Disclosure: We were invited to come stay at the ranch for the weekend. It was a huge blessing for my family and I am so thankful. As always, my words and opinions are my own.

 

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment. – Jane Austen

Last weekend, we drove down to Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson. This was the perfect first vacation with Mary Alice. Tucson is only 2 1/2 hours from Scottsdale. If  Mary Alice didn’t do well, we were just a short drive from home.

On our summer bucket list, the other kids had put ‘family vacation’. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make this happen since I become a hermit when I have a baby. This was perfect for us.

We arrived Friday evening and enjoyed an amazing dinner in the dining room. The kids tried duck for the first time and it was a hit with all three! Mary was very happy and very loud, but no one seemed to mind. We were given lots of smiles and sweet waves.

On Saturday morning, Brian and the three older kids went horseback riding. They all loved it! Brian is very comfortable around horses, but the kids have only ridden a handfull of times. This was a real treat for them.

Tanque Verde Ranch has an amazing kids program. They have activities based on age group that keeps them busy until 3pm. We gave the kids the option to stay and Riley decided he wanted to stay with his new friends. (Since we’ve been home, he’s drawn a picture for his horse (Mouse) and his teacher (Faith). I’d say he liked it!).

Brian and Nate decided to go fishing, and Julia, Mary Alice, and I decided to just enjoy nature and watch the boys fish.

Let’s pause for a moment. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?

Nate was a natural at fishing. He always has been. He caught a 1 & 1/2 foot catfish within minutes of his first cast.

The peaceful, quiet, perfect scenery was just what we all needed.

When we checked in, we were told that there were amazing smoothies at The Doghouse Saloon. The kids had a banana smoothie the first night and begged to go back the second night to try the mango. They weren’t shy about helping themselves to the all you can eat popcorn. And I wasn’t shy about helping myself to the Trail Mix Bar. My trail mix was about 75% chocolate / 25% granola. That is the correct ratio, right?

In the evening, before dinner, I took the kids swimming. We visited with other guests and learned we were the only Americans at the pool. It was fun to talk with people from France, Belgium, Holland, and Dubai.

I can remember making friends with other kids when I was on vacation when I was young. I had forgotten about that. It was so fun to see the kids look for each other the next day and talk as if they had known each other for ages. It was more fun to listen to all their accents and questions – just deciding who was going to ask for seconds on pancakes.

Brian downloaded a few board games onto his iPad for the weekend. That was brilliant. We didn’t have to keep up with any pieces or worry about spilling drinks on the cards. (We played Pandemic and Carcassonne- some of our favorites).

Sunday morning, Julia and Nate did another horseback ride on their own. They offered to take me up the mountain in a golf cart so that I could meet them for breakfast. Mary Alice, Riley, and I took them up on the offer and I am so glad we did! It was so fun watching Julia and Nate ride in.

It was a beautiful weekend with lots of downtime. Yay for checking one more thing off our summer bucket list!