Bandelier National Monument

We spent the third day climbing in and out of cliff dwellings in Bandelier National Monument.

 

From a distance, it looks like a rocky mountain with a few little caves in a beautiful canyon.

 

But when you get closer, you can see that some of the caves have been carved out

and there are remains of manmade structures.

 

The trail takes you past a pueblo and several kivas. 

The pueblo used to be 2 stories tall and house 100 people.

 

pueblo up close

pueblo from afar



kiva - used for religious activities, education and decision making

 

Then the trail takes you to the cliff dwellings. 

Several of the caves have been restored and you can climb in them. 

 

People lived in this canyon for 400 years.  By the late 1400s, 700 people lived here.  Their life expectancy was only 35 years - that makes for a lot of generations living their whole lives in these caves.  I like to fantasize about living life here.  It seems peaceful and fulfilling.  The canyon is beautiful and everyone you love lives right there with you.

 

Clark had a rough day. Three busy days on the road made for a tired Clarky.

  

looking out one of the caves

I learned so much on our hike about the inhabitants of this canyon.  I printed out a 16 page guide before we went and had my nose tucked in it and read it out loud to everyone the whole time.  My mom totally would have done that when I was a kid and I would've been so annoyed. I was just wandering around, dreaming of what life would be like here 600 years ago.

Santa Fe

We spent our second day exploring Santa Fe.

First, we headed to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.  There are 8 museums in the city and several streets lined with art galleries, but with our three kids in tow, we decided to visit one.  ONE!  The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum was a perfect choice.  It was easily seen in an hour, very informative and full of beautiful, bold paintings and photographs. Georgia O'Keeffe was such an interesting lady.  I loved learning about her.  She was pretty risqué for her time.

pic from okeeffemuseum.org



 

Then we walked over to the Plaza, enjoyed the architecture, watched street performers, and danced in the gazebo.  It reminded me of Albuquerque's Old Town.

After that we called it a day.  I know we missed so much of the city, but that's traveling with kids for ya!  We headed back to the hotel for naps, take-out and swimming.

Tent Rocks National Monument

We have reached our halfway point of living in New Mexico!  I am starting to feel panicky about not getting to visit everything NM has to offer.  I doubt we'll ever live in the SW again so I want to see it all while we live so close.  NM is a beautiful state!!  (If you haven't heard, Matt accepted a job in Great Falls, Montana.  He starts this summer.)

We took a little 3 day trip to Santa Fe for New Year's.  Our first stop was Tent Rocks National Monument.  It was a GORGEOUS 3 mile hike.

The trail starts off flat and you can see the "tent rocks" in the distance.  The cone shaped rocks are a result of an ancient volcano eruption that left pumice, ash and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick in this area.  Over time wind and water have eroded the rocks and left these formations.

As the trail enters the slot canyon, it gradually gains elevation, squeezes through narrow rock walls, and climbs over boulders.  It was beautiful and really fun to hike.

(Clark got glasses.  He loves them.  It is obvious that he can see better with them.)

Then the trail becomes very steep (and icy in winter) as it climbs 630 feet to the top of the mesa.  From the top you look down on the "tent rocks" and see views of the surrounding mountains.

 

Matt said - The lower loop was PG.  The spur trail that went through the slot canyon quickly went to PG-13 and then R with the lifting and carrying of children.

 

Well said!

 

 

Willa is an awesome hiker.  She has so much energy.  At the top, I was literally sitting in the dirt catching my breath and she was running in place saying she needed some more exercise.  Clark did really well for a 2 year old.  He hiked pretty much the whole thing.  He had to be carried in a few difficult and icy spots and then wanted to be carried the last mile or so.  Oliver was perfectly content on Matt's chest as long as Matt was moving and he had his binky.

 

It was perfect hiking weather in the sun.  The shade got a bit chilly.  Hiking just makes me want to hike more and more.

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year was a doozy!  Matt had to work all week.  I was feeling grinchy and missing my family.  Everyone in the house besides me got a stomach bug.  I spent the holiday week cleaning up vomit and more vomit and diarrhea and more diarrhea.  I am writing this a week after Christmas and our Christmas ham still sits in the fridge. 

Christmas Eve everyone felt well enough to dress up and read from Luke.

We had chicken fondue for dinner ... a Brown family tradition.  We opened most of our gifts since Matt had to work on Christmas.  Willa and Clark left cookies for Santa.

 a few more memories:

Visiting Santa.
Matt and I took the kids to visit Santa at the mall a couple Saturdays before Christmas.  Mistake.  Just as we got there, Santa went on break so we killed time by visiting the Disney store.  When we went back to get in line, the line was at least an hour long.  We left without seeing him.  I took the kids back to visit Santa a few days later on a weekday  morning.  Much better!  We didn't have to wait in line and Santa spent time talking to my kids.  Willa loved it.  She is a real believer this year.  Clark doesn't quite get Santa yet. 

Christmas Day.
Oliver got sick around 4am.  Clark got sick around 5am.  The commotion woke Willa up and she wanted to go downstairs to see what Santa left her.  We told her to go back to bed for a little bit longer.  I've never had a baby vomit before.  It was so sad to watch him throw up and moan and feel so sick and not be able to do anything about it.  I'm not sure when Willa snuck downstairs.  Around 6:30 Matt and I went downstairs and she was already down there admiring her and her brothers' gifts.  Clark and Oliver slept in since they were both sick.  Matt worked, but was home by 11.  Willa was sick again in the afternoon.  I don't think anyone ate much of anything all day.

Our Tree.
We went real again.  We bought this tree at Home Depot.  It was so full and smelled so good. 
I love the smell of a real tree!  The tree looked a little different everyday.  Clark undecorated it and Willa redecorated it.  I have almost all unbreakable ornaments.  While we were decorating the tree, Clark picked up my one and only round glass ornament and threw it on the kitchen tile.  It shattered.  He thought it was a ball.  He realized right away he had done something wrong.  I could see on his face how bad he felt.  He even walked over to the stairs and put himself in time out and hung his head.  It was sweet.  How could I get mad at something like that?