Does The Fun Ever End?

We had one last play day with The Gang and boy
oh boy did we make the most of it. We started off
by heading over to Kirk's Mom's house to pick up
his cousin Cherlis, who is visiting from Louisiana.
Next we headed over to Explora, a hands on
science museum where the kids can experiment
with electricity, gravity, density, light, sound
vibrations and tons of other cool things. After
we were done with Explora, we headed to Itz for
lunch and games. Itz is similar to Chuck E Cheese's
but much bigger and much cooler.

We had a wonderful day and were so thankful
that we got to spend it with The Gang and Cherlis.


Getting ready for some cool adventures at Explora.
From left to right: Maryssa, Jenna, Cherlis, Tori
and Ian.


Life size link-n-logs. If you look carefully, Ian
is peeking out of the little window.


The lighting on this is bad, sorry. This is the
elevator. It is decorated just like a living room,
complete with overstuffed arm chairs, a couch
and books and paintings on the walls.


I got this picture by accident. Jenna and I were
playing with the kaleidoscope and I took her picture.
I wasn't expecting it to be a million reflections of her
face, just her at the end of the tube. But it turned
out so cool that we made Ian take one too.


The fun house mirrors were too funny!



No one from our group was brave enough
to ride the tightrope bike. They say that
it is counter balanced so there isn't any way
to fall off but we were not willing to take that
chance!


Tori would gently blow on the bubble and it would
change how the colors reflected off of the soap.


If you positioned everything just right, you could
get the air from the pipe to hold up the balloon
in the air. This exhibit got lots of giggles from my kids.


Jenna is controlling how this airplane flies.
Could she be following in Uncle Greg's shoes?



One of the exhibits was a dancing water display.
There were controls at various positions where
you got to control how the water moved. Cool, huh?



This was Ian playing the cello. As he would draw
the bow over the strings, the projector would
display the vibrations that were created.


Maryssa had the magic touch with
the bubble wand. This was just one
of her many huge bubbles.



After Explora, we went to Itz for lunch and games.
Itz is similar to Chuck E Cheese's...but way more
fun! It has a full buffet for lunch and you eat in a
themed roomed. We ate in Toon Town and it had floor
to ceiling movie screens that were airing Boomerang
cartoons for us to watch while we ate. In addition
to games, Itz also has rides. Instead of tokens, you
get points put on your "credit card". You just swipe
your card each time you want to play a game.
It was a super fun time.


Ian took a few of his points and rode the bumper
cars. He loved it!


Jenna rode the mini roller coaster with some of
her points. As the train would go down the
hill, you could hear her squeals of delight. It was
the "coolest ride ever". She also rode a spinning
ride and since she wasn't quite tall enough, I had
to ride as well. It was not one of my favorite
moments of the day. But, she loved it!


Kirk was really feeling the rhythm
and just couldn't resist doing a
little dancin'.

Slumber Party Fun!

To help Ian say "good-bye" to his new friends,
we had a slumber party. He had two friends from
his class and one friend from his martial arts
class. We ended up with two Ryans so we had
to give them nick names to keep them straight.
Ryan from school became Tarzan Ryan and Ryan
from martial arts became Ninja Ryan.

We ordered pizza, had ice cream sundaes, the boys
waged a lego war, played video games, watched movies
and yes, they even slept. They stayed up until 1:30 am
and they were so proud!

A good time was had by all.


A pizza picnic! When you have four boys staying
the night and almost all of the toys have been packed,
it makes sense to take them to the park to play.
It was a little windy but still fun.


Why work when there are boys to do it for you?


Tarzan Ryan won every race. To try and even
things out, we had them race backwards. He
ended up winning this race too.


Run, Jenna, run! She got tired of
always losing and started running
before we yelled "Go".


What a bunch of silly kids. Jenna, Ian, Ninja Ryan,
Tarzan Ryan and Damian.

Life Lessons

As some of you may know, when we moved to NM,
we started an allowance system with Ian. He would
get to keep half of what he earned, 1/4 would go into
savings and the other 1/4 would go into a charity fund.
As we were packing clothes and toys to take to a local
charity (St. Felix pantry), Ian was asking why I was
doing this. After our conversation, he decided he wanted
to spend his charity money on some food for the pantry.
(of courseJenna wanted to give some food too) So, we
all went to Albertson's to buy their food.

Yesterday, I took them to St. Felix to turn in their donations.
As we were unpacking the clothes and toys from the car, I
mentioned to the gentleman helping me that the kids had
food for the pantry. He disappeared for a moment and came
back to tell me that Sister Genevieve, the founder, would
to take the food from the kids. As we walked into the kitchen,
all of the volunteers greeted the kids with smiles and hellos.
Sister Genevieve took the food, hugged the kids and chatted
with them for a few minutes...making sure they understood
that their food would be dinner for a family that couldn't afford
to buy groceries. One of the other Sisters offered to take our picture
with her. Once we got back into the car, Ian was very quiet. I
asked what he was thinking about and he said, "that felt really good, Mom".
It was a neat moment. On the flip side, as I buckled Jenna in, she said,
"they didn't even give us lollipops".

Here is a little information on St. Felix (from the Rio Rancho Observer).
St. Felix Pantry serves about 500 to 550 low-income families per week
throughout the year, passing on donated food donated by merchants,
vendors and individuals. It also offers clothing and educational help.
Clients are asked to donate only $3 per visit if they can afford it.



