Farmhouse view from the pond
What an emotional weekend. I know, I know, odd for that word to even leave my mouth (or I guess fingers in this case??). Not that I am bawling on the keyboard or anything, but I must say, my heart is a bit heavy over our goodbyes.
We went up to Sonora this past weekend to say goodbye to Sara, Jake, Julia, and Ellie. They're moving to Missouri, and although it's only for a "5 year plan", it was sad to see them go. We know we won't be able to see much of them in the next few years, and knowing where we started from, raising our babies together, it's a bit sad.
Bobbi, Sara, and I with our #2's
So leaving Sierra Glen Apple Ranch. This is where it gets emotional for me. Sara was raised on the ranch, and since we were the best of friends, so was I. It was our playground. We played dolls hour after hour, played hide-and-seek in the huge walk-in fridge, snuck apple turnovers, cookies, and pies out of the bake shop, and of course, performed many of our own written plays in the farmhouse living room!
Reenacting a pose from 1985! Figures I was in the front being the boss. Sigh.
We had the whole gang there (minus a few who couldn't make it). We camped out on the yard, in the house, and in the cottage. There were plenty of activities down in the meadow including wiffle ball, baseball, croquet, corn hole, a bounce house, and the boys' favorite, bobbing for ice. :-)
We cooked, walked, talked, reminisced, held our babies, fed our babies, and watched the kids run around how nature intended life to be... it was to use Bobbi's word yet again, blissful.
Leaving was quite sad for Jason and I. Although Jay is relatively new to the ranch circuit, he developed quite an attachment to it and of course, to Jake and Sara as well.
Some of Sierra Glen's traditions over the years:
-Easter Sundays at the ranch--lots of picts in the archives of us girls in our Easter frocks!
-New Years parties--all the adults inside, all the kids outside on the deck and trampoline.
-Sara's birthday parties--I remember one was even in the little cottage.
-Weekend stays-because the ranch was a good 30 mins from our house, I would often stay two nights there as a kid.
-Hay rides.
-High School Sadie Hawkins.
-Girls night at the cabin... started in high school, turned into a tradition to have our bachelorette evenings there, celebrating all of our weddings each time. (The cabin is a house above the ranch that looks over the entire property and mountains surrounding)
-Weddings
-Our kids' birthdays--some of our kids' bday parties were there as well.
Funny moment: Us girls were going for a nice shot of jumping off the picnic bench.... well, it broke as we were jumping. Jason was able to get us mid-fall!
Sheesh, we're getting old.