The Children's Museum...

...is one of the coolest places EVER!!! The weather was stormy outside...so we decided to play inside. Here is a picture of the clouds coming in:

Here are Meredith and Devin making sand dunes by taking wind and moving it in different directions:

Here are some more pictures of the kids having fun:


Here is a map of the Rio Grande River. It runs right through Albuquerque.
Aiden hung out in the stroller and enjoyed watching all the people...


But he got tuckered out and fell asleep...

Meredith defied gravity and went for a ride on a bicycle in the air...



This is so cool...this is the elevator! Please forgive the blur...

We had fun with colors...in the following pictures are shadows of the stroller and Meredith:


Devin was having great fun playing with shapes and patterns on the computer:
There was so much to do, and so much to see...we had so much fun. I think this might be a regular place for us to play!

Our Trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon

Finally! I finally have a moment...

So, last Thursday Stephen, Aiden and I went to Flagstaff, AZ to get Meredith and Devin from my parents. It was so nice to see the kids, and I didn't want to let them go! I swear they grew a couple of inches while they were away.

We had dinner at a great restaurant/ brewery called Beaver Street Brewery and Whistle Stop Cafe: http://www.beaverstreetbrewery.com/ . If you are in the Flagstaff area, I highly recommend it!

The next morning we got up early, said goodbye to my parents and went off to the Grand Canyon. Here is what we saw first:



The other side of the canyon is five to eight miles across, and the depth is about a mile down. It is incredible!

Aiden got hungry, so he, Devin and I raced back to the car so I could feed him. Stephen and Meredith took their time. Here is a picture of Meredith with the canyon behind her. She said standing so close made her nervous. I think I might have been nervous too...

Here is a fun little picture of Devin's beautiful eyes (sorry, just a little biased, right?!):

Here are a couple more pictures of the Canyon:

You can see the Colorado River in this picture. It was taken through glass at the Yavapai Overlook.

After a couple of hours it was time to head home. We had a great time, though, and next time we visit (we are about six hours away) I want to go hiking.

For lunch we went back to Flagstaff and ate at the Beaver Street Brewery again...yum! But when we got there, Meredith was asleep and we had to wake her up.



The drive was pretty uneventful until we hit New Mexico and the afternoon showers were starting. We went through one that produced thunder, lightning, and a lot of hail.

We finally got into Albuquerque after nine p.m. It was very nice to be home and have the family complete again.

The Zoo!

Wow, was it hot today! However, I decided Aiden and I needed to go to the zoo. I am glad we did. It wasn't too crowded, just right, and some of the animals were active earlier on the in the day.

Aiden decided he was hungry right away, so before we started looking at the animals he needed to eat his carrots:


The guerrillas were active this morning chasing each other around. But the Orangutans were quiet and sitting in the shade. I wonder if we were watching this one, or if he was watching us...they aren't the best pictures, but his facial expression was great and he loved the camera. He looked right at me when I put the camera to my face:

Here, Aiden wants to give you a hug...
There are two baby giraffes at the zoo...they are trying to keep cool:
Aiden got tired and decided it was time to nap:

I think the mountain lion had the same idea:

But the African Lions were really relaxed:


The polar bears were trying to keep cool:


By the time we left it was very hot and Aiden was ready to go...I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our zoo trip!

Sunday Evening...

...and all is quiet. Aiden is sleeping...shhh....

Meredith and Devin are at my parents. Just a few more days and we go get them in Arizona. Here is a picture of them from the 4th when they were still in Oregon...


I think they were having a good time.

We are going to try and go to the Grand Canyon for a few hours on Friday. I am really looking forward to that.

Just a short blog today. I wanted to go to the All Star stuff today, but I don't like going to those places by myself. I would have had Aiden, but still...

Here's to a good week!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!!!

A Trip to the Museum

Today was a warm one, so Aiden and I decided it was a good day to go to the Natural History Museum. We had a good time.




This is what greeted us near the entrance:

A Tyrannosaurus Rex found here in New Mexico. I think I am going to have to go fossil hunting. Who knows what I might find!

There were a lot of dinosaurs, including a Seismosaurus:



They believe this is one was approximately 118 feet long and estimated to be 800 years old when it died!! It was found here in New Mexico.

When you enter the museum, you head upstairs on an elevator that "takes you back in time" and you start from the "Big Bang" and go through the different periods, and eras of the Earth, from its formation, to the Iron Catastrophe, to Dinosaurs, the Ice Ages and modern times.

Too cool...I can't wait to take Meredith and Devin.