Ree Drummond is getting candid about her marriage — and what date night really looks like.
The Food Network star has been married to husband Ladd Drummond since 1996, and the pair are parents to daughters Alex, 27 — who recently welcomed her first child with husband Mauricio Scott — and Paige, 25, sons Bryce, 21, and Todd, 20, plus they welcomed Jamar, 21, into the family in 2018 after they became his foster parents.
Now, the doting mom is sharing some insight into how they keep the love alive almost 30 years into their marriage, especially during the busy summer season on their Oklahoma ranch.
© The Pioneer WomanIn a new article for The Pioneer Woman website, Ree explained how during the summertime, Ladd works on the ranch from as early as four in the morning until the late afternoon. The Drummond family are one of the largest land-owning families in the United States, and their home sits on a whopping 433,000 acres of land in Pawhuska, which is in Osage County.
And though it's not often they get to get away from the house and go on a date night, when they are free, their preferred way to spend quality time together is simple: going out for a drive.
"At the risk of sounding like an old married couple," Ree warned, before confessing: "We love to take drives together."
© Ree Drummond"There's something about the peace of the pickup," she went on, adding: "That diesel engine is like background music, and we are focused only on each other. No laptops, devices, TV's… it's such a great time to catch up."
As for where they drive — with 433,000 acres at their disposal, the options seem rather endless — she said it's "different every time."
© Instagram"Sometimes we stay on the county roads and check on fences or cattle; other times we'll drive east to Pawhuska or west to Ponca City, stopping to get a convenience store Dr Pepper when we get there. Other times Ladd will drive into this pasture or that, to show me an area of a creek that I may not have seen before, or — again — to check on a cow or a fence," she shared.
She then noted: "Now that we're empty nesters, it's not like we don't have lots of time alone at home already," however emphasized: "There's something about the safety and sanctity of the pickup that sparks the very best conversations."
© InstagramPer a 2017 analysis from The Land Report, as of that year, the Drummond family were the 23rd largest landowner in the US.
The Daily Mail also reported that the Bureau of Land Management has given Drummond Land & Cattle Co up to $23.9 million, as part of contracts awarded to the family to keep wild horses and donkeys on their massive property, as they need the land to "support animal protection," and for upkeep in land clean up.
