Yahoo!!!!

This was the response we received when the boys finally discovered what our early Christmas surprise was for them! The Double JJ Ranch was an ideal one hours drive trip so the boys had a minimal amount of time to play 20 questions to find out where we were going. Incidentally, I discovered a great way to torment them (should the mood ever strike of course!) is to tell them that we have a surprise for them but then make them wait at least a week to find out what it is. It was driving them absolutely crazy on the way there, but their excitement when we finally arrived was worth it!

We had a blast at the water park and swam until we could swim no more! Michael, Mike and I all greatly enjoyed riding down the water slides, while Erickson preferred the comfort and warmth of the hot springs area (aka, the hot tub). Both boys seemed to find more enjoyment from blasting me with the water blaster guns than I felt comfortable with, but I am trying not to take it too personally.

After we finished swimming Thursday night we were all famished so we scarfed down dinner at the Spaghetti Western Grill and then paid a visit to the Wooden Nickel Arcade so Michael and Erick (and Daddy) could get their video game fix. Upon returning to our room I crashed immediately while the Boy Family managed to muster up enough energy to watch a little Cartoon Network. The perfect ending to a wonderful day.

On a side note, I learned that I have a long way to go in figuring out the settings on my camera. By the time I took a bunch of mediocre pictures of the kids at the park, I figured out that I needed to change my setting for indoor pictures. However, by that time my subjects were ready to hit the water and were no longer cooperating with my requests to pose for pictures.


All in all, we had a great time and agreed that we need to return at a future time. With horseback riding, an outdoor western town, dog sledding, and a ton of other fun amenities, we barely scratched the surface with our overnight stay!