It's GATE!

It's hard to explain WHY I would drive 2 hours to a "festival" at the camp where I grew up.  I attended the camp or worked there from 1987 - 1993.  I lived there during the summers, coming home once in a while to do laundry or disrupt my mother's life.  I say that, because I always arrived with 200 pounds of dirty horse scented laundry.  So, on Friday when I decided to take the kids to Christmas in the Country at the Triple R Ranch, it didn't seem like a crazy idea.  We've done it before.  In past years they've had a hay maze (inside the barn hayloft), pony rides, a live nativity, hay rides, crafts, hot cider, cookies, chuck wagon meals and other fun stuff.  Too much to name really... I could go on and on.  I was meeting an old friend of mine, just to see each other and show off our kids, at 6:30.  It was a plan... totally doable.  It's exactly a 2 hour drive from door to door without stops.  Key words there- "with out stops".  We left from Art Class at 4:07.  Giving us time to park and get to the meeting place...

At 5:30 when I was sitting still on I-64 and I saw the first ambulance drive past me I got concerned.  By the time the SECOND fire truck, 2nd ambulance, 2nd police car, 1st tow truck, and 1st Vehicle Assistance flashing pick up went by, I was beyond concerned.  I was watching the time click by.  I was still about an hour from the ranch at this point.  SO I thought, depending on how long I sit here I may not make that 6:30 meet time.  So, I called Charity and said, let's make it 6:45 and meet inside by the pony rides (indoor ring).  Yea, about that...  

In the end it took 3:15 hours to make the 2 hour drive.

So, B had her first pony ride, and laughed and giggled the whole time.  I asked her, "Are you OK?" (because it was a small horse, not a pony) and she says, "It's GATE!"  (great), and continues to say, "Gate!" every 10-15 seconds or so between giggles.  What a riot.  Anyway, here are the 3 photos I was able to take of the kids before the camera battery died.