With all of my doctor's appointments, our timing had to be perfect. And it was.... I had a follow up with my surgeon on a Thursday and then I had another follow up with my OBGYN that following Monday, so we headed to out the next day!
We had a plan to stay a few days and maybe head back on Saturday or Sunday. We were enjoying our time there so much, that we decided to stay a little longer and head back home on Tuesday, One full week of cool temperatures and relaxation... It was amazing! I would go back in a heart beat. :) But I have to go back to work next week, so it might be a little while before we are able to travel again.
On our way up to Red River, we decided to take a detour at the Palo Duro State Park to look at the Canyon. This detour only added 2 hours to our 10-12 our drive. No biggie, right? ;)
It was so pretty there...
We left our house around 5:30 am, so everyone was dressed for comfort (shorts, t-shirts, flip flops), mainly because we didn't expect to make stops and take pictures.
I don't remember ever going to Palo Duro Canyon and we know that the kids haven't gone, so we took some time to look around, have lunch, etc.
This is the amphitheatre....
George had fallen asleep, so he and I stayed in the car, while Bonham and the kids went exploring...
We saw this beautiful cave in the distance....
I started digging around the suitcases for socks and shoes,
so that they could hike and explore a little more comfortably.
But, while I was doing that... they were already doing this!
I found their shoes and started calling their names...
I heard them holler back and I looked up at the cave.
There they were! Kings and Queen of the mountain!
I love that they love to explore! If George would have been awake, he would have been right there with them! I probably still would have waited in the car (still in recovery mode anyway)
Bonham found this is the cave... George was there
(probably not our George...)
Here we are! :)
Once they got back to the car, we drove around a little more and then headed out!
New Mexico, here we come!
There was a beautiful (and slightly scary) storm far off...
But as we arrived in Red River, the skies were clear and the native deer welcomed us!
It's so cool to see deer this close and they don't immediately run away.
The kids were happy to be in Red River and they are excited about getting out of the car for a few days! That drive is a little tiring.
We unloaded the car and went across the street to the park. It was slightly chilly, so we put on our jackets. The kids enjoyed stretching their legs and getting some energy out!
I was trying to take some pictures with Bonham's phone, but they were all blurry...
But you get the point of what the "blobs" (children) are doing:
Barrett and George going down the slide together....
The day after we arrived, we headed to Taos to a Walmart to get a pack-n-play for George to sleep in. Fortunately, there are things to do on the drive to and from Taos!
We stopped at a fish hatchery. This is where George decided that he didn't want to have his picture taken for the entire vacation...
So sad for me :(
I almost got a smile out of him on this picture, but Bonham has his eyes closed...
You win some, you lose some!
We stopped off at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge for some site-seeing
If you walk across the bridge and look down as you walk, it makes you really dizzy.
It was much wider than we thought as we walked to the middle, so the kids could stand directly over the water.
We are pretty sure that George could fit through these bars. We didn't want to test the theory, so we held on to him.
Also, this is just a sidewalk on the bridge. There are cars speeding by. Kind of made me nervous.
On the side of the side of the bridge, there were vendors set up with homemade jewelry and other trinkets. Jayna wanted to buy her very first real ring. The stone looks black in this picture, but it's actually a deep blue. It's handmade and has stars on the band. It's a very pretty ring (that she ended up leaving at the townhouse) :( We will have to pick it up when we return or my in-laws might be able to send it to us when they go up again. The lady that made it was telling us about the stone and where it came from. Of course I forgot the name of it. It sounded like LalaLoopsy, but that's not right... anyway, Jayna is convinced that it's super rare and worth a whole lot more money than what we paid for it. I tried to explain to her that the lady was giving us a sales pitch and if it were really rare, she would have charged us the appropriate price. Haha!
Later that day, we took the jeep (Bonham's dad's jeep) up the mountain.
George looks scared, but it was more of a "don't take my picture" look
He was having a great time!
Our tour guide, smiling through the bumpy road...
Yes, I got George to smile! But Jayna fell asleep. :(
We arrived at the top of the mountain trail and got out to look for rocks:
We found some really neat ones!
My mission of getting a good smile continues...
There's nothing better than playing outside in cool weather with a beautiful back ground!
As we drove the trails, I kept seeing a lot of different mushrooms.
This one made me think of Alice in Wonderland, so I asked Bonham to stop, so I could take a picture.
That night in the townhome, Barrett turned into a chicken... :)
Fortunately, that was short-lived and he was back to normal. Whew!
The next day, we headed up the mountain through a different mode of transportation: the ski lift
Jayna and I rode together
And the boys rode behind us....
We were so worried that George would try to jump off. He didn't though, so that's good!
It was a nice, relaxing ride up the mountain with this cutie...
We got off the lift and wandered down a path to find a picnic table. I took that opportunity to rest for a bit while Bonham took the kids to explore. I was limited on my activity on vacation and had to take lots of rest breaks and there were some things that I just couldn't do.
My wound is almost completely healed now, but on this trip, it was still very much opened and I was having more pain on the days I was too active.
Bonham took some pictures of some things the kids found on their walk...
The sounds of the Aspen Trees are so relaxing. I could sit and listen to them all day....
When they came back, we enjoyed a little picnic lunch
before we went walking and exploring a little more
Barrett is "cooking" up something in the old house
Jayna, George, and I rode the lift back down. Bonham and Barrett hiked back down the mountain.
Not too far in their climb and our ride down, I heard Barrett. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but I knew that I hear his voice. Come to find out, they went down a pretty steep part and Bonham slid down about 6-7 feet on his bum. It scared Barrett and he called out, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"
I guess that is what I heard. Everyone was okay and they both made it down safely with minimal scrapes and bruises. :)
After we all got some rest and cleaned up a little, we went to a Cowboy Dinner and Show thanks to a generous donation from my grandmother-in-law, Shirley! She wanted us to go and have a good time and she knows that we normally opt for free or cheap fun. This was a nice little treat to attend and the kids had a blast! They had riding toys, ropes to practice with, swings, a teepee, and horses (to look at, not ride or pet)
Okay, don't look at me...
Enjoying their lemonade in these campfire cups!
Jayna is a great meat eater. She loves to order steak, ribs, or crab legs (she has expensive taste).
Anyway, they had the option of steak or chicken.
She saw me eating a baked potato and she wanted to try it. She is normally an instant mashed potato kind of girl, but she liked enough to go get one of her own. I love to see her try new foods...
We enjoyed some good ol' cowboy music from Syd Masters
When Barrett was in there, they pointed out how loud he sings along and they commented that he was probably the best dancer they've had.... we started to joke that people would think he was special.
Oh, Barrett....
The next morning, Bonham took the big kids on a jeep path that lead to a beautiful lake.
I stayed at the townhouse with George. Bonham wanted to test the road before taking me on it, because the first jeep ride left me hurting quite a bit the next day.
When they returned, he said that this trail made the first one seem like a paved road!
I'm out! Thanks though.... maybe when we return and I am completely healed, I can do it, because it leads to this lake... so peaceful and relaxing:
Isn't this beautiful????
Across the street from the townhouse was a music festival featuring quite a few Texas Country artists and some names we knew... this is Randy Rogers!
Cool dude.... he will be 2 next month! Such a big boy.
The next day, we went to look for an old abandoned mine. George fell asleep, so he and I stayed in the car (again). I was about to drift off for a nap too when I heard them coming back. Shucks!
We drove up a little further to another lake. We all got out and started looking around.
The embankment was very steep, so we really couldn't put our feet in the water.
George really wanted to get in the water.
But he didn't want to fall, so he sat very still on this rock. :)
On our walk back to the jeep, we saw some wild blueberries? (we think)
You can see the ski slopes from the jeep trail.
It looks so much different in green than it does it white
We also saw Barrett's 1st grade teacher in Red River!
Mrs. Tilghman was staying at a nearby town and came to Red River for the music festival.
Rocks, rocks, everywhere!
We love to collect rocks, we love to climb rocks, we love to take pictures on top of rocks!
(well, not George)
There is a local community center that hold events free of charge. We headed over there for the boat building and boat racing.
Please ignore the look on Jayna's face. LOL
I was trying to listen intently
Hammers and nails,,,, nice!
Jayna's boat, "Manty"
Time to paint!
Barrett chose to use red.
Jayna chose to use blue.
My kids...
Barrett painted very little on his boat - he painted a strip across the top and then a smiley face.
He called his boat, "Mrs. Mommy"
We headed over to the river to put the boats in the water. In Barrett's race, he was in the lead until the very end when his boat was swept to the left by a current and the other boats went right by. He finished in fourth place.
Jayna's boat was in about 4th or 5th and then when she hit the same current spot, she was pushed back to 9th place. :( Jayna is very competitive and I didn't think she would handle losing very well, but she did. Barrett did too. They just enjoyed being a part of it all.
There is a candy store not too far from the townhouse and the kids liked walking down there to get fudge and popcorn. One day, Barrett asked if he could get this $2 sucker. I agreed and then realized that it was actually $9. Oh well. Barrett and George had fun with this HUGE lollipop!
love their faces
Bonham took Jayna and Barrett to play tennis one morning.
George and I slowly made our way over to this part of town... just a short few blocks from the townhome.
Bonham wanted to show the kids how high he could swing. These pictures don't do this justice. I love when Bonham lets out his inner-child to entertain these babies of ours. I hope they appreciate their daddy and remember his silly nature.
Jayna was trying to recreate Bonham's pictures
Walking across the stream
Our sweet Bear...
Ahhhh.... don't fall in!
Bonham took them back later in the day, so that they could put their feet.
That water is cold, cold, cold!
Bonham and Barrett went on an easy nature walk lead by the community center.
And Barrett got this close a deer!
They found wild raspberries!
The walk was so laid back that Bonham and Barrett took us back through the walk. We found all kind of rocks, flowers, and animals...
I was walking along this path and then all of sudden, this deer strolled out of a little nook on the left. She turned to look at me and I couldn't get my phone out fast enough!
On this nature walk, we found an old abandoned mine.
Along this nature trail, there are people's private residences (clearly marked), so we had to tell the kids to steer clear and stay quiet, as to not disturb the resident.
I'm sneaky and got a smile... my handsome boy is getting so big!
I just love these sites...
and the sounds of the flowing water....
The boys found a cool log bench to sit on.
We grabbed a bite to eat and then I took George to lay down for his nap, while Bonham took the older two for game time on the lawn at the community center.
All activities here are free of charge. They just work off of donations, so we tried to drop some money in the bucket when we visited. I'd hate for a little place like this to be shut down because of lack of funds.
Our first few nights there were spent perfecting the kids' train dominoes gaming skills.
The last two nights, we introduced the full version of Monopoly. They had played the Junior version, but the full/original game really got their wheels turning. We had to buy our own when we returned home! I love it!
Bonham snapped a picture of this moth on the jeep....
Even the moths are cool up there!
We had such a fabulous time in Red River. I am so happy that my in-laws have a place for us to stay. Vacation can get expensive, but when you have a place to stay, that really helps. We ate the majority of our meals in the townhome or packed a lunch when we were out. It was very affordable! We look forward to going there again and again for years to come. Jayna wants to work and live up there during her summers in college. I am on board! :)
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