Durango!

All summer long, we tried to find time to go camping. We finally made some time to hit Durango for three nights. Since we would be camping close to a lake, we were worried about mosquitoes. We bought an awning with netting on all sides but hoped we wouldn't have to use it, as we were hoping we could just never unpack it and return it to the store.

Man, oh man, were we glad we had that thing!

It rained off and on every day and every night. And even if it had been perfectly sunny the whole trip, that awning paid for itself in the amount of blood it saved us. There were lots of mosquitoes and I must taste very good.

A game of Frisbee before dinner.

Wading in Haviland Lake.

This picture is a few seconds before Peter slipped on a rock and fell in.

He was soaked from his neck down.

(On a side note, about seven years ago, Emily's preschool class went fishing. I was eight months pregnant and opted to stay home and have Shad go with Emily and Peter. Peter fell into that lake, too.)

Fishing ... with no success.

Durango is "famous" for its steam locomotive which runs between Durango and Silverton. It was too pricey for our travel budget, so we settled for this photo op at the Durango Mountain Resort, where we went on the Alpine Slide - which probably averaged the same speed as the steam locomotive.

Surprisingly, the water at the Pinkerton Hot Springs was not hot.

At least it was fun to climb on.

It was a dark and stormy night.

Every night.

And the rain followed us back to Albuquerque, so now you all know who to thank for the moisture we're enjoying right now.

There is a fish hatchery and wildlife museum in Durango. Shad got to show what a bear he is when woken from his daily nap.

It was the first time (at least that I can recall) that my kids got to see deer wandering around. Laura said she wanted to get one as a pet!

Overlooking the Animas River, which runs through Durango.

Shad and I just might retire to Durango. It is so beautiful and there are so many activities to do all year round.

Next time we're up there in the summer,

we're going whitewater rafting!

Procrastination

We just got back from camping in Durango, Colorado. I'm doing everything I can think of INSTEAD of unpacking the dirty clothes and starting the laundry.

I entered the receipts from our trip into Quicken

(computer checking account register).

THAT was painful.

Called my mom, who took care of my dog while we were gone. Found out that Felicia's eyes are looking better, but her nose is not. Which means she'll probably have to be put under anesthesia, so that the vet can scope her nose and see if there is something up there that shouldn't be.

Ka-ching!

I need to go find my camera and upload the pictures we took while camping, so that I can be reminded of how good I have it.

Any good procrastination suggestions?

************************************************

OK, got the photos uploaded.

Lake Haviland campsite

in the San Juan National Forest

I guess I can't put the laundry off any longer.

Well, I could, but then my kids wouldn't have any clean underwear, and I don't think they (or I) would appreciate that.

Durango Get-Away

Shad and I rewarded ourselves for surviving my 4 months of teaching by heading up to Durango for a few days, without kids. We stayed at a FABULOUS bed and breakfast, Country Sunshine B&B.

This was one of the views from our bedroom.

The owners were fabulous. The husband could be a chef - the food was so delicious. We had potato pancakes one morning (which I haven't had since the last time I saw my uncle over 20 years ago) and french toast with coconut maple syrup the next. They always served a heavenly fruit cup with some yogurt and granola on top. The breakfasts really filled you up!

Walter is from Austria and he always had a cookie platter available for guests to munch on (while we were there the cookies were all Austrian recipes and they were heavenly). Also, a true bonus for this dessert lover, every night he would make a dessert for the guests. We could have stayed forever just for the desserts.

The b&b is about 10 miles outside Durango and has trees surrounding it. We enjoyed some birdwatching while we ate breakfast each morning.

Walter and Jody (the owners) had 2 big dogs and Shad had fun playing with them (he loves dogs - the bigger and dumber, the better).

We were so lucky because it snowed for an entire day while we were there. We haven't had a full-day of snow since we left Utah 13 years ago. We took a scenic walk along the river while the snow came down. We were in heaven!

While in Durango, I satisfied a dream I've had for a long-time; we went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride. And it was a one-horse open sleigh! It was fun, even though it was snowing and my coat wasn't waterproof.

Here's a picture of us halfway through our hour-long sleigh ride.

If you're ever in Durango and need a suggestion of a restaurant, may we suggest Mutu's Italian Kitchen or Olde Tymers Cafe (they had the best french fries I have ever eaten). There is an amazing bakery, simply named Bread, that we discovered after enjoying the fabulous ciabatta Mutu's served. I asked the waitress where they got their bread from, and she told us about Bread. Divine!

It was such a relaxing trip. Much needed!

The green-eyed monster

My sister and her dear husband and daughter head off to Denmark and the Netherlands tomorrow. And they'll be hitting Germany in the fall.  I'm jealous. I don't normally get jealous (anymore) of people, but if you're traveling to Europe, I will be jealous of you. I have this great wanderlust that just can't be satiated. (And yes, I know I've been very fortunate to do so much traveling. I'm not ungrateful, just greedy!)

Do you remember last September when this post appeared on my blog. You know, the one where I said we'd done so well saving money that we were going to go to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics and London for the Summer? Well, part (but not all) of that was a ruse to throw my sister off track since she'd pretty much figured out Shad and I were accompanying her to Paris. We really had been saving to go to London.

Well, that dream is gone. 

Instead we have this sitting in our garage now.

(And we think the garage is a better place for it than the living room!)

