Joy Ranch

We attended our first family reunion on my mom's side of the family over the weekend at Joy Ranch in South Dakota.  

The family reunion was for my great grandmother's descendants.  She had 5 daughters who had dozens of their own kids- leading to around 5 dozen of my first cousins; some of whom I had never met.  Needless to say, we had a ranch filled with people somehow related to me.  It was so cool.  We started the evening with a round of games down "Main Street" to co-mingle the families.

After dinner, we headed to the lake to check things out as my mom's cousin Tom (the only cousin of her's that I knew) was unloading a trailer full of kayaks.  There was lightning in the distance, but the water was too inviting to save it for the next day.

 This church was moved to the property.  

 Skipping rocks and chasing toads. I don't think we have toads in the Rockies.

Our room was the "Little House of the Prairie" room.  The beds were comfortable and the accents were darling.  The attention to detail in the whole property was quite impressive.  We were only the second group to stay at this brand new ranch.

The dining room:

 Horseback rides for the kids:

 Kayaks, paddle-boats, canoes & pontoon at the lake:

 An old school house was also relocated to the property and was furnished with desks, maps and other accessories:

 Main Street during dinner (the only time it was empty):

 Evening horse-drawn hay rides on the property:

 Gathering the youngest generation:

 Fishing at sunset:

It's no wonder Joy Ranch is booked through the fall of 2014.  It was the perfect venue for a family reunion and many long lasting memories were made during this trip...

 Including a stop at Mount Rushmore on our way home.