Ponderosa Ranch

We enjoyed a much needed 5 day excursion to the Ponderosa Ranch in Lotus, CA near Coloma. What a beautiful place rich in gold mining history.

A view of the South Fork on the American River. We could hear the rushing of the river from our campsite. To fall asleep at night listening to the water rushing over the rocks was so calming.
We spent our days riding bikes,

walks by and on the river,

lots of swimming at the pool (my dad and Lupe joined us for the weekend),

and waiting for the Ice Cream truck at 2:30 each afternoon.

When we left the campground there was plenty of historical spots to enjoy. The kids loved checking out all the old mining equipment.

I loved the old churches we stumbled upon when exploring the small community of Coloma. This was the St. John's Catholic Church that dated back to 1856.

Also the Emmanuel Chapel. Can't you imagine being married here on a sunny spring afternoon. I sure can.

We came across a funky little yard sale where the kids fell in love with this little blue eyed pony. Yes, he was for sale too. We couldn't fit him in the trailer.

Evenings around the campfire and on Saturday night my grandparents joined us for my birthday and they made my favorite home made peach ice cream. It's out of this world!

The kids and Shamrock loved hanging out down by the river. Feeding and chasing the duck, mining for gold and watching the rafters go by.

Shamrock was really able to cool off as the temperatures were into the 100's.

Even Meeko took time to cool off his paws.

Max was showing the kids how to find gold. He had the hat, just needed the pan. Max is great about getting down and dirty with the kids. I just loved watching. The water was just a wee bit to cold for this mamas tootsies.

The kids and dogs didn't seem to mind and Max said once he was in it long enough his feet and legs were numb, so it was all right. Luke found a cool stick that looked like a fishing pole. He found himself a rock and had fun pretending (we forgot the fishing poles at home...oops!) Did you notice how pretty the pictures are, that's because my sweet lil' hubby got the hint. I got the new Nikon Coolpix S80 for my birthday. It takes pictures in high definition up to 14 mp's. It's so cool, I love it! Thank you honey for my making my birthday weekend extra special and to all my family and friends for their kind wishes and thoughtful gifts. It was a great weekend.