New Mexico Vacation! (part 1)

Take a peek at some of our vacation pics! Dave & I spent a week in Pendaries Village with Suzanne's parents and the kids.

It took about 12 hours in the car to get there! The kids had a great time (mostly) during the long drive! We ate snacks, played with toys, and watched DVDs.

Here's our beautiful cabin! Pendaries (Pan-duh-ray), named after the man who owned it in the early 1900s, during the days of the Santa Fe Trail, which ran through nearby Las Vegas, NM. Thanks, Dale, for letting us stay at your beautiful home!

We looked for golf balls in the back yard!

The kids had special "rooms" - they LOVED it! It was a long closet with 2 doors and a slanted roof. It was perfect!

One day, we drove to 2 nearby ski mountains, Angel Fire and Red River. We found a great playground at Angel Fire, where we had a picnic!

Later, at Red River, they had a chairlift open. Dave, Daniel, and Suzanne took an exciting (but slow) ride up to the top of the mountain.

Grammie had fun taking pictures of the kids being silly in the car.

The cabin is on Hole 10 of the Pendaries golf course. Of course, my dad and Dave got in a few rounds. Nothing says vacation like playing golf!

Grammie & Anna on a golf course bridge.

We spent a day in Las Vegas, NM. One stop was the restored train depot. Las Vegas was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail and was a major city on the train route. Over 60 trains would stop there each day during the turn of the century.

We even got to see an Amtrak train come through while we were there!

Waiting for the train.

Here comes the train!!

It was fun to watch people get on and off the train. It was pretty loud, too!

Here is one of the train's conductors. She was super nice and waved to the kids while they pulled out.

This is the Castaneda hotel, which used to be a beautiful, high-class hotel during the train days. It was next door to the train station.

What vacation with preschoolers is complete without a trip (or two) to McDonalds?!

We also had tons of fun just hanging out at the cabin.

Mommy had surprises for the kids all week. Anna loved her new princess shoes.

Play-doh was Daniel's favorite!

New Mexico Vacation! (part 2)

Here are some more of our vacation pics!

Front entrance of the place we stayed.

















Daniel had a great time taking pictures! Here's one of the adults at the table just after breakfast on our last day.


















One of my Daniel favorites - his view of Papa Ray as we clean up the cabin!!




















Another one of Daniel's good ones. He probably took at least 100 pictures during our week there. Many were of tables, ceilings, and floors. And of course, his other two favorites: Anna and play-doh.
















This is "Hermit Peak". It is named for Italian religious recluse John Augustiani, who lived there in a cave he had dug into the earth around the time of the U.S. Civil War. Elevation is about 10,000 feet. No, we didn't even get near it!















Anna is getting ready to go for a ride in the car to go eat ice cream! You might notice her hair has been curled by Grammie!






















Daniel enjoys his bomb pop.















Anna got her ice cream everywhere!!






















There were paint horses and longhorns in the pastures just outside of Pendaries.


















Mom and I both got to read the 7th (and final) Harry Potter book! It was so great!!!




















Dave & I got to have a date night at Blackjacks, a great restaurant in Las Vegas.

















The nearest neighbor had 4 dogs who greeted us everytime we drove by. This one came by to visit; she was very sweet.





















We invented a new game called "Wee Woah". Kids had a BLAST with this one.




We're all ready to go home! What a great trip!!! Thanks Grammie and Papa Ray!