Inola Teen Celebrates Sweet 16 Visiting Popular Ranch

With the pandemic keeping some people from having birthday parties, a Green Country mom surprised her daughter for her Sweet 16 last week by taking her to an Oklahoma ranch that has more than a half-million followers online.

Living in Inola, Lexi Pyeatt does not have to go far to see cattle and wide-open spaces. She didn't grow up on a ranch, though.

"No, sadly,” she said.

But the Simply Country Ranch is bringing farm life to her, through her phone.

"She just shows all the animals and the names of them and how she like, takes care of them and stuff like that,” Lexi said, talking about the ranch’s TikTok account.

Lexi’s mother, Tina, knows all about her daughter's enthusiasm for the ranch and that Lexi wanted to pet one of the unique Scottish Highland cows.

"They're just so cute,” Lexi said. “They're fluffy.”

So, after asking the ranch, Tina decided to surprise her daughter with a day off school and a nearly 100-mile drive to make it happen. Not only did Lexi get to pet a cow, but the ranch owners also showed her around for a couple of hours, introducing her to all sorts of animals.

"The donkeys are crazy. They just loved everyone,” she said. “Rupert came running over. And Rupert is just the sassiest thing,” Lexi said of the sheep, which makes regular appearances in the ranch's social media posts.

The ranch has alpacas and chickens, too.

"All the animals were on their very best behavior,” Lauren Denny said.

Lauren and her husband Ben just moved to Oklahoma from Idaho last summer, to work on the land that has been in Lauren’s family for seven decades. With more than 500,000 followers, Lauren's TikTok account has grown into a sensation.

"It's really exciting to see how much joy the animals bring,” Lauren said.

The ranch sent Lexi home with a few presents to remember the special day, including framed pictures of her time with the cattle.

"It was real fun. I loved it,” she said.

It turned out to be "simply" a sweet sixteen. Simply Country Ranch has plans to open a petting zoo and farmer's market later this year so more people can come out and enjoy the ranch.