Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Kids Got to See Snow :)
We took a little trip to New Mexico over New Year's Weekend. We stopped at White Sands. I could have spent a lot more time there, just soaking up the beauty of it. But my family was impatient to see snow so we just stayed a little while. It was absolutely gorgeous there - and so interesting.
We stayed in a tiny town called Cloudcroft. We played here the first day in the snow, it was very powdery snow and difficult to build with.
The next day, we went tubing. It was so insane. The road was initially blocked to get there because a Helicopter landed there because of a tubing accident. Once we got there and I saw what everyone was doing, I decided it just looked downright stupid and I don't really like to do stupid things. On the other hand, Jon thought it perfectly safe and this made for quite the family turmoil. Freedom is cautious like his mother and Papaw and refused to tube at all. I did tube at the very end and must admit it was quite fun and as long as no one was walking in your tubing path, you probably wouldn't get hurt...but you were counting on not only your own common sense but everyone else's as well. This made for a stressful day.
This is the view near the top of the first of three slopes. It was the least steep slope.
They attached your tube to this pulley and drug you up the slope. You go facing backwards so you can't see where you're going. The guy at the bottom who latches you on just says, "face this way." So the first time I went I just "faced that way" and enjoyed the little pull up the hill - not seeing where I was going. I start to near the top and I hear a stranger yelling "bail out!" and Jon is piping in. Gee, that's nice - better bail out I suppose, they do sound quite serious - so I roll out of the tube...just to find out that's just what you're supposed to do.
On a second pull up, Joy went ahead of me. About 1/4 the way up I hear Joy say (not yelling, but with a bit of frantic in her voice)..."um, mama, mama, mama" Turns out her tube slipped off the pulley and she was just stuck there with me coming at her. :) Of course my tube pushed her up as expected and at the end I "rolled out" ... Kids don't have to "roll out" by the way, b/c the guy at the top is strong enough to just pull their tubes around and out of the way.
Joy and Glory loved the tubing. They didn't want to stop. Joy was a bit cautious at first. She wanted to do it but felt a bit nervous. Glory was just totally gung-ho. I wonder if she has no fear or if she just wants to be tough more than she's scared.
Freedom and I both were completely fearful (well, I just thought it ridiculous to put one's life at risk for such a cheap thrill :) and I'm sure that's how Freed felt too)... :) Jon was livid with us.
Freed and I enjoyed making this little guy :)
And romping around in this knee-deep snow.
We laid down in the knee-deep snow and enjoyed the bright blue sky with a plane flying by.
...and the beauty of a pine tree set against this blue sky.
...and I especially enjoyed the view on my belly of this amazing God-given gift of a handsome boy! :)
Glory and Joy at our favorite restaurant in Cloudcroft. I can't remember the name, some little joint with "pizza" in the name. When I asked the waiter for lids b/c I worried about the kids spilling soda, he cheerfully said, "Oh, we don't have any lids, but don't worry about that, I've got a mop nearby!" Food and service was absolutely fabulous.
Jon and Glory at our favorite restaurant - this was after our day of tubing.
Cute smile!
On the way home, this little hill called our name. We pulled over to the side of the road, squeezed through a barbwire fence and climbed it. You kids were absolutely thrilled.
It was super windy.
Climbing up...
On the way home. :) The drive was great both way - the kids are no longer babies...and such an excursion was pretty easy. We listened to stories on CD on the way up, but on the way home, the CD player broke. So we listened to some goofy Alvin and The Chipmunk toys from McDonald's - - - we never could figure out what one of the toys was supposed to be saying...
Jon drove all the way home.
We stayed in a tiny town called Cloudcroft. We played here the first day in the snow, it was very powdery snow and difficult to build with.
The next day, we went tubing. It was so insane. The road was initially blocked to get there because a Helicopter landed there because of a tubing accident. Once we got there and I saw what everyone was doing, I decided it just looked downright stupid and I don't really like to do stupid things. On the other hand, Jon thought it perfectly safe and this made for quite the family turmoil. Freedom is cautious like his mother and Papaw and refused to tube at all. I did tube at the very end and must admit it was quite fun and as long as no one was walking in your tubing path, you probably wouldn't get hurt...but you were counting on not only your own common sense but everyone else's as well. This made for a stressful day.
This is the view near the top of the first of three slopes. It was the least steep slope.
They attached your tube to this pulley and drug you up the slope. You go facing backwards so you can't see where you're going. The guy at the bottom who latches you on just says, "face this way." So the first time I went I just "faced that way" and enjoyed the little pull up the hill - not seeing where I was going. I start to near the top and I hear a stranger yelling "bail out!" and Jon is piping in. Gee, that's nice - better bail out I suppose, they do sound quite serious - so I roll out of the tube...just to find out that's just what you're supposed to do.
On a second pull up, Joy went ahead of me. About 1/4 the way up I hear Joy say (not yelling, but with a bit of frantic in her voice)..."um, mama, mama, mama" Turns out her tube slipped off the pulley and she was just stuck there with me coming at her. :) Of course my tube pushed her up as expected and at the end I "rolled out" ... Kids don't have to "roll out" by the way, b/c the guy at the top is strong enough to just pull their tubes around and out of the way.
Joy and Glory loved the tubing. They didn't want to stop. Joy was a bit cautious at first. She wanted to do it but felt a bit nervous. Glory was just totally gung-ho. I wonder if she has no fear or if she just wants to be tough more than she's scared.
Freedom and I both were completely fearful (well, I just thought it ridiculous to put one's life at risk for such a cheap thrill :) and I'm sure that's how Freed felt too)... :) Jon was livid with us.
Freed and I enjoyed making this little guy :)
And romping around in this knee-deep snow.
We laid down in the knee-deep snow and enjoyed the bright blue sky with a plane flying by.
...and the beauty of a pine tree set against this blue sky.
...and I especially enjoyed the view on my belly of this amazing God-given gift of a handsome boy! :)
Glory and Joy at our favorite restaurant in Cloudcroft. I can't remember the name, some little joint with "pizza" in the name. When I asked the waiter for lids b/c I worried about the kids spilling soda, he cheerfully said, "Oh, we don't have any lids, but don't worry about that, I've got a mop nearby!" Food and service was absolutely fabulous.
Jon and Glory at our favorite restaurant - this was after our day of tubing.
Cute smile!
On the way home, this little hill called our name. We pulled over to the side of the road, squeezed through a barbwire fence and climbed it. You kids were absolutely thrilled.
It was super windy.
Climbing up...
On the way home. :) The drive was great both way - the kids are no longer babies...and such an excursion was pretty easy. We listened to stories on CD on the way up, but on the way home, the CD player broke. So we listened to some goofy Alvin and The Chipmunk toys from McDonald's - - - we never could figure out what one of the toys was supposed to be saying...
Jon drove all the way home.
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