hi I'm Mike, Erin is in San Diego for a few days and that leaves me three kids
along with the whole ranch to manage pretty much all on my own
today I get a chance to bring you along for the day and with today being a
school day it's up to me and Lincoln to take care of chores and some odds and
ends as the boys take over on the project list on our Wyoming life
welcome back to our whamming life each video we get a chance to bring you
inside a working wyoming ranch but more importantly we get to give you a chance
to see the family behind it please subscribe and continue with us as we
explore the ranch life and escape the ordinary one thing that is undeniable
here is that boys are a little bit in the minority we have well starting from
the top Aaron's mom the matriarch of the ranch Aaron of course along with
Mackenzie and grace our daughters and we have Lexie our dog to house cats and 150
pregnant and expecting moms out here if you think about it
ranching is a business that's built around the girls in our lives and aside
from a few bowls Lincoln and I can kind of be the outsiders you know we're good
for heavy lifting or getting really dirty but it's a job that I welcome
wholeheartedly because without the girls what we wouldn't have a job today Aaron
is in San Diego and while the girls are at school it's mine Lincoln's day to
shine today we're a team but first we have to get everybody up and out of the
house it's a school day and without mom here it's time to get everybody ready to
go and that starts with the worst part of any day and that's getting out of bed
let's get up and get ready for school okay
crazy crazy after breakfast then it's the bane of any dad's existence and
that's doing hair I don't have any of my own anymore to practice on but a good
old-fashioned ponytail always does the trick the girls do have some morning
chores of their own to take care of and that's feeding Lexi her breakfast while
backpacks are prepared and soon enough it's out the door to meet the bus and
get the girls on their way for their day
then it's time for Linc and I to go to work
at least until you hear those words you always hear after getting a
three-year-old dressed and ready to go dad I need to go to the bathroom
and then we get to try again
first on our list this morning is getting the cows fed it's cold outside
and during feeding Lincoln will stay inside the nice heated tractor although
he's always interested in what the cows are doing and how the process works
and pick it up with the front end of the tractor
you watch
we're all done
once we're done it's back to the shop where we can get a bag of food for the
pigs and head over to feed them but not before we Lincoln get some love from one
of our barn cats
the pigs are loud Lincoln doesn't like it much but afterwards we head back out
to the pasture where we can turn on water for the cows then go out and
perform a close-up inspection of our herd it's something I'd like to do every
day and as we get closer to calving you never know what can happen and this part
of the process starts to get the cows used to the Gator and us being around
them once again hopefully making them a bit more trusting
when calving starts after checking the cows it's back to dad duty once again
McKenzie has a dentist appointment we have to go and get her from school and
take her to get her mouth appliance checked she has a very narrow mouth and
not enough room for her teeth to come in so she has a metal bracket installed
into the roof of her mouth that we get to turn a gear on every few days that
gear moves the appliance wider and wider so that she has room for teeth to come
in are you excited to go to
nothing happens fast at a pediatric dentist office but after a long wait
McKenzie finally gets in for her five-minute checkup and all looks good
although we still another month of widening to go before she's done are you
excited to go back to school you guys doing it school today
our operations weathering and erosion cool it's back to
school to drop off McKenzie before Lincoln and I can get back to work our
next stop is the feed store where we're gonna get some Bullock barrels for the
cows
while we're getting loaded Lincoln and I can take a look around and have a few
peanuts but it's not long before we're back on the road and back to the ranch
at the ranch we can drop off the barrels for these cows each barrel weighs about
250 pounds and Lincoln likes to watch as we get them out for the cows each barrel
is full of vitamins and nutrients that the cows need to ensure a healthy
pregnancy and calves to come with the lick barrels out we can head back into
the house for a break where it seems that Lincoln has hit the limit for his
day but the day is far from over by mid-afternoon it's time to go and get
the girls from school although Lincoln continues his little snooze hi Mackenzie
hey I'm back yeah so how was your day at school can you tell me something that
happened today that made you smile
paddling beanbags that was fun cool I was like able to catch it when I like
throw it up in the hand and I catch it with the paddle or throw it up with the
paddle or catch it with your hands Gracie did you do anything fun at school
today whose birthday was it Rodin's birthday
did you have cake were they yummy what kind of cupcake did
you have what flavor were they cool all right you guys ready to go home okay
I have to admit although my mother-in-law chooses not to be on
camera she's still one of the things that holds this entire operation
together and having her close by is a godsend although I am still the
son-in-law and I drop off three kids in trade for three bags of trash to take to
the dumpster a little break for me gives me time to go and check some things out
we can check on the pigs and put away the chickens for the day I also get time
to take a little stroll through the Corral's
it also gives us a chance to wrap up our day together it's not over for us here
on the ranch we still have ice skating practice
tonight and dinner to prepare Aaron's gonna be back soon and I guess some
housecleaning is probably in order before she gets here
but it's days like these that really make you appreciate what you have I'm
not really sure how Aaron finds the time every day to get done what she has to do
over the past few days I've had to put off projects for the bigger picture the
kids and I we all we wouldn't have it any other way it's it's these moments
with the kids boy or girl that make me remember what's
really important it's the time we spend together and the memories that we make
every single day and I'm very glad that I could bring you along ranching is the
cows it's the land the fences and the machinery but it's also so much more
it's the family that's behind it that makes it all worth it to me today I'm
gonna say something a little weird but I'm going to ask you to put off one
project on your list and find something in your life or someone that is more
important make that relationship your project and get it done thanks for
coming along today we really look forward to bring you along with more
from this season of the ranch those mama cows out there are all very tired of
being pregnant and soon calves will start hitting the ground and I'm looking
forward to taking you deeper into calving this year than we've ever gone
before just be warned and we're gonna lose some sleep
it's livestream week join us Thursday for ranch talk live at 7:00 p.m.
mountain time right here on YouTube as we take you behind the scenes and we
welcome Aaron back thankfully until then have a great week and thanks for joining
us in our Wyoming life you