Labor Day Road Trip - Bandelier

Staycation -- The End

Staycation Day 5

The saga continues, yet at a slower pace. Our only destination was the new playplace, ABQ Jump. As the pictures below show, this is an indoor area stuffed with 7 gaint, inflatable, vinyl jumpy playsets. The kids enjoyed themselves immensely, until a troupe of teenagers invaded and ran rough-shod over the little children, which is when we left.

Staycation Day 4

Today we enjoyed the Rio Grande Zoo, the Wall-E movie, and our favorite ice cream place, I Scream Ice Cream. This little locally-owned shop has the best toys in town and diverse ice cream flavors, but you have to watch out for the celebrities.

Staycation Day 3

Day 3 began when I woke up, stepped into the hall, and found this...
As Isaiah tells the story he was on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night but collapsed en route (a distance of 3 feet from his room) from "tiredness" and made the hallway carpet his bed for the remainder of the night. To me this is a sign that we're having a good vacation; if the 6 year old is worn out, things are going well.

Today took us to the Tram with grandma, a 4,000 feet climb up a suspended cable in 15 minutes.
The crest is a refreshing getaway from the city with its cooler, wet climate and lush forest greens.

IT'Z was the second stop of the day. For those lucky enough not to know what IT'Z is, it's a mega-sized Chuck-E-Cheese. It's easy to know what it sounds like inside an IT'Z; simply turn on every TV, stereo, and alarm clock in your home to different stations, crank them up full blast, and let them go while you try to communicate with others scattered throughout the house. Throw in an assortment of strobe lights and a couple thousand flashing lights to complete the effect.

Staycation Day 2

Today was spent at the Explora children's museum/science center, a picnic lunch, and ice skating.
They could have spent the whole morning building a better ball drop.
He built it.


We skate on the edge (of the wall). This is how we roll, er, skate.

Staycation Day 1

We're on our version of a vacation, one where we stay put in Albuquerque and see the local sights. Dubbed "Staycation", it saves on gas and lodging, and still provides a good time with the comforts of home. For day 1 we went to the city Aquarium and Botanic Gardens. The children never tire of the Alice and Wonderland effect of the magic garden with its larger-than-life vegetables, caves, and maze.

In other news, the older children were able to save up $200 between the three of them and thus fulfill a deal we made with them to purchase a Wii. Surprisingly, Grace has found her athletic niche and so far is undefeatable at any Wii sport. The most humbling defeat for me was boxing; my Mii character was decked four times in three rounds by her little girl Mii before finally being KO'ed. Kristin had a good laugh at my desperate lunging punches and Grace's rabbit-like speed punching.