Ian and Jenna were taking in the groceries they
had picked out for the pantry. Ian bought two 8 packs
of Juicy Juice boxes, 2 jars of spaghetti sauce,
4 boxes of macaroni and cheese and a can of fruit
cocktail. Jenna picked out Wheat Thins, french style
green beans, 4 boxes of macaroni and cheese and
a bag of spaghetti noodles.


Here we are with Sister Genevieve. (the founder
of the St. Felix pantry)

Memorial Day

I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning;
I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were
appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag
should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate
rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in
a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.
~Benjamin Harrison


Rio Rancho has a small parade to celebrate
Memorial Day. We were able to meet up with
Zach's family, so it was even more fun!


Waiting for the parade to start.


Zach and Ian were doing word searches while
waiting for the parade to start.


Enjoying the band!

A hero is someone who has given his or her life

to something bigger than oneself. ~Joseph Campbell

What a sparkling good day!

Cover them over with beautiful flowers,

Deck them with garlands, those brothers of ours,

Lying so silent by night and by day,

Sleeping the years of their manhood away.

Give them the meed they have won in the past;

Give them the honors their future forecast;

Give them the chaplets they won in the strife;

Give them the laurels they lost with their life.~Will Carleton

New Friends in New Mexico

We have been taking advantage of summer break
to spend some time with a few of Ian's new friends.
We were supposed to meet Zach's family at the
park but since it was hailing and raining, we opted
to meet at Peter Piper's Pizza instead (similar to Chuck
E Cheese's). We had a blast!


Ian and Zach


Giddy Up!



Zach and Ian playing games


He ended up with over 750 tickets!

Jenna and Zach's brother Aiden waiting in line

to cash in their tickets.

Look at that loot!

We had Damian come over for a sleep over. He

brought his new balloon rockets over. We all

had many laughs watching the balloons fly all

over the room.

Getting ready for bed. Everyone was all settled

and then Angel decided she needed some space

on the bed too!

No More Pencils, No More Books!

School's out for summer!!! We celebrated the last day
of school with The Hurley Boys and The Gang. We
all met at, where else, Mc Donald's for lunch. Then
The Gang went to see Prince Caspian and we went
with The Hurley Boys to see Horton Hears a Who.

Let the summer fun begin!!!



Ian and Kyle are in the background. Logan,
Jenna and Tori stopping so I can snap a picture.


Lucas, Logan, Ian, Noah and Kyle all having a good
time. Trent is missing from this all boys shot, he
was hanging with us Mom's at another table.
(Maryssa was sitting with us as well)


Colinas Del Norte invited parents for a summer
bbq on the Friday before school let out. It was
a perfect day to sit outside and enjoy a hot dog.
We sat with Ian's friend Damian and his mom
and sister.

Bunches of Fun with The Berry's

Yahoo! The Berry Family came up to see us last
weekend! We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving.
We were especially excited to see Evan, since his
now 7 months old. They got here LATE Thursday
night (like 1:30 am Fri morn) and played hard with
us until Sunday morning. We were privileged to get
to spend Amy's first Mother's Day with her. :) We
went to the zoo, the aquarium, Sandia Mountain and
one of the neighborhood parks. Amy, Allen and Evan,
thanks for making the drive and seeing our temporary
home! We had a great time! See you in a month!!




Ian and Jenna at the Albuquerque zoo. The coolest
feature of this zoo is that you are so close to the
animals. I took a million pictures (only posted a few)
because you could see the animals so well.


Aunt Amo took a tip from Jenna's
hiking techniques and got a piggy back
ride from Allen while we toured the zoo.

Ian and Jenna climbed into this throne

and immediately started shouting orders.

I told them the sign said, Do Not Feed The Animals,

but they are rebels and fed him any way. :)

Aren't eels creepy?

How cool are these jellyfish?

Scuba diving with the sharks, no thanks. I would

rather be on the dry side of the glass.

Despite the vast amount of things to

do and see at the zoo and aquarium,

Ian and Allen still took time to stop

and smell the roses.

Ian and Evan (with a little help from Allen),

we were riding on the train that connects the

aquarium and the zoo. It is about a 20 minute

ride and you get to go through two tunnels.

If I am not mistaken, this looks a little like John.

The seals and sea lions were Ian's favorite. Jenna

walked all around this exhibit barking like a seal

and was just sure they were answering her.

Saturday night, we went took The Berry Family

to the park where we were meeting The Gang for

a picnic/bbq. Despite the chilly winds, we all had

a good time.

We rocked the park with our cool kites. The plus

side to our windy days is that they are perfect

for flying kites. This one belongs to Noah.

Tori's kite

Lucas' kite

Ian's kite

Ian, master of the kite.

I just love this little man. I must have taken a

million pictures of just him. He was so tired from

the long drive from TX but was still so fun. He is a

sweet, sweet boy.

Jenna couldn't wait for baby Evan to

get here. She kept talking about helping

to feed him and take care of him.

We tried to ride the tram to the top of

Sandia Mountain but the winds were too

high. We found some cool trails and hiked

for an hour and a half or so instead.

I am pretty sure that is what Jenna really was

thinking.

Awww...they do love each other.

We found some wild animals while

hiking on the mountain.

Queen of the Really Small Rock

Thank goodness John was there to roll

that big boulder off the path.

What a nice lookin' family.

Poor Amo was pooped by the end

of our hike but Evan LOVED it. His

favorite part was when his Momma

lost her footing and did the 'gravel

slide'. He would swing his feet and

laugh out loud. If he liked that, he is

gonna love roller coasters when he is

bigger.