A Day In Roswell

Life in Roswell really does revolve around aliens. There's aliens and spaceships everywhere! The kids loved it.

Here we are at the museum. Because of course there is an entire museum completely dedicated to aliens.

Camille was taking the alien research very seriously:

And, at one of the gazillion gift shops- this one boasts a photo staging area:

And then we headed to the little Roswell Zoo. Ben had no idea this zoo existed, and was sad he never went while he was on his mission. It was next to a playground so the girls were a little impatient to get through the zoo and head over to the park, but we made it.

And, after the park, we headed over to McDonalds. Now, we very very rarely take the kids to McD's. But, the kids REALLY wanted to go here because the restaurant was in the shape of a UFO, so we caved.

After McD's, we headed to our last stop: Carlsbad. We drove to our hotel, The Fairfield Marriott Hotel. Audra was so excited to get here! She asked me a couple of weeks ago if she could introduce us at the hotel. She walked in and said "We are the Marriott's checking in." The lady at the desk didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did.

Here is a super cute picture of Camille sleeping. It was just so precious I had to take a picture, even if it is too dark to really see.

And, for the record: Ben IS related to J. Willard Marriott. Ben's great-grandpa was the cousin of J. Willard. And, for my father-in-law, here is a little history about Ben's Great Cousin (click on the picture and it should get big enough to read):

Audra Turns NINE!

Yikes- only one more year as a single digit!

But, it is true: Audra turned 9 in Santa Fe and Roswell, NM this year.

After our tour of Santa Fe, we spent three hours driving through a massive rain storm (are you sensing a theme for our trip?) to Roswell, NM. We knew it would be kind-of a different Birthday for Audra since we were on the road, but she was just fine with it.

We went to The Golden Corral for dinner- which is a place Ben often ate at while on his mission. It brought back lots of memories for him, and everybody got to choose a fun Birthday dessert from about 300 different options available at the buffet.

Then we went back to our AirBnB where Audra got to open her present- a Smart Watch designed for kids.

Here's some fun things about 9 year old Audra:

-She is still the sweetest child you will ever meet. Seriously. However, believe it or not (and those of you who know Audra will not believe this, but it is true), she is starting to get a little tween attitude on occasion. I can already see the teenage years might not be as smooth as I would like.
-She is not afraid to try new things- she has quite the go-getter spirit. It's really pretty cool.
-She loves to read! I've documented that many times before, but it still makes me happy.
-She is getting much more independent- wanting to stay home for a minutes alone, wanting to go on walks around the cul-de-sac by herself and such.
-She still loves her dolls- she is very motherly. Perhaps she will own some day cares or at least do something with children when she is older.
-She will eat most anything-she really isn't picky at all. But, her favorite food is breakfast burritos, and she does not like mushrooms.
-She is doing really well with piano. She is excited to start playing the trumpet this next school year as well. Like I said, she likes to try new things.
-Her cooking is getting better and better. She now is really, truly helpful in a lot of areas around the house. It is very nice for us, not always so nice for her.
-Everybody absolutely loves Audra. She is simply so sweet and thoughtful- she definitely has a special spirit about her, and she has an old soul. She is wise beyond her years.

Santa Fe: Day 2

We spent this morning touring the historic sites of Santa Fe- it was so much fun! And, perfect for rainy/stormy weather- which we conveniently had.

Danielle- this picture is for you. This is the "Mysterious Staircase"- it is a completely self standing double spiral staircase, with no center column for support. Very interesting stuff- you can read more about it HERE.

This church is the oldest in the country:

 And here is the oldest house:

Then we headed over to the stake capitol- because we could. They had a lot of artwork on display, and we got to go see where the senate sits and learn a little about government which was nice.

Santa Fe: Day 1

After our lackluster Sand Dunes Experience, we piled back in our car and drove 3 hours to Santa Fe.

For the record, the reason we chose to go to New Mexico is because Ben served his mission in Arizona and New Mexico. When we were first married, we went to visit his old stomping ground, and we wanted to show the kids where he served as well. However, neither he or I had ever been to Santa Fe, and I had always wanted to go (thank you, Newsies) so we decided to add that to our trip. I am so glad we did! Santa Fe is an absolutely charming town- we really enjoyed ourselves.

We found a cute park- Railyard Park- for the kids to run off some energy.

Even though we made it to the desert, the cold weather still followed us, so the park was a little short lived. Then we headed to the New Mexico History Museum. This is a fantastic museum- I learned so much!

This picture is for my dad:

Perhaps my favorite picture of the day:

When You Can't Do the Dunes...

Thankfully, even though the weather was miserable, we were able to go someplace dry: The reptile museum! The kids loved this. It was definitely worth going to!