Still Out There...

Okay, so we didn't really have any downtime for me to blog until just now. Yes we are still alive (Well Jay and I are...)! We made it to Texas and while we were there we visited with Kari and Lisa and Cheryl and their families we went swimming A LOT, we went to Church with Kari and spent equal amounts of time in Justin and Southlake. We really enjoyed the Fort Worth Zoo, and the Denton Water Works Park, and the Fort Worth Stockyards. I think that everyone LOVED Bahama Bucks.
Jay fixed some of the electrical issues that were plaguing Lisa and Kari. Lisa and Kari both BBQ'd for us hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, fajitas, and vegtables; Lisa also made a delicious Brisket that cooked for over fifteen hours!

Kari had a lovely get-together with us and Cheryl and Glen and some of Kari's friends from Church. They were super nice and fun to talk to. The best part was that Audrey and Kaylee had some more girls to play with. Five girls were visiting and Olivia was there also. JJ and Logan got along very nicely playing Dinosaur games and other make believe. Lisa's big kids were a big help and they were very generous with their time while we were there.

When we left on Monday the kids were sad to go but they were also ready to head home. They didn't know that home was more than four days away! We drove all day on Monday and ended up in Albuquerque, NM around 9:00pm local time. The next day we went all around Albuquerque,
first to the Museum of Natural History and Science, then to the Aquarium and Botanical Gardens, then to the Petroglyphs National Monument by way of Old Town Albuquerque, and then to the International Balloon Museum. We had pizza for dinner and then caught a showing of "Race to Witch Mountain" at the dollar movie theatre.

If you happen to go to Albuquerque we definately recommend the Balloon Museum, it was really cool and the kids really enjoyed it. The Museum of Natural History and Science was definately second favorite because of the giant dinosaur skeletons including a Brachiosaurus' foot, which was sooooooo tall! The kids enjoyed looking for the Petroglyphs and deciphering the different etchings, Audrey spotted a road runner near the shade of the water fountain, the Botanical Garden had a really cool train set up to go around a large part of the garden, there was also a Butterfly pavillion and a Childrens fantasy garden that were all big hits.

Today we left Albuquerque and now we are in Flagstaff, AZ in a Days Inn that overlooks much of Flagstaff. On the way here today we stopped at El Malpais National Park and saw the Natural Arch and stood on the Sandstone Bluff outlooks. The kids found several camouflaged lizards and took pictures of them. Then we stopped at the Continental Divide and took a picture of a sign there by one of the crazy roadside stops. Then we went to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Parks in Arizona. After that we headed to the Homolovi Ruins State Park and saw a Hopi Indian settlement from over 700 years ago and a Mormon cemetery left from a settlement there in the eighteen hundreds and more camouflaged lizards! The kids both said that one of the highlights of the day was the rest stop at Meteor Crater because the bathroom was as big as our house!

When we finally got to the hotel all the kids got a good scrub a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk. They are now asleep and I think that I will follow thier lead. Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon!

Wish us luck!