Your Eye on Rich: April 2008

We've been back a week and a half, and I've finally found time to upload my pictures and update the blog. Recovery from a vacation is rough! It didn't help that a broken down airplane caused us to spend 8 hours at the Phoenix airport on our return home (I could draw a map of Terminals A & B from memory now, every restuarant, every bathroom..). I finally got the kids in bed around 1am Monday morning....ugh!

But what a great week we had! We had a great time reconnecting with family, introducing Bennet to all his relatives, exploring some incredible areas, and enjoying the warm weather that was in such contrast to the rainy 40F climate we left behind us. It was decided before we left that we will be returning again soon! So a big THANK YOU to all the Albuquerque family that took such good care of us while we were there!!!

Our first day in the sun, we hardly knew what to do with ourselves! We hiked around a park adjacent to the Rio Grande, and then followed some trails through the trees out to the river itself.

The next day we ventured a couple hours outside of the city to explore ancient cliff dwellings at a site called Bandelier National Monument. The drive out was via scenic backroads that took us through towns like Jemez Pueblo. Luckily Aunt Teresa was navigating! The windy roads led to another discovery: Elise isn't the only one of the kids who suffers from car sickness! About 5 miles from the monument, and just as the road finally straightened out, Bennet was car sick. The poor guy threw up on his favorite Gecko shirt.

These cliff dwellings were amazing, here you can see caves, the remnants of buildings, and even etchings in spots along the cliffs.

Taking a break... Bennet's wearing a Bandelier t-shirt that I bought him in the gift store, as I hadn't thought to pack a change of clothes!

Helping Aunt Teresa make pancakes the next morning (Bet you didn't know you'd be on the internet in your nightgown, did you??)

Later that day I took the kids up to the top of the Sandia Mountains on the Tram. It was a fun ride up, and offered panoramic views of the city and surrounding countryside. We were a little over 10,000 ft elevation at the top, and it was only about 32F, so we didn't spend as much time hiking up there as I had planned. We did tramp through the snow and the girls were really excited to find fossils of small sea creatures in the rocks up there. It was an interesting conversation to explain how sea creatures could be found at the top of a mountain..

Clara being tour guide and reading the signs to us.

The highlight of the trip really was the time with our family. It had been too many years, but despite that time apart it was like we'd been around them for years. This was after dinner at Aunt Mona & Uncle Dave's house. Ben really bonded with Uncle Joe that day (I think it was when he taught Ben how to kill ants) and you can see here how comfortable he was!

Elise snuggling with "Nana" on the couch.

So there's the recap of our trip. So much anticipation leading up to it, and the week flew by. And now we're all back at it, but with some great memories.

I took this picture at Clara's soccer game just this last Sunday. She's playing spring soccer now, the season just started a week ago. I love the intensity captured in this picture as all the girls are charging towards the ball. Clara played amazing defense, and had some good plays moving the ball down the field. Her team won 2 - 1. (though we don't keep score..)