My niece is a cattleman's daughter. She is a cattleman's granddaughter and great-granddaughter. So you can probably see that coming from a long line of cattlemen, Ellie has a lot to look forward to, especially living in the Imperial Valley during Cattle Call.
Last year, my sister, who is a firm believer in carrying on family traditions and honoring your heritage, brainstormed ways to properly celebrate the Cattle Call week for a two-year-old. She came up with last year's party: Ellie's Cattle Call Shin-Dig. It was a huge success. Toddlers from all over the Valley hitched up into their car seats and made the long journey to the country ranch of Ellie's grandpa and grandma.
This year was no different. Ayron and my sweet bro-in-law, John, planned another fabulous party meant to make the now three-year-olds more tickled about being cowboys and cowgirls for a day than anything else.
The miniature hostess was all smiles while sitting atop my mom's refurbished antique saddle. Can't wait 'til this saddle is strapped to a beautiful palomino horse!
The petting zoo was one of the kids' favorite part. The ducks were so friendly! When Ayron and I had ducks when we were kids, they didn't care for us one bit. The geese were a whole lot worse, though, they nipped us everytime we'd try to get into the pen. Nice!
J.D. loved all of the animals. You can't see it too well in this picture, but he is carrying a currycomb in his right hand. He had gone around to every animal (including the dogs), and had given each animal a single brush with the currycomb. He was very complete; every single animal received one solitary brush from J.D. But at the end of his little mission, he saw this lone goat, reaching up to eat the mesquite branches. He was a little leery, but he slowly made it over there to complete his purpose. Once he'd given the goat his brush with the currycomb, J.D. was officially finished with the petting zoo, so he moved on to the next fun thing (the castle-shaped jumpie) and never looked back!
Gigi was super gentle with the guinea pigs. Perhaps she learned that squeezing tiny, defenseless animals isn't super good for them. For those of you who don't know, we had a few baby rabbits for a short time. I'll just leave it at that.
Cubby, our resident animal lover, got along famously with the donkey and pony. She likes to kneel down and look into the animals' faces. She's got the fever for animals!!
And here's yet another sweet advantage to having a twin sibling. These two will always have a see-saw partner!
J.D. LOVED the sandpile. I have probably fifteen pictures of him in various states of playtime fun in this sandbox. He couldn't get enough of the old trucks and tractors. Such a boy!
Cubby took a ride on the antique saddle. It fits her real nice.....
Ayron had set up the cutest crafts! The stamp-your-own handkerchiefs were adorable! The kids stamped western shapes on their hankies and hung them up on a clothesline to dry. So cool!
J.D. had been wearing a ratty old straw hat that was sadly misshapen. My dad stopped by one of the western hat kiosks in Brawley to purchase his grandson his first read cowboy hat. I barely recognize that handsome little guy! So grown up.
It's fun to dress like Grandpa!
The lunch was delicious, and the twins took no time in waiting to dive right in.
Family picture time! The kids here are in the latter stage of saying, "Yee-haw!"
Here's my family, with my brother-in-law John on the far left, then Ayron, Mom, Dad, me, and Danny on the far right. Cubby is in the front left, then Ellie, J.D. Gigi, and Emma.
I love my handsome, bearded hubby. Sadly, nothing I say is going to stop him from shaving it off in a few days. Insert sad face.
Pure joy. We love you, Ellie. Thank you for the great party....looking forward to next year and another fabulous party!
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