Few Things ...

...can dishevel a house quicker or more thoroughly than two grandsons descending for a whirlwind weekend visit.  They were only here three days and two nights but the only room that looks good this morning is the room they slept in because ...GOOD BOYS that they are, they made their beds and picked up their room every morning before wandering out to the kitchen for breakfast.  They rode the horses several times, made a serious dent in Yeoldfurt's stash of 22 cartridges, and ate just about everything that wasn't nailed down.  If we are able to arrange for a week long visit in the future, I can see we're going to have to stock up a lot more than we did for this short visit! 

The oldest is a natural with a rifle, nailing almost every target he went after.   He has outgrown the Cricket 22 we bought a couple of years ago and was shooting my singleshot bolt action that I inherited from my dad.  That rifle has been through three generations so far and is now in the hands of the fourth.

The youngest is eager to learn and will be as good as his brother with a little practice.  Both boys are right-handed but left-eye dominant.  The oldest has figured this out and shoots left-handed to give himself a better aim through the sights.  The youngest still insists he has to shoot right-handed which means he throws his head way to the right trying to get his left eye lined up with the sights.  He'll figure it out and when he does, he'll be a crack shot like his brother.  

The youngest is my can't-get-enough-saddle-time-cowboy right now.  Even the triple digit temperatures didn't keep him from wanting to ride at least once every day.   He's fearless regardless of the size of the horse he's on and I can see I'm going to have to watch what I let him see me do on the horses.  We were riding separate horses the first evening and he saw me kick my feet out of the stirrups and jump off when I wanted to get down.  He figured that's the way it's done so off he jumped.  I turned around just in time to see him land on his feet and grin at me.  He's barely three feet tall and the saddle he was sitting was five feet off the ground.  He must have noticed the panicked look on my face and said, 'What?' Silly boy ...I'll have to watch what I do when he's looking. 

The youngest is still lightweight enough for our kid-horse, Katie, to pack around.  I am right there with him for moral support and to get the horse saddled up but Katie is the one teaching the youngun to ride.  She has a bum knee now so we don't let anyone over 50 pounds on her back.  Katie is in hog heaven with a kid on her back.  That horse would positively have her feelings hurt if kids are around she didn't get ridden and, believe me, there's nothing more pitiful than watching a 1000-pound horse pout!  The oldest grandson and our grand niece both learned to ride on Katie and we still have the 9 month old granddaughter coming up through the ranks.  But after all the grandkids are too heavy for her, we may have to borrow some pint-size neighbor kids to keep Katie feeling useful.  

And this is how I found the boys every morning.  Worn out from the activities the day before, resting up for whatever the new day would bring.   Short visit, but good times.