Camp open house

A couple of weeks ago the boys' camp had an open house one evening. We had been putting the boys on a bus every morning not really knowing what they did all day or anything about the camp. Seeing them there, watching them do archery and ride horses, having them give us the tour, was really special.

First Museum of Play trip for Baby Jane

The boys were so excited to meet Baby Jane, Mary Kate's new little sister, and were fascinated by every part of her.

Note Beckett in the fridge, at the very bottom, in his Superman shirt

Santa Fe

We FaceTimed with Reed and Daddy back home several times. This is a screenshot Daddy took of one of our conversations in Albuquerque.

The night before we left, my dear old friend Mike from Chicago texted me to ask if we were still in Santa Fe and if I'd been to MeowWolf yet. I said I'd heard of it but I couldn't tell whether the boys would like it. It turns out he was in the middle of a big pro bono case to reunite some of the separated immigrant families (I didn't find out until the end of of the week--he won!) but he took the time out to implore us to go to this huge interactive, immersive art experience that is MeowWolf. I didn't take many pictures but there is video on youtube of some of it. Suffice to say it was amazing. The kids didn't have any interest in following the story but loved every minute of it. Opening the refrigerator and climbing in and down the hallway inside was a highlight.

These guys slept SO HARD on our trip. We packed so much into every day and they did so well to keep it together and go with the flow but after teeth brushing and books they were ready to go to sleep. One night in Albuquerque there was a fire in our hotel at about 10:30. I was still up because I'd been doing laundry and was folding and putting away clothes. I heard the fire alarm, though not nearly as loudly as it probably should have been, and I ignored it thinking it would stop any time as I did not want to wake up the boys. After too long I realized people were evacuating and that the right thing to do was wake them up and get them the hell out of the building. Trying to rouse them and get them dressed and out the door was one of the most difficult and terrifying experiences of the trip. They sleep so hard that I had to keep going from one to the other because they fell asleep again as soon as I took my hands off them. I finally got them up and dressed and down and out of the building. We hung out outside, where we did smell smoke, and watched the fire trucks arrive and the firefighters get out. I suspect it was more a kitchen fire (there were kitchens in each suite) than a serious building-threatening fire but still, I was glad I got them out. When we got back to the room the boys collapsed in their bed and then Theo looked up at me, bewildered, and asked why he had clothes on. I had to tell him that I had dressed him 20 minutes earlier before we went outside. As soon as their clothes were off again, they collapsed into bed and never moved again the rest of the night. They don't remember any of it now, just that I have told them the story before so they remember my telling it.

A few shots from Santa Fe.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. The boys were fascinated by the very realistic Jesus Christ on the cross inside (with very realistic hair) as well as the baptismal font in the center of the nave. We also had a great time trying out the meditative labyrinth in front of the cathedral.

Valles Caldera and Bandalier

We took a beautiful drive from Albuquerque to Santa Fe through the mountains. The pueblo museum had some great replicas of a horno and a pueblo that helped the boys picture a little bit of how life was for Native Americans 500 years ago.

We saw many forests that looked like this--burned from various years of forest fires.

Valles Caldera National Preserve. Like all of the New Mexico parks and forests, it was closed except for guided van and walking tours because of the extremely high fire risk. We completely lucked out because the moment we arrived in the tiny dirt parking lot and stepped into the trailer-slash-visitors center a ranger was gearing up a 16 passenger van for a tour for an older couple interested in the movie industry history of the property. When I asked if we could go on a hike around the caldera the ranger said no one was allowed to walk unaccompanied and the only ranger hike had left an hour before. He said I might be able to catch a van tour, and I asked if we would be able to get onto one. He glanced outside and said, well, there's a van leaving now. You might be able to catch up before she leaves. So we ran out, banged on the side, and asked if we could go for a ride, wherever they were going. We got a fabulous tour of the park and saw a herd of elk as well as a thousand or so prairie dogs.

A huge area around Los Alamos NM is fenced off to varying degrees of intimidating seriousness. I saw no women the entire time we were in Los Alamos. There were a ton of bizarre tubes, aircraft and giant equipment visible from the road. I can only imagine the amazing and terrible things being studied and tested nearby.

Bandalier National Monument. Testing out the telescopes to see into the cliff dwellings before the hike.

The boys were fascinated by the pueblos and the way of life of the people who lived there. And they LOVED climbing the ladders into the restored cliff dwellings. When we (read: I) were feeling a little hesitant about the steepness of a ladder or how far down we were looking, we repeated the mantra Reggie taught us: "I can, I know I can, and I will!" Which we sometimes screamed, especially on the 140-step climb up to the Alcove Trail, as I was trying to convince myself that I had not lead my children into certain death.