White Sands and Cloudcroft NM

We took a long weekend vaca and drove south to Alamogordo NM.  Checked into the fabulously thrifty and convenient Holloman AFB lodging, and visited the amazing White Sands National Monument Park.  This is what it looked like, literally white sand everywhere!  Even the road was covered with hardened white sand.  Crazy how it resembled snow...

It felt really hot with no shade and temps into the mid 80's.  Owens face immediately turned bright red even though he was covered in sunscreen, I guess that's what happens when you're so fair.

Climbing up the hills was really hard, but sliding down on snow disc's was so much fun.  

 

Trying to get air when jumping off a mountain of sand is really really hard!

The next day was St Patrick's Day.  Ava woke up to a little note, gold nuggets and green pins to make sure we had a pinch free day!

We packed up and headed to Cloudcroft NM. It's a small western style town nestled in the Lincoln National Forest. 

 The weather was a 180 from White Sands.  We were in coats and runners.  There was snow and we were hiking in the woods.

Ava was a little slow as usual but it was such a fun way to spend the day.  Occasionally the trail was wet and soggy or frozen solid but we made our way around.

Huge thank you goes out to  Stephen J Satava for building a bunch of wooden stairs along the trail.  What a great Eagle Scout Project.

The hike showcased these amazing wooden architectural train bridges.  They were beautiful but deadly.

Because of our slow pace Owen just couldn't keep his eyes open.

Finally we were back and famished...We stopped in at a local BBQ Pit, it was so delicious!

Dave brought his metal detector to searched the town for lost treasure but we found treasures of our own... 

We even saw a leprechaun or two keeping watch over their gold!

Its starting to warm up!

Can you believe it, March and the ice cream truck is making rounds! Were not in Canada anymore, it's warming up!

 Since the weather is starting to turn, I took the kids to the Zoo again only this time we took the CHOO CHOO TRAIN. It was fun but a long 30 min when you have a toddler in a stroller who just wants to get out.

I took pictures of Ava at all the photo traps....

The kids fed the ducks and had a blast in the hot Spring sun!

We bought a kite and tried to fly it.  Spring brings lots of wind here in Albuquerque.

Enjoyed a little creation of mine "Pie Braid" at the park.

Yeah for warmer weather, shorts and t-shirts!

Fun in February

February has been a lot of fun.  We headed out on a weekend adventure to the Jemez Mountains.  Stopped by the creek and ate a picnic lunch.  The mountains are so nice to look at, England has very beautiful sites, churches, beaches, and history but mountains...not so much.

There was snow up there, which was fun to play in.

Valentines Day was exciting for the kids and I.  We traded family valentines in the morning before Ava went to Pre School.

Pretty in red

Owen ate all his chocolates in 1 day,
does that make me a bad mom?

Ava checking out all her school swap valentines

Ava hosted a friends Valentines Tea Party.  The girls all brought something to share and ate tea sandwiches, cupcakes, brownies, fruit and punch.

 Even though it's still cold outside we bought a playhouse!  There were a few frozen fingers after putting it all together but it sure does make our "rock" backyard more fun! In the Spring we will plant a few sqft of grass to play on and bring a little green back into our lives.

We took a hike up 2 old volcano mountains just outside the city.

Dave took the kids to the Botanical Gardens.  Not many flowers or plants growing yet but the extras are fun.  You feel like a tiny bug wondering around the carrot garden.

searching through an ant maze

and walking inside a pumpkin