Creatures from our last camping trip

We saw several interesting creatures. So many I thought they deserved their own post.

The first was hiding under our tent. We found it as we were folding up the tent to put it away. It's the first scorpion we've ever seen out of captivity. And that's after living in the desert for several years!


The next one we caught while he was going for a swim in the lake.


This one was crawling around the grave site. We see a lot of lizards around our home, so usually seeing a lizard isn't such a big deal. But this one was 9 or 10 long! Much bigger than we usually see.


The last one actually bit each of my children! At least it didn't hurt them.

Bottomless Lakes

We bought a boat!

From 2009_06_18

So we had to try it out the first weekend we could. We went down near Roswell,NM to visit the lakes near there. It rained on us Friday night, but it cleared up pretty quick and we had a fun day playing in the water.

puddle hopping


In the water




The morning sky


My pregnant belly


Gordon putting the girls to work


Here you can see the blue sky we had for most of the day (just ignore the pregnant lady)


On our drive home we paid a visit to Billy the Kid's grave site.






The gravestone is in a cage because it has been stolen several times! The last time they recovered it they prepared a more secure way to keep it.

Eve induced haircut

Well since Eve cut off one piggy-tail....

From 2009_06_18

I cut off the rest.

From 2009_06_18

And yes, Eve did get to go to bed early that night for her protection. I grow a little too attached to my daughter's hair. Since I know we're not out of the hair-cutting phase yet.

Family Reunion

We had a family reunion with Gordon's side of the family. This time (for the first time) it was near us. Nearly everyone was able to make it and come to explore our corner of the country. We shared some of the ancient history and natural beauty of New Mexico. We also ate a lot of food and played some vicious card games.

In the first pictures we are exploring Bandelier National Monument. Where there is several cave dwellings and kivas. Some to look at and some to explore.

From 2009_06_12

From 2009_06_12

From 2009_06_12

From 2009_06_12

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From 2009_06_12

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The next day we went to explore Nambe Falls. No one had been there to check it out and we wish we had. The waterfall was still fun to see, but the hike wasn't quite what we hoped. The picnic area wasn't too kept up either. But where there is water and family there is still fun, so we managed to get in a lot of playing.

From 2009_06_13

From 2009_06_13

From 2009_06_13

From 2009_06_13

From 2009_06_13

From 2009_06_13

From 2009_06_13

Catwalk

To continue our exploring of New Mexico we ventured down to a hike called "Catwalk". We camped in the nearby Gila wilderness at a fabulous campground. The campsites were very secluded and the kids could run and explore. The campground had stacks of firewood for us to use, that was really nice. I forgot our camera for this campout and had to rely on our friends shared picture for our photo-journaling.

From Catwalk

From Catwalk

From Catwalk

From Catwalk

From Catwalk

From Catwalk

We felt the hike was one of the best family hikes we'd ever been on. The incline wasn't very steep and the views were beautiful. There are fun bridges to cross that the kids just loved. There are several spots were you can get into the stream and play, and most of the hike is in the shade. We are excited to go back here again!

From Catwalk

From Catwalk

I wish I had more pictures to share (good thing our next trip here is soon.)

On a side note, on our drive went right by the Very Large Array. I would love to have pictures of our family in the amazing place. I think we will check 15 times to make sure we have our camera with us before leaving on another trip.

Here is a photo from the Very Large Array website.

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A day at the park

I'm finally breaking into June! How about that? Blogging about the current month!

Here we are at the park, just a normal day, but I brought my camera.

From 2009_06_09

From 2009_06_09

From 2009_06_09

More from Mesa Verde

Here is more of Mesa Verde.

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

From 2009_05_23

It rained a bunch the second night and we were pretty wet, my nieces ended up moving in to their car since their tent flooded. Rain like this must be what keeps this mesa green! But we persevered and had another fun day together.

I got up first and found a few mule deer browsing in our campground!

Can you see the deer?

From 2009_05_24

From 2009_05_24

From 2009_05_24

From 2009_05_24

From 2009_05_24

From 2009_05_24

From 2009_05_24