Fox 4 News reports on Kids and Archery at Cinnamon Creek Ranch

With the release of the second Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire, there is sure to be a spark in the number of kids interested in learning about archery.  So Fox 4 News came out to Cinnamon Creek Ranch to do a story on archery and what CCR can offer to kids who want to learn more about this growing sport.

We took some practice shots before the cameras arrived.  Rachel shot a bulls-eye!  She really did great on every shot she took.

Richard Ray and a camera guy showed up from Fox 4 news.  They took some videos of the kids shooting.  Nicholas is there in the olive green shirt.

The kids were excited to meet a local celebrity, Richard Ray.  He was friendly and great with all the kids.

After shooting in the indoor range, we all went outside to show Richard the outdoor 3D animal targets.  The cameraman just happened to be filming as Rachel shot a ram.  Way to go Rachel!

We spent some extra time in the outdoor range before we left.  The weather was great and the kids were enjoying shooting the 3D targets.

Not only did the kids have fun spending their morning with archery and the TV crew, but they even got donuts and hot chocolate when they were done!

The kids had a great time doing this but they were most excited when they watched the clip tonight and actually saw themselves on TV.  Click on the following link to see how it all came together in the final Fox 4 news clip:

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/24057305/lone-star-adventure-cinnamon-creek-archery-ranch

About Cinnamon Creek Ranch:  Cinnamon Creek Ranch is located at 13794 Old Denton Road in Roanoke, TX.  Their hours are 9:00 am - 9:00 pm 7 days a week.  They offer 56 indoor shooting lanes and over 100 3D targets placed among their 80 acre property for the ultimate experience in outdoor shooting.  Best of all, kids 12 and under shoot for free!  For more information, please call them at 817-439-8998.  You can also check them out the Cinnamon Creek Ranch website or follow them on Facebook.

On the way home from Cinnamon Creek, we stopped off at our favorite lunch place in Roanoke - The Blue Hangar Cafe at Northwest Regional Airport at Northwest Regional Airport.  The food is always delicious but we really go for the sights because the kids love to eat outside and watch the planes drive by or even take off and land.

This was Love Love's first visit so Rachel held her up to be sure she could watch the plane take off.

Shoot Your Way Across Texas Tournament

Nicholas participated in his first real archery tournament - Shoot Your Way Across Texas.  He even got a cool new jersey for being a Cinnamon Creek Ranch shooter.

The tournament was a new experience for all of us.   The rounds are timed so you have to shoot all of your arrows in a certain amount of time.  And the process of scoring is different.  The kids actually work as a team to score and oversee the scoring.  It's a whole checks and balances system.

The tournament lasts much longer than what Nicholas is used to shooting so he probably got a little tired towards the end.  But he did great and scored 8th place for his age and type of bow.

Congratulations Nicholas on your first tournament!  We're so proud of you!

The glimmer of gold is in sight

Last night both kids went to the children's archery league at Cinnamon Creek Ranch. Rachel did well at times with several 4's but many times her arrows didn't even hit her target. It's been a few weeks since she has shot her bow and has definitely gotten a little rusty.

However, Nicholas has been doing very well. He has gotten many bronze medals and a couple of silver medals. The way the system works is their scores are added over two sessions. There is a master list that shows the scores required for each medal based on different types of bows. So the kids are only competing against their own best scores and not each other.

Last week, Nicholas had a phenomenal night and was well situated to get a gold medal last night. Unfortunately he scored a 146 and he needed a 150 to get gold. He was a little sad when he realized his total score but he should be quite proud. 146 is his new highest score. His previous highest score was a 137. With a little more practice and another round of competitions, he could definitely be getting a gold medal soon.

But for now he is happy about his new silver medal.

Congratulations Nicholas!

Last night's turn out was rather light. Usually there are twice as many kids up there with medals. But it was probably due to it being a Labor Day holiday.

Archery Date at Cinnamon Creek Ranch!

Our whole family enjoys archery but unfortunately we only seem to spend our time at Cinnamon Creek Ranch for kid's night and an occasional Couples by the Creek event.  Stuart and I very rarely get the shoot our bows on our own.

We recently found a great deal on a Groupon for shooting time at Cinnamon Creek so we jumped on that deal!  We hired a babysitter to watch the kids and Stuart and I had a wonderful morning shooting at 3D animal targets in the woods at Cinnamon Creek.

I love shooting the 3D targets, especially in this area of the property which I believe is called the Creeks II.  The targets are set up among the trees or up a hill and it really feels like you are hunting wild game but without actually killing anything and having to clean it.

We shot the targets from 15-35 yards depending on where they were located.  I missed several targets and wasn't able to find a few of my arrows in the brush but that's all a part of the game.  Stuart did quite well, as always.  Here he had an arrow go all the way through to the other side of the wolf.

The owner of Cinnamon Creek lets his neighbor's cows wander around the property sometimes.  It was a little weird to be out in the middle of the woods and see this black cow quietly watching us from the trees.  Was he about to charge us or was he wondering if we were about to make him our next target?  It was definitely weird to be out there shooting animal targets and then run across a live animal that you can't shoot!

Earlier this morning I bought an arm guard.  If I shoot correctly with my elbow slightly bent then I shouldn't need an arm guard.  However, I always seem to get sloppy on my technique for at least one shot and one shot is all it takes to make my arm black and blue for a week.  But somehow, even with arm guard, that string still got my forearm today!

But a bruise didn't stop me.  I was having a great time hitting the targets.  Take a look at this video below :)

Couples by the Creek at Cinnamon Creek Ranch

Every month, Cinnamon Creek Ranch hosts a special event called Couples by the Creek.  It is an event just for couples so we get either a babysitter or use Adventure Kids to watch the little ones.  Cinnamon Creek organizes archery games for the couples so it is a fun way to meet other archers.  They provide wonderful appetizers for us while we shoot and then an incredible meal and dessert to finish out the night.

I usually don't have problems with this but my bow string snapped my arm pretty badly and I already have a big bruise.  I know from experience that this will get bigger and uglier tomorrow and will probably be there for the next week.  What a romantic date night, right?

Stuart is really good at archery and it was fun to see him competing with some of the other guys as they moved back to the 30 yard line.  

We headed outside to the pavillon for dinner. Cinnamon Creek Ranch owns its own meat processing plant and the owner has restaurant/catering experience so the meals are always great.   It was hard waiting for the meat to be done because the smells were just incredibly good!

Dinner included jambalaya, smoked axis deer, grilled vegetables, and a rich potato salad.  What a wonderful date night!