Of Killer Cows and Sisters

So I am back from the family vacation we took to Oklahoma. The ranch was a lot of fun, and it held many memories from my childhood. We used to go there every year, but we haven't for the past three. Perspective certainly changes things.

Anywho, I said I would try to get pictures, and I did.
Read as: My camera is awful so I got my mother to take the pictures for me.

It's about a five hour drive all together, and needless to say with seven girls in the car we got a little bored. I was in the back of the van with Adrienne and Reagan, and we ended up taking odd videos with my iPod, and Reagan stole Adrienne's wallet and Adrienne pretended to be mad whilst I shouted "Fight, fight, fight!"
... I am not proud of my actions that day.
But there was no fighting. We were just playing around.

It wasn't a totally uneventful drive though. Half way there a forgotten, unopened, can of Coke decided one more bump in the rode was one too many. It flew like Superman out from under the seats and bounced around and spewed all over the ceiling. Then it rolled to the front and fizzed on Madison. We were all shocked and Madison screamed and people shouted and I probably licked the bit that got on me off my arm, and then Adrienne and I just couldn't stop laughing about it.

We got there Sunday afternoon, and we were all excited to find out they had a pool open. Which they apparently have always had open, our smart mum just never told us about it because we used to go in the fall time and she knew we'd want to swim even though it would be September... I see what she did there.

Madison, Adrienne, Katherine and I settled in to our nice, small cabin that was unfortunately not the train car, because the train car was struck by lightning.
Adrienne and I decided to share the largest bed, and Katherine and Madison got the other two available ones. I got the side of the bed by the door, because, as I told Adrienne, "I have to do my duty as a big sister, so if anyone comes in the door to murder us I can fend them off and you'll be safe."
I am so kind.

Madison decided to stay in the cabin, but the rest of us girls just dropped our luggage off and rode in the van to the other cabin, where our parents and the rest of my siblings were staying. I wanted to see the old place again, because that's where I always stayed when I was a young WAAAARTHOOOOG- No wait, not Lion King. Okay.

At some point later, I decided to trek back the half mile across the ranch to my cabin. I am used to trekking half miles to get places, because we live out in the country and have to trek that far to check the mail.

This part of the story needs some back story. 

When I was about nine or ten I was walking back from somewhere on this very ranch, and a herd of grazing cows happened to be in between me and the cabin. I panicked and freaked out because there were some Longhorns, and I ran screaming into the wilderness while my siblings laughed at me. True story.
This past week as we pulled up to the cabin I joked with my mom about that time. Little did I know that the joking would be my demise. .. Now for the story... Dun dun dun.

I was taking the mentioned trek when I heard an odd rumbling. AND TO MY UTTER HORROR I LOOKED UP TO SEE A HERD OF COWS CRESTING THE HILL! HEADED FOR ME! IN A STAMPEDE! (looking back it was a sort of slow stampede...) So I turned and ran for the trees, faster than I've ever run. Possible impalement is a big motivational factor. And then I decided the trees wouldn't be safe enough so I ran all the way back to the other cabin and screamed something undignified like, "DAD THE COWS ARE STILL TRYING TO KILL ME!" Because I am certain they are still out for my blood after all these years.
My brother laughed really loudly at me, and my mom started to too until she saw all the cows and then I was like "HAHA! YOU CAN'T DENY IT! THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL ME!" And she probably rolled her eyes because I was flustered after running from killer cows.
I shall from this day and evermore eat hamburgers with vengeance in my heart.

Later that day we went to the pool. Adrienne and I had fun together.

Yes, yes, I'm the weird looking one throwing her arm enthusiastically into the air. 

 I was passionate about life that day, apparently. 

While we were there lovely lil' Peyton had her birthday. It was the 20th, and she IS FOUR YEARS OLD NOW AND WHERE DID TIME GO MY YOUNGEST LITTLE SISTER IS NOT A BABY ANYMORE! Ahem....

  See that evil smirk in the top right picture? I do too. She is so plotting something.

We had ice cream sundaes instead of cake, and she was happy about it.
Yes, we lit a fire on top of ice cream.

We went horseback riding later in the week. It was a lot of fun. :D
 

 This is me on a horse. No way. I kinda forgot the horse's name. Ehehehe.

This right here is like my favorite picture evah!

 

This is Adrienne and me. The first is about 2007 or '08, and the second was this past week.

Same bridge. 

It seems our sisterly relationship has only strengthened.
Through the years of hair braiding and hair pulling and laughing and getting in slapping fights and throwing dirty clothes on the other's side so they would have to clean it, Adrienne remains my best friend. 

And I was kinda tickled at how there's still about the same height difference between us. :P

And here are four of my five little sisters. 

Yes, Peyton has an Elsa dress. She got it for her birthday and is very proud of it. 

And here are the oldest and youngest kiddos in our family, Madison and Peyton. 

(Still in the Elsa dress)

I probably had one too many s'mores whilst on this vacation, but I regret nothing. And I also learned how to roast marsh-mellows to perfection.

On the last day the horses came to bid us farewell. 

I was not awake to witness this. I slept in... That morning and every other morning. Mwehehehe.

