Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

We made the trek out to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree for the season.

We always look forward to this day of the year!  We enjoy spending time with our friends, trekking through the fields to find the "perfect" tree.

We had quite the crew of teens, who also had an opinion about the tree.  It took us a little bit longer to find the "perfect" tree.

We finally found a tree, maybe not perfect (thanks to the drought this year), but the tree that we would gather around this holiday season!

We enjoyed hot cider and coffee after we brought our tree back to the barn.

We came home to eat pizza and decorate the tree.  It proved to be a job to get it straight in the stand and to stay upright, but eventually we got it to stay standing and mostly straight.

Merry Christmas Season!

Blake

Blake organized an opportunity for his small group of friends from church to go pass out Bibles and necessities to people in a neighboring town who live on the streets and don't have much.  They prayed with the people and gave them the bag of goods.

Blake and his friends play hard when they aren't working or spending time at church!

Here We Go

It's officially time to kickoff the Christmas season!

We are all smiles about it!

Happy Thanksgiving

Kingsville - Last Day

This morning we packed up camp and headed home.

Even though the weather wasn't the best, we still had a fabulous trip and enjoyed seeing more of our beautiful country!

There was a lot of traffic on our way home, so it was a long, slow trip!

We finally made it home safe and sound, but too late to pick Baxter up.

We were able to go get him first thing the next morning, and then were all reunited at home!

King Ranch- Day 3

We started the morning at the King Ranch Museum.  We learned a lot about the history of the King Family, Ranch, the multiple vehicles they used over the years, along with the history of The King Ranch Quarter Horses.

We ate a quick lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant and then it was time for our tour.

The journey began at the historic Santa Gertrudis Creek where Captain King first camped in 1852.

We saw King Ranch Quarter Horses, Santa Gertrudis breed of cattle, the resident Longhorn herd and an abundance of wildlife on King Ranch. We also saw South Texas brush clearing equipment, conceived and developed on King Ranch to clear mesquite and huisache from the pastures, as well as the Calera Pens and Camphouse, where at roundup time the cattle are vaccinated, branded and tagged.

Throughout our trip, the guide explained the history and the modern day workings of the ranch. We got the chance to see the Auction Arena, the horse cemetery, and the Colony—the home of the Kineños or King’s men. We passed historic buildings that included Mrs. King’s carriage house, the Commissary with its lookout tower, and the grand home built in 1912 by Captain King’s widow, Henrietta.

Along with the cattle and horses, we also some some big bucks and javelina roaming around the ranch.

The tour taught us so much about the Ranch and was the highlight of our trip!

We ate dinner at Kingsville Pizza Parlor on our way back to camp.  This is a popular pizza place, so there was a wait, but so worth it!

Kingsville- Day 2

Today was another dreary day.  We slept in and then took it slow getting ready for the day.  It's nice to truly relax on our trips.  The kids went to play at the clubhouse for a little bit after breakfast.

At lunchtime, we went into town to eat and explore.  We ate at Ol' Girls Kitchen. It was cozy and served delicious home cooking. 

Ol’ Girls Kitchen is a family owned and operated restaurant in the heart of Historic Downtown Kingsville. Everything is made from scratch on a daily basis and all the recipes date back 4 generations!

Downtown Kingsville.

Such a cute, quaint little town!

After lunch, we went to the King Ranch Saddle Shop.  King Ranch Saddle Shop features authentic goods inspired by the original Texas Ranch.  We had fun looking at all of the merchandise and seeing where they make/repair custom saddles.

After we drove around and explored a bit, we went to Harrel Drug Co for dessert.

 This over 100 year old pharmacy in the center of Kingsville is a local treasure, and aside from getting your prescriptions, there's delicious food with prices that will put you back in time!

We went back to the camper for the rest of the evening.  We had precooked dinner before we left home, so we heated it up and ate in the camper. The kids played at the clubhouse, while we relaxed and read in the camper.

Tomorrow we have a fun day planned, and the weather is forecasted to be a little warmer and dryer!

Kingsville- Day 1

Blake requested a trip to King Ranch, so we booked it a year ago and it was finally time to go!

As with any trip this time of year, we always make sure we have a clubhouse at the campground or indoor options to explore in the town we are camping in.  The weather for this trip was no exception, it was chilly and rainy!

We stayed at Nature's Own RV Resort in Kingsville, TX.  It was a clean little campground with plenty of amenities for our short stay.

We got set up and then went to play at the clubhouse.  It was rainy and chilly outside, so we were happy to have an indoor option.

There was a hot cocoa and coffee bar in the main area that we enjoyed!  We watched a movie and played games before we went back to the camper to shower and go to bed.

Couples Poker Night

Weekly poker night, plus girlfriends!