Family Vacation 2014

For the past several years, my parents make sure we go on a family vacation as our Christmas gift.

2006 - South Padre Island
2007 - Yellowstone
2008 - San Antonio
2009 - Staycation at Great Wolf Lodge
2012 - San Francisco/San Luis Obispbo for Jaime's wedding
2013 - Destin, FL (over-blogged about here, here, here, and here)
2014 - Ruidoso, NM

Why Ruidoso? It's driving distance and 20 degrees cooler than Texas in July!

On Tuesday July 1, I worked in the morning, then we headed for Amarillo. The kids were great and we didn't even break out the Kindle on the 5.5 hour drive. We met my folks at the Big Texan to watch the USA v. Belgium soccer match. There was plenty of room for the kids to play, which they LOVED. The Big Texas was just in the news recently when a 34 year-old mom of 4 ate their famous 72-oz steak dinner in less than 5 minutes (you are given 1 hour and if you finish, it's free)... then for dessert she finished off a second helping in another 5 minutes.

The next day, we made a pit-stop at Cadillac Ranch. It was drizzling and chilly.

We got to Roswell and drove by the house that Derek grew up in (he moved to TX right before his 4th birthday).

Then it was off to Martin's Capitol Cafe for some green chile stew. On our way out of town, we drove by what once was Derek's great grandmother's house.

From there we headed to Ruidoso. The whole family was there by about 3pm. Uncle Steve and Derek lead the kids into the woods to follow some deer.

After dinner at a pizza joint, the kids went to bed. Then Derek and I went to the casino with my siblings. Abby fell in love with Jacob and kept giving him kisses.

On Thursday, we headed to Ski Apache. We rode the gondola up and took the short hike up to the peak. Well - the hike was short for everyone except Abby. She wanted to be carried up the mountain - but only by mama.

Friday was the 4th of July. We went for a hike in Lincoln National Park (again - Abby's legs were barely working).


We ended the evening on the balcony telling stories with some beverages.

Then we went to what we thought was a neat cave (Fox Cave), but instead it was really lame so we took lots of cheesy photos instead.


On Saturday, our crew headed out to Carlsbad Caverns. It was about 3 hours to get there, 3 hours in the caves, then 3 hours back.

On the way back, Grant threw us for a loop by having a nosebleed in the middle of a nap. Seriously - it came out of nowhere. We ate in Roswell and the kids got to play at the UFO Festival. The restaurant was aptly named. Yes - we got a T-shirt.

That evening we went with the whole crew to the Flying J Ranch. It was a really fun evening.






On Sunday, we checked the weather and rain was in the forecast all day. We decided to head back to Dallas a day early, then we could have a staycation day on Monday. We got back around 8 pm, and Emily came over to watch the kiddos. Although the kids did AWESOME on the car ride (as opposed to the ride home from Destin last year, which was pure torture), we were in need of some adult time and a margarita!

June - Part 2

June 17 - A fly was in the car after swim lessons. It was tragic. Also, Derek let the kids put stickers all over him because he was trying to watch the World Cup.
June 20 - Swimming showoffs! And charts to show all the skills they accomplished.

So Abby learned to:
16. Blowing bubbles - face in the water
17. Tree fall - falling into water from a standing position
18. Fall In/Swim - entering water from the side & swimming
19. Jellyfish - releasing into a prone position
20. Bobbing 5 times - going under and up rhythmically
21. Knee Dive - with assistance from the side of the pool
22. Retrieve Treasure - going under water and picking up rings
23. Diving Board or alternate - entering deep water with help.
Additional skills - piggy-back riding on the back of an instructor and submerging.
24. Face float with a glide
25. Face float with a flutter kick
26. Knee dive - unassisted from the side of the pool
33. ???

Grant learned to:
24. Face float with a glide
25. Face float with a flutter kick
26. Knee dive - unassisted from the side of the pool
27. Swimming through a hoop - underwater
28. Retrieve a ring below water - shoulder deep
29. Jump & recover in the deep - swim to the side unassisted
30. Back float for 15 seconds - slight support
31. Swim across the pool with help to breathe
32. Kickboard - with extended flutter kick
33. I have no idea.
34. Beginner stroke with a flutter kick - arms in a forward stroke
35. Beginner stroke wih breathing - without assistance
36. Back glide with winging
37. Back float for 30 seconds - no support
41. Rollover - change from prone position to backfloat while swimming
43. Diving board - jump & recover (modified when no board is available).

June 21 - Trip to Red Oak! After this trip, Spring decided to show up (missing the memo that it is JUNE) with several days of rain. Also on this day, one of my closest friends had a baby and another got engaged! Before we left there was a cuddle session and a show.

June 23 - Baby Rylan is out of the NICU and ready for visitors!

June 24 - I have a thing with dressing my kids alike.

June 26 - USA v Germany at the office! And after work, we had game night and authentic Hawaiian eats and drinks at Suzette's.

June 28 - We went to the Farmer's Market. The kids got popsicles - we almost always remove Abby's shirt for popsicles and it didn't even matter that we were in public! Dinner that night with the Stahlneckers, celebrating Alvah's birthday!
June 29 - Pack, pack, pack! Family vacation is coming up!

June - Part 1

June was a great month. So great that I didn't have time to blog. So I'm back-dating this bad boy and catching up!

June 1 - Pool time, a trip to the splash pad (the boys biked), dinner at the newest Cafe del Rio (reminds me of college!) and a sweet treat.

June 4 - Abby's first trip to the dentist! The boys went to Grant's check up (with lots of shots) first, then it was Grant's turn at the dentist. He stayed home with Derek.

June 5 - BABIES! 2 coworkers had their babies on the same day in the same hospital!

June 7 - 11 year anniversary! The Dacuses came over and Derek was over-served. But he did rally and we ate at Daddy Jacks for dinner.

June 8 - Eve's princess and pirate party!
June 9 - The kids took 2 weeks of swim classes. It was a ton of work - Pack them up, drop them off at daycare, go to work, leave work, pull them from daycare, change them, feed them, change them back, drop them off, try to get Abby to nap at daycare, then go back to work.

June 11 - Since I'm back dating this, I have no clue why she is topless.

June 12 - Derek and some of his friends left for New Orleans.

June 13 - After the first week of class, the kids earned their badges! They were the first ones in their classes to get badges! Abby got the Bubbler badge and Grant got the Dipper badge! Grant now tilts his head anytime you ask him to say "cheese!"

June 14 - Jaime's having a boy!!! Clara loved helping her open presents (by throwing the tissue paper up in the air).
June 15 - Derek got back from NOLA around 10a, napped, then he was ready to party! So we went to Owen's birthday party!