It begins again...

Reed was a little bummed to start school again this year. In the past, he had pretty much been ready to go back, but I can see that each year he is a little more disappointed that summer has ended. For our last day of summer, Brian had told Reed that he would teach him how to weld. They headed to the shop and I stayed in to make his lunch for school today. I used some cookie cutters and made him some special sandwiches.

I think he'll be pleasantly surprised when he opens his lunch box. :) As I was doing my thang, I started getting the cutest pictures from Brian. My 8 year old is welding. :)


He made an "H" for Hudson. :)


We went and ate a 'last supper' of summer at Braums and then came home to hit the sack. I was evidently a little on edge for the first day- I woke up at 3:30 and could NOT go back to sleep. I left the house at 6:00 for a run, back at 7:00, showered and dressed and at back at the school by 7:40. Not pleased with our first day pictures, but it was a whirlwind morning... For sure. We all look exhausted.





Reed has been blessed with another awesome teacher and I'm looking forward to a great year for my boy!

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Our last day

Yesterday morning we set out from Roswell for the LONG drive home. There was a lot of DS playing...

Leapster playing...


And movies. We made it to the state line...


Yay! Only 7 hours left! :). We wanted to try one more fun place to eat, do we stopped in Snyder and ate at the Big Apple Deli.


It had a super cute casual Texas vibe and the sandwiches were great. We were all tired at this point...


We got home last night about 8:00. After unloading the car and starting a load of laundry, I headed to the grocery store so we could have some food - we had nothing here to eat. Back home by 9:15 and in bed by 10:30. I cannot say enough good things about my very own bed. :). (Yes, I realize I'm sounding more and more like my husband)
We all slept in this morning, but Reed wins the prize for the latest- 10:20! Aftere breakfast, Hudson asked if he could have his tea in his special alien cup. :)


We had an awesome week. Brian and I agree that we wouldn't have changed a thing about it. I am so grateful that God kept us safe and that we were able to do all that we planned and have such a great time. We are so blessed to be able to show our children some of God's greatest creations on this earth and we're looking forward to doing another family trip next summer!

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Day Six

Today has been a LOOOOONNNGG day. We drove from Gallup to Roswell- about 6 hours travel time. The driving is beginning to wear thin at this point... Maybe because we've driven 2000 miles in 6 days. (Yikes!) The boys have done great- it's Brian and I that are SO over it. :). Anyway, we got to Roswell about 4:00 and we were greeted with bits and pieces of alien memorabilia such as this alien head on the fence in front of Wal-Mart...

The light poles downtown are made to look like alien faces...




Even McDonald's looks like a UFO. :)




We only had an hour before things started to close, so we did a quick run through the UFO museum. It's a neat place if you have hours to read. If not, it's just okay. It was $12 for the four of us to get in, so I'm not complaining. We got some photo ops out of it...










And of course our smashed pennies....



After the museum, we had to pick up some cute alien souvenirs and then it was on to dinner at the #2 pick on Trip Advisor-




It was fantastic. If you're ever in Roswell, look it up.
Then we headed to the movies to see the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid installment. Very cute.




Now Brian is down at the pool with the boys. They were so happy when they heard the pool was open until 11:00. I don't know if I could say the same for Brian, but he took them anyway. :)

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Day Five

Today we got up and after a breakfast at the place of choice (IHOP), we headed towards the Grand Canyon. The drive was about an hour and a half and we passed some pretty scenery on the way.

I forgot to get a picture of the kids by the sign at the entrance of the park, so this will have to do. The Grand Canyon visitors center is nice. They had this huge map on the wall and a few other interactive things. They also had a little round room with benches around the perimeter and they projected an informational film onto a sphere for us to watch - pretty cool.




Here we are at the actual canyon. It didn't get that big of a reaction, but Brian's mom tells the story of how when they went to see the Grand Canyon for the first time, he walked up to it, said " Yep, it's a big hole in the ground." and turned an walked away. The boys said it was really cool... I'll take it.








Brian and I liked this quote a lot.




After the Grand Canyon, we headed back East on our trek home. Our second stop today was at the meteor crash site right outside of Winslow, AZ. Brian and the boys love the show Meteorite Men, so I knew Reed especially would like to stop here. I was right... Here's one excited kid... :)




Checking out the stuff at the bottom of the crater with the telescope...




There was a 6 ft tall cut-out of an astronaut at the bottom and it was so far away, you could barely see it with the naked eye. It's amazing how big it was. Here we are at the top observation deck.




The boys in the museum with a piece of the actual meteor they collected from the site.




I tried to get the boys to pose with a scared face beside this great photo op at the museum. They didn't want to, do I just had to do it myself. :)




Here they are getting their souvenir smashed penny. We got these EVERY it,e we saw a machine. My mom got Reed started on it and he even has a book that he keeps them in, so we bought Hudson a book too. It's evidently going to be our new tradition.




After the meteor crash site, we decided to drive back to Gallup to stay the night. It was dark when we got to the hotel, so here is the "travel gift" they got- light up glow pistols (or light sabers, depending on who you talk to).




We had an hour before the pool closed, so we got in some well deserved swim time...




Then up to the room for a pizza party in bed. Good times. :)



On to Roswell tomorrow! I think Brian is more excited than we are. :)

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Day Four

This morning we left Gallup and headed towards Flagstaff, stopping at the Petrified Forest National Park.

Right off the bat the view was amazing. We came in on the Painted Desert end of the park, so we got to see all of it first.





We made a stop at the Painted Desert Inn. It was a working inn decades ago and is now just a little museum.


Here is one of the rooms. Teensy by our standards (a sink, a tiny fireplace and room for a double bed), but I bet it was the big time back then!


Just a quick pick of the family...


We headed further into the park and saw some petroglyphs that they estimate to be 600 to 800 years old. Reed was pretty impressed with these.


Even further in the park we finally came upon the petrified wood!


The inside of a petrified log...


The petrified wood is so pretty! There are signs posted everywhere asking people not to take pieces. We watched an informational film before we headed out to the park and it said that even though people are repeatedly asked not to take pieces, one TON is taken out of the park every MONTH!!! You could see how people had chipped away pieces of the logs- especially the ones right next to the trails. So sad.
As we were walking along, I happened to see a collared lizard on the edge of a log. He let me get pretty close!





My sweet family...


And me... :)


We drove through Holbrook and into Flagstaff. Dinner, swimming for the boys and off to bed! Big day tomorrow...

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Day Three

Today we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and headed to the White Sands National Monument. Here's the token picture to prove it...

The dunes were so pretty. It was 80 degrees and nicely cloudy, so it was a great time to play. Since it's gypsum and not actually sand, it doesn't absorb heat, so even on a hot day it would be fun to run around it.





We rented sleds at the gift shop to slide down the dunes. Once the boys went down a couple of times, they made a little trough that was easier to slide down the next time.








Even Brian and I got in on the action...





They slid down over and over and then just to play. There was a lot of digging, burying and general fun. When they got done, there was sand EVERYWHERE.


We wiped them off and loaded up for our next leg of the trip. I had planned on us making it to Albuquerque, but we decided to head on to Gallup, NM. I gave the boys one of their "passing the time" presents- pipe cleaners. They LOVED them. They played with them for over an hour- making people, crowns and other various items.





On our way to Gallup, we were headed straight towards a huge storm that made for some neat scenery.


When we came out on the other side, the sky was so pretty!


This next picture reminds me of Cars. Doesn't it look like Ornament Valley where Radiator Springs is? :)



Three days in and we have over 1100 miles under our belt. We're all ready for bed each night, but we are having a blast!

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