Camping at Heron Lake State Park

We had a blast!

.....Our campsite.....

.....Rhys looooooved swimming in the lake even though the water was cold!.....

.....Alanna would have spent more time swimming, but as I said, it was cold!.....

.....The view from our campsite.....

.....Los Brazos from across the lake.....

.....Blue skies, great tent, perfect spot.....

.....ahhhhh.....

Santa Fe Southern Railroad

We were so fortunate to have Grandma, Grandpa, Kylah, and Aunt Ginnie here over Memorial Day Weekend. We finally rode the train, which was so exciting!

 

....This pretty much sums up Rhys's experience....

....and this pretty much sums up Alanna's. After she fell asleep and took a nap, she was in a better mood....

....If only we were all this flexible! Rhys is looking at the rails go by through the slats in the open flatcar. In front and in back of the flatcar was a coach car, each of which was manned by a host who told stories and facts, served alcohol, and sang songs....

....Daddy kept Alanna cozy while she napped....

....The smoke from the steam engine. The coach cars were actually from the 1890s, and so we couldn't go very fast because they might have fallen apart en route....

....We had an absolutely gorgeous day. This is pretty much what all of the area around Santa Fe looks like. This is looking northwest on our return trip at the Sangre de Cristos mountains....

 .....Just in case you were wondering....

....Whoo Hoooo!!....

Weekend in Pagosa Springs

We spent a couple of days in Pagosa Springs, CO and had a wonderful time. It was wintry and our cabin was toasty. We walked around town and ate ice cream cones, just because Daddy and Rhys are suckers for ice cream, no matter the weather. We also went for a spectacular cross-countyski using a new-used sled we picked up from my Uncle Paul (thank you!!) after having breakfast with him. The snow was thick and fluffy, and it continued to snow gently on us as we skiied. We were the only ones on the trail, too. It was absolutely lovely.

Our skiing odyssey:

 

.....Rhys evidently thinks the sled is as much fun as we do..... 

  

.....Daddy hauls Rhys behind him (Rhys giggled while 

dragging his mittened hand through the snow)..... 

 

.....The wintry trail ahead of us.....

 

.....Rhys was pretty cozy in the sled as he napped.....

.....My self-portrait of Alanna and me.....

.....Scoping the scene– we had two asleep kids so we 

wanted to go farther than originally planned. 

We decided to summit the (small) hill in front of Aaron.....

.....Alanna and I gear up. Alanna snored pretty loudly the whole time.....

.....Descending the (small) summit.....

Bath Together

 

One of both of the kids' favorite things right now is taking a bath together. Yesterday afternoon I asked Rhys if he wanted to take a bath with Alanna, and before you could say, "Splash in the Bath!" Rhys was naked and in the tub, turning on the water. Alanna immediately crawled into the bathroom after him to pull up on the tub.  If she were taller, she would have climbed in with him, clothes and all– her little legs were trying to get purchase on the tub side so she could climb up to get in the tub. They splash and laugh and have a great time! In fact, at Rhys told me he and Alanna were going to take another bath "at nighttime," shortly after getting out of this afternoon bath.

November Images

...Alanna splashing in the bath...


...sticking out her tongue...

...and eating blueberries...

...Rhys helping Mommy make peroshkis (stuffed dough pockets)...

...and being silly...

...and generally having fun...

Happy Halloween!

Rhys the Builder waves hello!

Alanna the Purple Mummy isn't so sure about Halloween. Actually, we didn't do anything exciting. Alanna is dressed warmly because we hung out with neighbors in their driveway with Jack-o-Lanterns, a fire in the fire pit, and Halloween luminarias. Rhys didn't want to wear his Bob the Builder costume, so he wore his Batman jammies instead. Oh well!

October Monday

9 o'clock a.m.: We woke to the first snowfall of the year! Rhys immediately wanted to go play and build a snowman.

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3 o'clock: As it is the week of Halloween, we carved some pumpkins. Rhys wanted to do a scary face, a happy face, and a sad face. So, we have three great Jack-o-lanterns in the front yard. Rhys wasn't sure how much he liked sticking his hands inside a cold slimy pumpkin, but he got over it and enjoyed himself in the end!

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6:30 p.m.: In the spirit of the season, Alanna had her first taste of winter squash. She seemed to like butternut squash puree pretty well!

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8 o'clock: And finally, a scary Jack-o-lantern all lit up!

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Sitting Pretty

Alanna continues to amaze me. She can sit on her own (at 4 1/2 months!), though she needs some protection when she wobbles. She occasionally arches her back, which causes her to flop on her back (or the boppy, which is a softer alternative than the floor), and she'll lean too far to the side to get back upright on her own, particularly if she's reaching for something just beyond her grasp. I sat her up (with close supervision) in the bath tonight and she had a blast splashing her hands in the water. I think she likes the new perspective and ways to play with toys. She can still only roll over from her back to her front, and not back onto her back, so she gets very frustrated when she's stuck on her tummy. Sitting gives some nice variety to her play time, I think.

"Rusty's not a Big Boy yet."

This morning, as Rhys was getting ready for preschool, he and I had the following serious/hilarious conversation:

Note: Rusty is our 100 lb. chocolate lab

Rhys (in a serious tone): Rusty don't go in the potty, Mommy.

Me (with an amused smile on my face): Nope, Rusty doesn't go peepee in the potty. He goes peepee outside in the weeds.

Rhys (just as seriously as before): Rusty's not a Big Boy yet.

Me: Ha ha ha ha ha!

I love being a mommy!

"Dere My Is!"

We made a tent by draping a blanket over one of Alanna's play mats. That way, Rhys can pretend to camp, which is loads of fun. Also, he's saying the funniest thing: When I ask, "Where are you?" he responds with "Dere my is!" (instead of "Here I am!"). And that's when this picture was snapped this morning...

Scenes from Camp

We had a lovely weekend! We finally managed to go camping, and we had a blast. In fact, we're all fired up to go camping again as soon as possible, but due to other social duties, we won't be able to until the end of the month. We had such a good time!

We stayed at Jack's Creek campground north of Pecos. The Pecos Widerness is all around, which is a beautiful mountain area of the Sangre de Cristos. We stayed close to camp on Friday, and on Saturday after packing up, we went fishing/hiking in along the Pecos river. We went with some good friends of ours, so we had even more fun than if we'd gone by ourselves!

Alanna puts on a silly face as we unpack everything around her.

Rusty waits patiently as we unload (he was such a good camp dog!)

Rhys and Daddy get the tent ready.

Krista cooks dinner: flank steak, calabacitas, and corn on the cob. Yum!

Alanna sleeps in on Saturday.

The guys take the dog for a morning walk.

Ryan and Emma back from the walk.

Alanna decides she likes camping after all.

Rhys finally stops moving long enough for me to take a picture.

Krista and Emma hiking by the stream

Rhys wasn't so sure what camping was (he went 3 times the summer he turned one but not since then), but took to it like... well, like a boy in the woods. As we were loading up to head for home, he got upset and told me, "No! Camping in the mountains! No going home!" (He was a very tired little guy.)

We'll definitely go again soon.