So our first vacation as a family all by ourselves was a HUGE success!!! What a great time we had seeing all of God's beautiful and wonderful creations!!! This was bug and me getting ready before we left!!!!
Day 1: We went to Carlsbad Caverns the first day of our trip. I think overall this was my favorite thing to do. I have never seen anything like this before and the caves will take your breath away! This pic was outside the caves before we went in!
At the entrance to the caverns!!!
I don't know why blogger won't turn my pictures even when I have already turned them. Frustrates me so bad but I wanted to add them anyways!!
Kind of dark but this is all the boys inside the cave/
We put Laken on a home made leash... He loved it and had a blast. If not on a leash Colton and I took turns carrying him the entire time inside the caves. We were both exhausted by the end! He's a mess!!!
Happy Boy!
I love this picture. I truly have the best husband in the entire world! I don't know what I would do without him!
Day 2: Cloudcroft NM We stayed in a cabin for 2 days in Cloudcroft. The boys loved hiking and being outside and having room to run and play in the forest and mountains. I thought we would never get them inside. We had a fire every night and really loved playing outside.
I think this might be one of my new favorite pictures. He is so sweet and this pretty much sums up his personality. SUPER cute, a little rotten and constantly wanting to be dirty! Look at that dirty face!
I take pictures constantly but I caught daddy in the act of giving Laken some kisses. He is the best daddy ever!
Mini me... nough said
My precious number 2! He hates taking pictures because that means he would have to stop what he is doing which pretty much sums up his personality. A goer and a doer. What would I do without this boy I have no idea! LOVE YOU!!!
Now Shannon. Oh Shannon. He had a great time on the trip as well. He liked playing outside and seeing the bats at the cave. This is his mean face... scary huh?
Just enjoying the outdoors!
King of the mountain!!!
Day 3: We were still camped at Cloudcroft but we made the hour drive out to White Sands. Wow was that a site. I am so glad I got to see White Sands because again I have never seen anything like it in my whole life! This was us on the drive. We had to pull over and get a pic of that amazing landscape!
The first stop of white sands was cool but nothing like when you get to the actual sands. Here we looked at animal tracks int he sand. From here it just got whiter and whiter!
The cool kids who brought their shades!
Did I mention that Laken likes to get dirty??? Here is some more proof. He was in sandman heaven. I think when we got back to the car I washed sand out of pretty much every place imaginable! ha!
Colton thought this was so funny. Our african baby running through the terrain... ;)
Now to the sands! Here they are sledding down. We had such a blast. It was so hard to get to the top of the sands that I only made it up 4 times. What a workout. I thought you were supposed to gain weight on a vacation but I know I lost it!
Go Colton!
It looks like I let our family wear shorts and a tee in the middle of the snow but no people that is SAND you see!!!
He is more adventurous than the rest of us...
All covered in sand...
And happy about it...
Laken apparently played hard because we hadn't been in the car 2 minutes when we looked back and saw this!
Back in Cloudcroft we decided to explore the forest. It sounded like a good plan until we got out there. Then I started having a legitimate melt down about bears and watching my children get eaten so much to everyone elses dismay we didn't stay more than about and hour or so deep in the forest. I know I know but I'm a mom... And yes I would have hit a bear with that stick if the need arose.
Day 4: Ruidoso NM Our first stop in Ruidoso was the Inn of the Mountain Gods. It was pretty! Not a lot for the kids to do so we didn't stay long but we at least got to look at it!
Day 5: Still in Ruidoso we went shopping all day! Yes this was my day of the vacation! The boys however bought waaay more than I did... Here they all are showing off their masculine dino tats. Hard core right there.
The boys cute new shirts they got!!!
Laken's new moose to go with his other moose lovie. Now it has a friend!
And my new bracelet that I am SOOOOO excited about. It is a Pandora charm bracelet that I can add on to as we go. Colton got me the bracelet and 4 little boys charms to go on it for now! I love it!!!!
That night we went to one of the coolest things I have ever been to. It was an old western meal and entertainment. They had a gunfight, a YUMO cowboy meal and live music. Super fun! This was prob our best purchase of the trip... the boys toy guns. They haven't put them down since we bought them. Caleb even wore them in public yesterday with his boots and shorts as well.
So tough!
They loved riding the pony. They wanted to do it over and over!
Mining for "gold"! They found 2 nuggets!
Getting roped by daddy while in the process of stealing a gun!
At the live music even after dinner!!! Caleb was a little worn out!
Day 6: Bottomless Lakes We stopped off at the bottomless lakes on our way back to Lubbock at the end of our vacation! It was fun except I think we scared Laken to the point of maybe never getting in deep water again... haha We took a little raft thing with all of us to the middle of the lake much to the loud and consistent protest made by a certain baby boy... The rest of us had fun though!!!
What a fun time to be together, close together, as a family going to things created by God. I will never forget this vacation and I hope our boys won't either!!!!
