house before, she knew exactly what these unfinished little bird homes meant – getting messy and having fun, painting-style. Knowing that her cousins would be arriving in a few days, we decided to pick up four. Gracen was very serious about selecting four different houses and was just as excited to choose paintbrushes, paint, and bird seed. Upon returning home {to Grandma’s house}, I quietly tucked the bag of goodies away until the cousins arrived and we were in need of an activity.
With an hour or so to spare this morning and a little drizzle falling from the sky, we decided it was a good time to bring out the supplies. We set up shop out on Grandma Sue’s patio and let the kiddos dive in.
Grae was an old pro. She very seriously collected paint on her brush and stroked it onto her house, trying to fill in all of the spaces.
Korbin had a plan. Each side would be a separate colour. And when he had finished that task, he brushed some white over top to “make it look cooler”.
Miss Kins had never painted before, and although she dived in eagerly, she wasn’t thrilled about getting paint on herself. She painted a little bit of the roof, and then called it quits.
Chay didn’t join us immediately, but once he saw what was going on, he was up at the table in no time and was all about painting the inside of his house.
Taa-daaa! The finished products. I’d say the birds will be flocking to these little masterpieces, wouldn’t you?
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not, but my sister-in-law, Roz, is an amazingly talented photographer who has worked very hard throughout the last year to build her business (Roz Edge Photography) and personal photography style. Lucky for us, she snapped a few photos of Gracen over the weekend and was kind enough to send them our way.
Aren’t these beautiful? I absolutely adore the soft, whimsical, almost dreamy feel of her photos.
She’s based out of the Calgary area and does it all – weddings, engagements, maternity, families, kids, newborns, and even boudoir. I highly recommend booking a session with her if you’re nearby. Her prices are ridiculously reasonable, and based on the demand she’s had this year alone, I doubt they’ll stay that way for much longer, so don’t wait.
You can check out her website here and her Facebook page here.