Pecos

To celebrate the last day off until Thanksgiving (the kids and I both have some days off before then, but Labor Day is the last joint holiday until we eat turkey), we decided to join some friends from the ward in a trip to the Pecos National Historical Park in northern New Mexico. It's place we've been meaning to visit for some time, and the group outing made it ideal.

We arrived around 9:00 and spent some time in the visitors center. The exhibits chronicle the history of the area, from the pueblo that flourished there to the contact with Spanish Conquistadors and later Anglo intrusion via the Santa Fe Trail. At the time of Coronado's expedition into what is now New Mexico, Pecos was the largest and most influential pueblo in the area, serving as a trading center for the Rio Grande pueblos and the Apaches and Kiowa of the plains to the east.

The start of the trail

Seven of the Twelve Children

Next, we began the hike through the ruins of both the pueblo (more on the excavated and reconstructed kivas later) and the mission church built by the Fransicans. Our party included four familes, with 8 adults and 12 kids (at dinner we did some math with the kids asnd figured that these 12 children included 10 boys and just 2 girls).

Three of the hikers
Mission Church Ruins
Detail of the Mission Ruins
Boys Among the Ruins

The company proceeded along the 1.25 mile path, entering two reconstructed kivas, pausing at an overlook of the Glorietta Mesa, and meandering through the mission ruins. Having a multi-family group made for a lot of mingling, as Allyson adopted the other girl in the group as her little sister for the day, Ryan and Isaac floated among their friends, and the adults got to chat as we hiked.

Evan and Summer in the Kiva
Ryan Ascending From the Kiva
Isaac Leaving the Kiva
Lookout Point

Isaac, Spencer, and Ryan

After returning to the visitors center and eating lunch, we decided to drive north past the village of Pecos (a quaint place that serves as the gateway to lots of great wilderness area adventures and rental cabins) and along the Pecos River to the Holy Ghost campground area.

At the End of the First Hike

There we set off on another hike, this one a trail that eventually makes its way toward Santa Fe Baldy (a nearly-13,000 foot peak) and a series of mountain lakes, which would make for a great backpacking trip someday (perhaps when the 10 boys we had in tow are old enough to carry their own gear).

The trail ranged from 2 feet to 6 inches in width, switchbacking a few times up the hill. The kids did a great job of scrambling over logs and uphill. After a mile or two, we came to an intersection with another, downhill-trending but even more narrow path. We followed this down to the creek and the road leading back to the parking area.

Along the way we passed by some beautiful campsites that require future visits. We also made our way to the creek, where the kids (and the more daring adults) slipped barefoot into the icy waters. It was then time to head back home, reflecting on a summer of fun, the impending autumn (the leaves up the Pecos canyon will be brilliant in a few weeks), and more such trips in the future.

What a Summer It's Been

With the older kids starting school this week, and Isaac beginning kindergarten Monday, we are ready to call summer over and reflect on all we've done. Here--in list form--is a review of this season:

1. Allyson's summer program at Albuquerque Academy began a week after school ended and ran through early July. Around this time, we switched the bedrooms around, moving the three older kids into the master bedroom and giving Evan his own room.
   
2. Isaac had a two-week swimming lesson program at the beginning of July. Allyson then had a four-day Girl Scout day camp.
3. Summer and the kids left the following week for Utah. Allyson stayed with her Grandma Turner for nearly two weeks, while Summer came home after nine days in Utah. While the rest of the family was gone, I painted the bathroom.
4. Summer and the boys came home at the end of July. A week later, Mom brought Allyson home after visiting five National Parks in four days.
5. That weekend, Dad, Nathan, Michelle, and Summer's parents all came to town for Ryan's baptism, easily the most important thing we did all summer.
6. The day after the baptism, Summer and I left the kids with her parents and flew to Denver for four days.
7. We came home on Thursday and left for Utah on Friday. After staying in Eagle Mountain for the night, we made our way to Bear Lake, where we played for three days.
8. On Tuesday we came home, driving 13 hours, to sleep in our own beds (for Summer and me, this was the first time in nine days that we had slept in our bed).

Couple's Getaway

We're back from our trip to Denver, and we had a wonderful time. Here's the rundown. We got in Sunday evening, and, after settling in at our hotel (The Curtis, located downtown, about two blocks from the 16th Street Mall--good place, but really only if you get the kind of deal we scored), we headed to get a bite. While we waited for our food, a torrential downpour had us wondering if we should have packed an umbrella, but by the time we were done, so was the rain, so we strolled home quite comfortably.

Monday we slept in and then began our walking tour of downtown. Our first stop was the bakery across the street (we stayed right across from the Performing Arts Center, but, alas, there was nothing worth watching while we were in town), followed by the ballpark. I had seen online $4 tickets for Tuesday's game, and our goal was to pick hose up and get the lay of the land. We strolled through Larimer Square, Writer Square, and LoDo on our way to the stadium, where we did indeed pick up the intended tickets.

