Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Luke the tent-dweller

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The final trip in our June travel series was a one-night campout in the Jemez Mountains. Since they’re just an hour and a half away, many ABQ-dwellers retreat to the cooler forests and streams of the Jemez in the summertime. It was so pretty there that I wouldn’t have minded staying two nights, especially considering all the work it takes to pack for camping, no matter how many nights you stay! But the damper on our fun was the rainstorm that settled in over our campsite around 5 pm and continued on until the early morning. The rest of our small group arrived in that time window and so we had to set up and eat dinner in the rain. Sadly we were banking on NM’s arid climate and failed to bring tarps or our table shelter to give us a dry space to hang out in together. So we all headed to bed in our tents on the early side to get out of the rain. Luke clearly didn’t get the extra sleeping memo though. He woke up around midnight and was so distressed by the sounds of wind and rain outside that he had to sleep in my arms for the rest of the night. Wait, I mean toss and turn and prevent me from sleeping or getting comfortable for the rest of the night! But it was sweet how being scared prompted him to hold me tight all night long, if I pulled my hand away from him, he would reach out to pull it back around himself once again. He usually isn’t so snuggly anymore, normally wiggling away if you hold him tight for more than a moment, so I must admit I enjoyed his sweetness for some of those late-night hours.

The lack of sleep must have made me a little loopier than normal, here you see me doing an impression of the snake that I spied peeking through our front storm door. Yes! I looked over and there was a snake head, peering into our house at me! He was just a garter snake or something similar, but I still didn’t think he needed to be scoping out our living room.

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Here he is on the run, while Erik pursued with the camera…

Santa Barbara 6-2010 038 blogBut let’s close on the rain topic rather than reptiles. Yesterday we had a good rain here in Albuquerque, so I took Luke outside to explore it. Isn’t he cute in his Daddy’s hat, swishing around in the puddles with his stick?

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Luke the surfer baby

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When Erik was asked on a Monday to attend a conference that Thursday in Santa Barbara, we were thrilled to be able to find a reasonably priced ticket so that Luke and I could tag along. The accommodations turned out to be perfect for us – the 2-room suite allowed Erik and me to enjoy pleasant evenings together rather than whispering in the bathroom to keep from waking our sleeping beauty. The grounds were lush and full of sticks and flowers for Luke to enjoy. And our little fish splished and splashed in the hotel pool and the public beach down the street. We have a video from the second time he went in the ocean on the trip, but I wish we had captured the first time we went in with him that trip. He was just overcome with delight and his happy squeals and gleeful giggles were contagious, even just after being knocked down by chilly waves. Santa Barbara 6-2010 001 The weather was refreshingly cool after the ABQ heat wave, and we even got to dress Luke in the adorable sweater his great-grandmother made for him.  Santa Barbara 6-2010 044 blogMore pics and some videos can be found here, and we’ll leave you with a photo of our tired little surfer baby…

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Luke the kayaker

Pagosa Springs 6-2010 118In May we envisioned quiet summer weekends awaiting us for the month of June, a slow start to a mostly low-key summer. However as it turned out, we’ve enjoyed three trips this month, all filled with lovely sights, fun time with friends, and relaxing togetherness for our family of three. First we joined in on a last-minute trip to Pagosa Springs in southern Colorado with some ABQ friends. They daringly asked us to join them for their four-night stay at a 3-bedroom suite after having known us for only a few weeks! We hoped that none of our idiosyncrasies would cause them to regret that invitation, but eagerly agreed to come along anyway. We were glad we did as it proved to be a wonderful time, growing our friendship with this fun couple and their three sweet girls. We also loved the charming town of Pagosa Springs:Pagosa Springs 6-2010 064 blogPagosa Springs 6-2010 089 blog

its woodsy environs: Pagosa Springs 6-2010 168

the rushing rivers:Pagosa Springs 6-2010 152

and unique hot springs: Pagosa Springs 6-2010 096

Erik even got to do a little kayaking with Justin, and Luke loved checking out their gear! Pagosa Springs 6-2010 053psp

I’d intended to write about all three of our trips in this post, but maybe that was a little too ambitious and our pictures are just a little too numerous. So hopefully I’ll be back soon with a post on our trip to Santa Barbara (CA) and our campout in the Jemez Mountains (NM). In the meantime I better go play with my attention-hungry little jet-setter!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Weekend notes

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1. Erik is amazingly talented! Yes, I knew this already, but it’s always fun to have new revelations of his terrific skills. In almost a single day he constructed a gorgeous headboard and wooden bed frame! We’ll post pics of his handiwork soon…

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2. Washing machines are not loyal. Despite the constancy with which I used and loved our old machine, it failed me in my hour of need! Luke had a horrifically messy stomach bug this weekend, and just when I’d loaded a pile of his icky laundry, our machine ceased to spin properly and began to emit strange rattling noises! Thanks to Craig’s List we were able to quickly replace the dated laundry machines that same day. Hopefully the new-to-us machines will last much longer, or at least not abandon me with a sick child and a favorite blanket in the biohazard bin!

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3. Luke is a fish! When we set out his new plastic baby pool the little bath bum immediately stepped in. Despite the chilly hose water, he wasn’t content to just splash with his hands, wade around, and try to turn the hose nozzle back on. To our surprise, right after stepping into the pool he bent down to plunge his face into the water! We couldn’t help laughing when he came up spluttering and surprised. But then he really showed us his brazen agua affinity by plunging his face in again! While I can’t completely understand his desire to be wet and chilled with no towel for face wiping in sight, I must admit that I was proud of his bravery and ardent explorer attitude. So far, a $6 pool seems to be Luke’s idea of paradise and Erik and I can’t help but catch his contagious delight. We all look forward to more ‘poolside’ fun in the future, until then you can check out our video of Luke the fish!