Anna, Daniel, and Max

Yesterday we took the kiddos to the neighborhood park. Daniel didn't mind at all. He even sucked on his paci, which he usually spits right out. Anna seems interested in Daniel, but we definitely have to watch her closely. She sometimes pats him a little too hard. But isn't this a sweet pic?
We are hoping Daniel isn't afraid of lions, since we make him pose with them alot! This is what happens when I leave Anna with JuJu! :OAfter bathtime last night, this is what Anna found on the bed. Anna and Max seem mostly scared of each other, but they both laid here peacefully for quite some time.

Odds and Ends and finally Baby Daniel!!

This was taken in Petroglyph National Monument... Anna's sour face was because she was upset about the graffiti that was mixed into the ancient petrogylphs!We couldn't go through Roswell without stopping at the UFO center! I think here Anna is ready to join forces with the alien and do battle!

Holding the alien's hand. Anna sometimes seems scared of plush animals, but no problem holding hands with a big alien!
We all enjoyed visiting Carlsbad Caverns! Anna took a nice nap on part of the walk down and was ready to look at all the cool stuff!

Couldn't miss this photo op! Junior Ranger with a paci!
After Carlsbad, we stopped at Guadalupe National Park, but Anna didn't last long here. She was DONE!
We drove through the night two nights ago and made it to Houston about 3am (luckily we had told them to leave the door open)! The next morning I finally got to see my sweet nephew, Daniel! He loves his Aunt Sarah!
Anna loves Baby Daniel and is ready for him to be able to play!!

More Mesa Verde

Don't worry... this was soon after Anna's face plant in the dirt, and she was just fine and ate her picnic lunch :)

Here we are at Spruce Tree House...

And for a little perspective, Cliff Palace that you saw in the previous blog, is tucked into this alcove in the greater cliff face. Can you see it?

This is at Sun Temple and there is a similar pic of me on my previous trip that I will have to dig up. Unfortunately, you can no longer climb on the part where I'm sitting... but this smaller part was next to the one where we climbed before... I'm not sure we were supposed to get on this one, either... but it wasn't roped off and I needed the comparison picture :D Good thing Anna's DNA isn't on file anywhere, or CSI - Mesa Verde would have us!

Mesa Verde!!!

Our internet is still crazy, but it works in the lobby, so I'm trying to get in a blog or two! Here is Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde. It's the largest cliff dwelling there...

We took the tour down to it... and only had to climb one ladder. :) It was as cool as I remembered from when I was in about 3rd grade!

Here's Anna with another cliff dwelling that we could only take pictures of from above.

And here is poor little Anna after she did a face plant in the dirt of this roped off area. We were in a little area with fenced off pit houses that looked pretty baby-proofed, but there was this one small dirt area in the middle that she headed for as soon as her mommy and daddy were distracted. She tripped on that little curb-like part and must have opened her mouth as she fell over into it. I got to her just after that and picked her up and brushed her off and tried to get the dirt out of her mouth. We went to the car and used some wipes for the rest of the dirt in her mouth. For the rest of the day I kept trying to get all the dirt out of her tear duct area. :) Oh and as we passed back by this site later, Mark was worried that CSI - Mesa Verde was there checking the crime scene to find out who had crossed into the roped off area!

Mesa Verde (!) and Weeping at Hovenweep

Today we went to Mesa Verde National Park, which was one of my favorite vacation spots when I was little. It was very cool, as I remembered!!

Then we had time (or so we thought) to make it to another spot that was recommended - Hovenweep Nat'l Monument... and I didn't really weep, I just felt a little like it on the trip out because it took a lot longer that we expected and was a crazy, windy road... which isn't fun in the backseat when you are crammed in next to the carseat. :) Luckily Anna slept the whole way! It was a pretty cool spot when we made it, though!

I know you are all on pins and needles, but our internet is a bit sketchy tonight, so pics will have to wait for later!

Aztec Ruins National Monument

After Anna had a nice nap in the car, we arrived at Aztec Ruins National Monument. She charmed the Ranger as we came in and received this Junior Ranger badge. She was so excited.

These were the ruins of a pretty extensive city.

I guess most of the natives were a bit shorter than Mark.

These ruins were right next to the visitor center, so Anna just rode some on my 'sho-shos'. I think she had fun wandering around!

Pecos National Monument

This morning we headed out first to Pecos National Monument. It was a fairly short walk, so we decided to try Anna in the front carrier. She didn't mind it, but did want to get down and walk a bit :)

Anna says 'I'm free!!!'

A Bit More Bandelier

Anna definitely had the easiest hike through Bandelier!

At the far end of the park, was the Alcove House you could get to via a 140' ascent using some narrow stairways and about 4 ladders. Mark and Anna stayed at the bottom while I climbed up :) Can you see me in this picture?

This was the view from the top.

Mark is a tad afraid of heights and I was glad he didn't come up... I'm not afraid of heights, but it was a teeny bit scary coming down the ladders! It was fun, though!

More Taos and Beginning of Bandelier

For some reason, I can only get Mark's Picasa to upload 4 pics per post, so sorry! :) Here's a couple more from Taos Pueblo yesterday.

Mark tried some chili and I tried the fry bread. Anna had a little fry bread and some baby food. :D

Here we are headed on our hike in Bandelier National Monument. Anna mostly enjoyed riding in this carrier.

Yes, Grandmas... I did carry Anna in my arm and climb this ladder. heehee!

The High Road to Taos and Taos Pueblo

This morning we took the scenic route to Taos and stopped here along the way... it wasn't opened, yet, but we took Anna's picture by this pretty mosaic.

Snow!

This is the church in Taos Pueblo. There is a similar picture of me and my brother when my family went here many moons ago. I will scan and upload it for your reference when we get home.

More to come later!

Santa Fe for the Day

Yesterday we made it to Santa Fe and stopped for lunch at a burger place... Anna wasn't too sure about playing in this snow!

This was a statue at the State Capitol.

This is the oldest church that is still in use in the US...

And here is the famous staircase at the Loretto Chapel. It is famous in my family because my Daddy built a Beanie Baby display/cake stand based on its design. :)