We then headed back to the 16th Street Mall before making our way back to the hotel. So far we had logged about 3 miles on foot that day, and a nap was in order. Our next stop was the movie theater downtown, where we watched the new Harry Potter movie and ate too much popcorn for people our age. This was followed by some more strolling (really the theme for this vacation) and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Tuesday was our busy day. After eating at the Paradise Cafe, we walked down to the Denver Art Museum. We spent about an hour and a half there before stopping by the city library (it's like a pilgrimage for us nerds) and eating lunch nearby (Mad Greens=good freshmade salads). We then went back to the museum for another hour or so before making our way back for another nap.

The big event of the day was the baseball game. We had our tickets, and, after getting through the gate, coupons for $1 hot dogs, so we spent grand total of $10 on seats and dogs. Our seats were in the upper deck in right field, a good view of the action (except for long flies to right, where we lost our line of sight), but a lot of sun early on. We strolled around the park for a bit before settling in.

The game itself was good--the visiting Pirates ran away in the 3rd, scoring 4 runs and shaking up the Colorado pitcher, who was making his first big-league start. We left after 7 innings to beat the crowd and make the walk back to the hotel.

We had no plans for Wednesday, which, of course, means that we did more than any other day. Sort of. After a slow start, we headed to the nearby grower's market. We go the downtown Albuquerque market often, and this was a huge disappointment by comparison, so we stopped by a place on 16th for breakfast before going to Elitch Gardens, the local amusement park near downtown.

This was fun. We went on the Ferris wheel and a short but intense roller coaster ride, and we were both doing well (neither of us can handle really hardcore rides). Then we did the tilt-a-whirl, and it knocked Summer out. So, after catching our breath and eating a bit of lunch, we went back to the hotel.

We then made our way to a pizza joint up the street, followed by a walk over to the Auraria campus, a facility shared by the University of Colorado-Denver, Metropolitan State College, and the Community College of Denver. Looping around, we crossed through the Performing Arts Center and back to the hotel. I napped, and we then left for the movie theater, where we saw Julie & Julia and ate dessert at a cafe on 16th.

Our last day began at 5:00, and we caught our shuttle to the airport at 5:25. It's always bittersweet when a vacation ends, sad to see it over, eager to go home, and this trip was no different. It was great to get away just the two of us, to walk and talk and do so many fun things, but we did miss the kids, their silly, fun, happy ways, their joy in new experiences and daily events. It will be fun to go on our next trip with them, and good to have another getaway like this in a few years.

Looking Good

Lots of new looks for the older kids of late.

First, we have Isaac, who just finished swimming lessons last week. He took to water like the proverbial duck:Next, Allyson, all made-up from her Girl Scout day camp:
And Ryan, in his new church duds:

Belated

It's old news by now, but Ryan's birthday passed with much celebration. In addition to his birthday outing, we also had an at-home party last Sunday. For the cake, Ryan chose a dinosaur dig cake that was featured ion one of the 15 or so magazines we get each month (seriously, our magazine pile is taller than Evan, and Summer just subscribed to another one because it came with a free tote bag--we have more tote bags than we do magazines!). Anyhow, the cake is great, made from scratch with sugar cookies bones under a layer of cookie crumbs: Here the birthday boy blows out the candles:
Fro presents, he got some nice church clothes (more on that in a future entry) to celebrate his forthcoming baptism. As a newly-minted eight-year-old, he also began cub Scouts, for which he was quite excited. His maternal grandparents sent him the uniform, which he wore within seconds of opening the gift:
And my parents send him a new glove, since the child size was getting too small:
It needs some breaking in, but that's a convenient excuse to play catch everyday, isn't it?

Happy birthday, Ryan, and thanks to aunts & uncles for cards and grandparents for gifts. See you all soon.

They Grow up so Fast

The two oldest kids, in particular. Yesterday was the end of Allyson's summer program at Albuquerque Academy. She had a great time, and it was fun (and a little bittersweet) to see her doing something so grown up--going off to a new place and making new friends. To celebrate, the students put on a brief show of their favorites from the culture through the arts class. Allyson's class did a drumming demonstration, as seen here:
Then we began the birthday festivities for Ryan. First today was a trip to the growers market downtown, where we bought some honey, jam, zucchini, eggplant, and bread. For some reason, this made Ryan make this face:
We then caught "Up" at the downtown cinemaplex, followed by lunch at our new downtown pizza joint. Here are some lunch-themed pictures:

(Clearly Ryan does not hold a monopoly on funny faces.)

More Family Photos

Here are some more photos from our May photo shoot. First, inside the theater lobby:And next some fun shots in the courtyard outside: