Our trip

We took our big vacation this year in early October and combined a visit home to NM with a trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. We had a great time, but as would be expected, traveling that far and that long with 2 kids and a dog was exhausting. Our first day in NM we went to an outdoor living museum from the 18th century Spanish Colonial period in NM. There Carter got to make tortillas, wash and dye wool, prepare apples for apple cider, tan a hide, and learn about spinning and weaving. There were many farm animals as well to entertain the kids. I have such fond memories of this place as a child and I was eager to share it with my husband and kids. The 4 days we spent at my mom's house we mostly went hiking in various Indian ruins and spent time driving in the mountains. Carter surprised us by being an avid hiker. Our time at the Balloon Fiesta was a combination of good and not-so-good experiences. The traffic was a nightmare and we missed an event that we just couldn't get to in time. Hayden cried the whole time we were there and Carter was ready to go home after 10 minutes. Definitely something I'd like to return to when the kids are older. We also took the kids to 2 museums in Albuquerque. One was the Natural History Museum where Carter enjoyed seeing the dinosaur skeletons and the other was a children's science museum. Both kids and Heath really enjoyed that place--it was all hands-on science about wind, sound, water, nature, etc. Definitely a place to return to sometime. We are now glad to be home and getting back into the routine again. We took 250 pictures so it was hard to pick just a few for the blog, but here they are.

Darth Vadar balloon--Carter's favorite

Carter & Daddy in the Indian ruins at Bandelier


Daddy & boys at Bandelier.

Balloon Fiesta--Special Shapes Rodeo

Carter making tortillas at Los Golondrinas