Five Finds Friday (Lost Valley Ranch Version)

We’re home. So many car hours under out belt.

I rented a Suburban for this trip (because I didn’t trust my own to make the many thousand mile haul) and therefore I was Solo Driver despite having three teens who have the ability to shoulder the load. (Maybe next year I’ll risk our old Yukon just for the back up drivers.)

Anyway, we’re back from the ranch and I’m going to try to share a Lost Valley version of the Five Finds Friday.

I’ve thought of that idea for two whole seconds and here I am typing as I think and we’ll all see how it plays out.

funny

Laughing is my favorite.

So I’ll try to reign in all the extra photos I could place here.

One – Otto carries this giant fish pillow and a tortilla blanket on every trip.

Each day the cabin girls (think magical humans who tidy up your mess and make your bed whilst you ride horses in the Colorado sun) would do fun things with the fish (whose name is Leroy Brown, if you’re curious) and the tortilla blanket. Otto loved whatever they’d concoct for his daily amusement.

Two – this is pretty much the face Otto made whenever I’d come near him with a camera.

And three – at the ranch the kids discovered that if you take a panoramic shot of a human face, bizarre things happen.

Somehow, my phone was The Chosen One and now I have (literally) 42 photos of oddly morphed human faces on my phone.

Turns out the subtle ones are the most unsettling of all.

flavorful

There is no food I have ever consumed at the ranch that is anything less than delicious. Three meals a day – on time – served sweetly and graciously to you. It’s a miracle. At breakfast they ask about lunch and dinner plans. Ranch cookies are endlessly available and the desserts are top notch.

Friday morning (if you choose) you can hop on your (pre-saddled) horse and take a chilly morning trot up to an actual mountain and sit on a giant rock and lo and behold – a talented cook will hand you bacon and eggs and hash browns and pancakes and a hot drink and your only job is to eat it while soaking in the view with your buddies. (I know, I know – it’s a rough life.)

I don’t know if I took any photos of the actual food this year.

Here’s the view I had while enjoying my pancakes and orange juice though.

And here’s my ranch friend Kevin looking all the way like a legit cowboy. (Which he is. He’s also an astronaut. True story. More importantly than that – he and his wife are just really kind and smart and generous and funny people.)

fashionable

I already wear cowboy boots year round and feel fine with that choice. (I think they look cute with skirts and dresses.) Fun fact – every girl in my house currently wears the exact same size cowboy boot and no one except me wears them outside of the ranch. Therefore, I purchase boots that I like because that’s only logical.

I just need to figure out how to incorporate other western wear in my day to day. Thanks to my Patron Saint of Cute Western Shirts, Betsy, I’m starting a collection.

This year I (finally) convinced Mosely to try on a few and they look perfect on her!

Can I wear western shirts on just your average Wednesday?

(That’s the breakfast view and my friend Cathy – Kevin’s wife – a rockstar in her own right. She can do at least forty push ups a day!)

faithful

Oh goodness.

This one can just write itself. The mere fact that for the past six years I have traveled a couple thousand miles with my children to bask in the glow of the Colorado sunrises and sunsets, the ranch staff and the warm vibes of friendship is only by the absolute and unnecessary kindness of God.

The end.

feels

Every parent loves when their kids are able to shine.

Every parent is filled to the brim when their kid is happy and thriving, laughing and stepping into the comfort of their own skin.

It’s slow and it’s long and it comes in fits and starts for a real long time. (Maybe for a lifetime, if we’re honest.)

The way the staff at Lost Valley treat my children – the way they look at them, eye level and sincere – and SEE them, it really matters.

It’s better than the food and it’s better than the tidy rooms. (Although I adore those too.)

It lasts and it is impossible to fake. And I would drive a million miles to make it happen.

Oh – and one other thing fits this category.

I was snapping a photo of Otto’s funny fish one evening when I noticed this on Bergen’s bedside table – his Bible, that he packed on his own. And read nightly.

And I was reminded of that verse about not letting anyone look down on you because you are young, but to set an example.

Which is what Bergen did for me. And what the staff does for my kids and is why even typing this post tonight I am reminded of why the sum of this beautiful week at the ranch is a whole lot more than long lopes though the meadow and fast rides on Low Ridge and savory dinners in good company.

I can’t believe we’re this fortunate.

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