Baby Selfies

Daisy loves to use my phone as a mirror ("Phone! Baby!") - her selfies are pretty cute.

Carlsbad Caverns, part 4

We left Carlsbad Caverns and drove to Deming, New Mexico - we tried to go to Rockhound State Park and look for gemstones, but it was really hot and we only stayed a little while. We did find a few cool rocks.

On our way back home we stopped to see The Thing. The kids kept their eyes peeled for the yellow billboards and were so curious! It was totally worth the $3.50 for the 100+ miles of suspense. It was quite the build-up!

Carlsbad Caverns, part 3!

The second morning in Carlsbad I decided to take the kids to Sitting Bull Falls - I had seen reviews online saying it was hard to get to but worth it - and when I saw a sign on the freeway pointing the way I figured we should go for it. It was 36 miles down a tiny road, but after we parked we only had to walk a short ways to a gorgeous waterfall, swimming holes, and lots of little creeks to explore. We spent about five hours there and only left when the kids were wiped. Rand and Ella both tore holes in their swimsuits from sliding down rocks, so you know that they had fun!

Daisy had a wonderful time rearranging the rocks everywhere. After that we picked Doug up and went back to the caverns for a tour of the Big a Room. Just amazing.

We went to dinner at No Whiner Diner, which was delicious with a cute little playground. Such a nice ending to a fun day!

Carlsbad Caverns, part 2

Day 3 - off to the Caverns at last! We chose to walk down, which was incredible. It took us a little less than two hours of slowly steadily walking down to reach the bottom. Ella was a little nervous at first as we approached the mouth of the cave (so aptly named!) and said, "I wish Grandpa was here."

Can you see Rand?

I did not think about having a one-year-old in a giant echoey cave....whoops. But overall Daisy was pretty quiet and actually fell asleep on the way down. No strollers were allowed so my arms got an excellent workout. Once we made it to the bottom we opted for the elevator up - 750 feet in two minutes!

We picked up Doug and went to Happy's for lunch, where the kids meals are served with the happiest French fries I'd ever seen.

We went back to the caverns, where Doug, Rand, and Ella went on a guided tour while Daisy and I hung out (kids younger than four weren't allowed). They said it was AWESOME.

We decided to stay and watch the bats leave the cave at dusk. We had some time to kill so we went on a short hike. We saw a huge centipede, a bat, an abandoned guano mine, and some gorgeous views.

The bats were incredible. We weren't allowed to bring cameras or phones, but the crowd sat so quietly in a stone ampitheathere and waited for the bats to start flying out. It looked like a tornado of bats leaving the cave. You could hear them flying! There was an almost full moon so watching them fly out and towards it was so beautiful. After five minutes R&E were ready to go home but I made them sit and watch a while longer because I was enjoying myself.

Babies!

Written March 2015 - We're having so much fun with our triplet baby goats. Daisy loves to pet them and Ella like to take them for "adventures" around the yard.

The weather is just perfect so we're spending lots of time outside. Daisy learned how to climb in and out of the wagon today, and figured out how to stand up in it. She is so pleased with her new found skills!

She is such a silly baby and has a great laugh. She is great at standing, crawls really fast, and loves bubble baths and cuties.

Ella told me excitedly that she found the brake on her bike...oops! I always assumed she knew that it was a hand brake. I heard goat noises from her room and came up to find this:

Spring Break!

Written March 2015 - I tried to do something fun every day this week - dinner at Cracker Barrel, going to the zoo, a sleepover with friends, play dates, and a Minecraft night with the neighbor girls - it's been a mostly good, mostly relaxing week!

Green shamrock pancakes for St. Patrick's Day:

Fun at the zoo - it was rainy in the afternoon and was almost deserted! The lions, tiger, and rhino were especially neat to see.

We got six tiny chicks:

Daisy learned how to feed herself...

...and how to climb up the couch and out the window (she gets dirty so fast when she plays outside that it is easier some days to only have her wear a diaper...):

And, of course, lots of trips to the barn:

Lego building: Star Wars Puppet Show