Our drive back yesterday was uneventful, but when we got into our town we stopped to get snow cones, and I got my very first one of the summer. A very momentous occasion.

Thanks for reading, minions. Have a blessed weekend. :)

Train Cars and Peyton's Escapades

It's been a good couple of days this week. Or more than a couple since it's Thursday.
I finished my second co-op, thus finishing with my school for the summer. All. Except. Math. And I have long since decided Algebra is a crime against humanity. Kill it with fire.
So basically I'm done with all school except the ever awful math. Which I have to do through the summer. Argh.

We're going on vacation to Oklahoma this Sunday, and spending the week at a Dude Ranch, or as Emelyn likes to call it, "A Dewda Wanch."
Which shall have fishing and horseback riding and dewy mornings with sunsets not hampered by nearby civilization.
We used to go every year in September, but then life kinda got in the way and things happened and we stopped for about two years. BUT NO LONGER! We shall be going back there, and our family has grown so large we will be renting two cabins. Heh. Large family probs.
Actually the 'cabin' us older kids are staying in is a train car, furnished and fit for spending a week in. Like, with beds and a bathroom and everything. I am incredibly excited, because we've never stayed in that one before.
We're gonna be our own version of the Boxcar Children.
FACING THE HARSH WILDERNESS ALONE, CAMERON AND HER SIBLINGS SPEND TIME IN AN ABANDONED TRAIN CAR, FIGHTING FOR THEIR VERY LIVES.
I'm sure it will something like that. XD
I shall try to take many pictures for you, my five readers. Fret not, you shall see how I fare in a train car.
I'M SO EXCITED!

Edit: So kinda right after I posted this my mother told me the train car got struck by lightning and we are no longer going to be staying in it... Wow. Of all the things... XD
But we are still going, just stayin' in a different cabin. We shall no longer be the Boxcar Children. Now we'll be... The Cabin-y Children...
Nah, it just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Speaking of pictures, Peyton decided it was time she became more of a man and grew a beard.

 

 Here we see her, being tough and manly with her drawn on facial hair.

Fear her! 

And here she faces down nature, climbing a tree with her own brute strength. 

I must go do chores and my dreaded math now. Fair well, minions. :)

In Which I am my Little Sister's Trusty Steed

Hai. Again. Long time no post. Forgive me, my probably-somewhere-around-five readers. But I'm back again. Not that I went anywhere. I was just not posting. Because I didn't feel like it. But I do now. At eleven at night... I'm a weirdo. Good, let's get that established now or nothing will make sense.
I think this counts as talking to myself...
Not even the first time.

Okies, so I'm not sure what all has happened since I last posted because my life is the lovely kind of crazy that requires me to forget a lot of stuff because so much happens. I should keep a journal. Oh wait, that's kind of what this is.
Oh wait, I have a journal too.

Well, I went to Six Flags, which was incredibly fun. Homeschool day happened to be (once again) on a rainy day. Like, the only rainy day in May. But forgive and forget and all that. I guess I won't go about sueing the park manager.
Totally kidding I'm a nice person I promise I wouldn't do that don't hate me I really love people and I won't sue you.
Now that the longest sentence ever is out of the way, let's proceed.
Anyway, that meant we had to wait around or about an hour before it was safe to open any rides, but my brother's friend was there and we hung out with him and his mom. Yes, I hang out with my big brother's friend's mom. Don't look at me like that.
My mom took the three younger kids to the for-younger-people rides, and I went with my brother, Adrienne, and Katherine to go ride big fun rides that I positively love.
Here, have a picture.

 

 I am the tallest blond gal. (oh wait we're all blond)  No just kidding I'm the three year old who looks really pouty.

Haha nope, that, my dear readers (all five of you), is Peyton. She is sweet half the time and the rest of the time she's a tiny blond dictator with a pink bunny who doesn't like Cameron. 

I kid you not.

Anyway, we left kinda early because the largest rain storm of the century decided to rain on us. We all got nice a wet and Peyton was miserable and cried but I still love her. Also, I was her personal steed all the way out to the car. Y'know, I'm my three year old sister's slave big sister stuff.

But we did get to ride large rides with incredibly short lines. Homeschoolers at six flags with lots of rain and angry looking clouds equal short lines. Huh, who woulda guessed.

And then yesterday I had a piano recital. Apparently I'm like the lowest level player in my teacher's class, because everyone else was playing Mozart and stuff and I was kinda just plucking on the keys.

Juuust kidding, but really, they were all so much better than me. One kid played Radioactive, and I died, and then he played the Sherlock themes and I died some more. My sister asked me if I was gonna marry him. It was apparently no secret I loved the music. 

Another girl played Colors of the Wind and I think I died for the third time and there was emergency CPR preformed on my dead, fangirled-to-death, body.

I'm kidding by the way. No CPR. Which is sad. It might have spiced up the recital. Always one for excitement. Maybe next time I should choke on the paper they hand out and give everybody something to remember.

Actually, with my clumsiness I could probably choke on the paper without trying. Stay tuned and read all my blog posts and comment and everything and maybe it will happen.

Maybe. 

Maybe. 

Wait, am I trying to bribe y'all into bribing me to choke on paper?

I think I need my bed.

Good night fair minions.