We took a HUGE chunk of cash out of savings and paid 80% of the car with cash. We sold our old Odyssey and are down to $750 owed on the car. While it's nice to have a new car and to practically own it outright, I'd rather have my old Odyssey in the garage while I was on a plane to London. 

But oh well.

So if you're driving around Albuquerque, and you see a green-eyed monster - don't worry. 

It's just me.

First Flight

After surprising the kids, we hopped into the car and headed to the airport. Here are the kids looking out the window at our tiny plane - there were only 3 seats total in each row on that plane, meaning there were 2 seats together, the aisle, and then one seat all by itself. I had to duck my head so as not to hit the emergency exit sign as I walked down the aisle.

Emily has been on a plane once before, but she doesn't remember it because she was only 18 months old. None of the other kids have ever flown on an airplane, so they were excited and a little nervous too.

The window seat was the coveted one amongst the kids. 

Personally I prefer an aisle seat so that I can stretch my legs out.

Our seats were the very last 6 on the plane, so when everyone else had disembarked the kids were able to hang out with the pilot in the cockpit.

For some reason the exposure on this picture was horrible, 

so I tried to fix it as best as I could.

We flew to Houston where we were met at the gate by my dad (on the right) and stepmom. Then my brother, his wife, and son arrived (they're the ones, to the right of Julie, bending down to greet baby April whom they had never met before). My sister and her hubbie and baby were the next to show up (they live right there in Houston). 

And of course, the fact that we were all there was NOT a surprise to Julie! I need to teach my brother-in-law how to keep secrets - my kids didn't know anything about the trip until I told them 15 minutes before we left! I think the only surprise was Julie's friend and old college roommate showing up. That's Liz - the one on the left holding the cup in her hand.

We all got to fly together to Orlando. Our seats were all together, except for Chris's seat. He got bumped up to first class - poor soul! Of course then he got to take the baby with him, which worked out great.  (Though I guess I'll have to stop calling her "the baby" soon; she's 14 months old already.)

Surprise!!!

We had kept our trip to Orlando for my sister's birthday a secret from our kids. We woke them up around 5:00 a.m. Thursday morning and told them to come downstairs. Then we revealed the surprise. 

Did you notice that Peter and Laura were about to cry about the idea of going on a plane? It wasn't until we told them where the plane would be taking us that they decided a trip would be fun.

We're going to Disney World!

Well, actually, we already went -- yesterday! My sister's 30th birthday was yesterday. Her husband wanted to surprise her (since his surprise of us coming with them to Paris wasn't a surprise at all) so he invited all of our family to come to Orlando for 3 days of fun. Julie is a Disney fanatic, and this year, Walt Disney World is celebrating everyone's birthday by letting you in free on your birthday! We flew down to Houston where we met up with my dad and step-mom, my brother, his wife and son, and Julie and her husband and daughter, and Julie's old roommate Liz. Then all 15 of us flew together to Orlando.

Friday we went to the Kennedy Space Center and Saturday we hit Disney World. Unfortunately only 14 of us made it to Disney World. My poor step-mom ended up in the hospital! They're still not sure exactly what is wrong - possibly pancreatitis - she's still there now and won't be able to fly home as originally scheduled. Nancy is so sweet - she knew how much my dad was looking forward to going to Disney World and so she insisted that he go anyways. We're glad she has good nurses taking care of her and pray she'll be well soon!

On the Jungle Cruise at Disney World, our boat driver told us a cute joke that the kids are still repeating --

Why does Tigger never walk?


Because he doesn't want to step on Pooh!

I was just doing my hair, and Laura walked into our room (we're staying at a time share resort and we have a double deluxe room - 2 full bedrooms and baths with kitchen and living room). She told me that we (Shad and I) are lucky because we get our own private room. I told her it wasn't really private because we have to share it with each other. She said "Yeah, but when we're not here you get to smooch and that makes it private." I guess she's got us figured out!

Shad and I have been following the guidelines in this book for about 15 months now. We think the advice in it is fabulous. In fact, this book will be the gift I give at every wedding from now on!

Because we are following the steps in this book, we've been able to save up some money. 

When we heard that the 2012 Olympics were going to be in London, we set a family goal to save up money to go.  

We had even thought that we could take the Chunnel and go pop over to Paris for a few days.

I studied French for 4 years in High School and 3 years in college. I loved learning about Paris and it has been one of my greatest dreams to go. I started making a list of places we would have to see if we went and it was getting ridiculously huge!

But, after watching the Olympics in Beijing for 2 weeks, we really got to thinking about how much we can't wait to watch the Winter Olympics - our family, as a whole, prefers the Winter Olympics to the Summer ones. When we realized that the 2010 Winter Olympics are in North America - we thought "we have to go!"

So we've changed plans, Vancouver here we come! 

Sorry, London!

But get this!

Shad knows how much I've always wanted to go to Paris, 

so he's suggested...

Paris for our 15th Wedding Anniversary next year!!!!

My sister and her husband are going in November and it got Shad thinking of how much more fun it would be to go as a couple instead of as a family. 

So I guess we'll be living off of bread and water for the next year or so as I work my financial magic and get those pennies to accumulate in our savings account.

Or I'll be doing some detective work, trying to find the will of that long-lost, rich relative who just died, leaving us a boat load of money.

Wish me luck!