I’m not completely enchanted with “The Land Of Enchantment” quite yet, BUT staying in New Mexico certainly has its perks. For starters, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to live here, compared to Richmond & Phoenix (well, in the Farmington area at least), but more importantly, we’re only 6-7 hours away from our family and friends in Colorado Springs!!! You know what that means…
*pause for dramatic effect*
…we actually get to SEE them soon! (Face to face, and not on Skype!) The first person to make that a reality was Pip. He made the trek southwest from our old stomping grounds to hang out with us for the week (Monday-Saturday). Nic had to work this week, but that didn’t stop the girls and I from making him hang out with us, lol! I’m sure he was elated when Nic got off work every day and saved him from all the estrogen!
Our week with him started off Monday evening. While Nic and I awaited Pip’s arrival, I forced him to take some pics with me. The girls played around in the dirt. Those two are ALWAYS playing in the dirt. (Yay for magical childhoods!)
Yea, I wouldn’t leave him alone, haha!
I was interrupting their “Wizard Wand Fight”. They were none too pleased…Pip is just minutes away!
Some Yoga play to kill the time…
The girls were so excited to see Pip, that Daddy decided to tease them a bit. Every. Single. Car. that pulled into our park and drove anywhere remotely close to us, he would announce “There he is!” all dramatic and such. They’d get all excited, then realize Daddy tricked them…again. You’d think they would’ve caught on eventually. About 17 announcements later, I announced his arrival…because he really was here, lol.
He made it! And it only took him 7 hours on the dot to get here (1 hour longer than we all thought it was supposed to take).
He made it just in time for the sun to set and for us to BBQ for dinner. It was so wonderful seeing him again!
(He wants everyone to know that that wasn’t his salad…it was mine. God forbid these men of mine eat salads, lol!)
After a long drive, he opted to spend the night in a hotel. $90 And a very stinky hotel room later (don’t stay at that hotel-if you come to see us), he opted to tent camp outside our RV the remainder of his stay. He headed to Wal-Mart, with the girls and I the following morning, to pick up a tent (which he kindly gifted us on Saturday). The girls bugged him the entire day to set up his tent. The man is a lot more tolerant to pestering than I am! In the meantime, since he wanted to wait until Nic got home to ask where to put it, I set the girls’ castle tent up for them to play in for a bit. Of course, Cindy spilled her entire bottle of OJ inside (one of the few friggin’ times I actually buy & allow her to drink juice)! I figured the mess wasn’t going anywhere though, so I snapped a pic of it before I cleaned it up. It took only a matter of seconds to wipe up with my trusty Norwex! (I LOVE Norwex! Every Mom should own at the very least one of their anti-bac microfiber cloths.)
The tent kept them entertained for a bit…that is, until they got the bright idea to build a lake…which eventually turned into playing in the mud and making mud pies. They totally commandeered my pitcher, too. I was seriously 2 seconds away from using it to make me a smoothie.
Facial, anyone?
I stole away eventually to prepare my green smoothie, and my berry ice “cream”. Blueberries, Blackberries, Avocadoes and a few other ingredients blended together & frozen, turn into the most delectable vegan frozen dessert. Yum! (Chocolate’s still my favorite though.)
- 2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
- 1 cup fresh blueberries (and blackberries if you want)
- ½ cup almond milk
- ¼ cup agave syrup
- 2 Tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Blend all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into serving glasses. Refrigerated for 1 hour before serving. (I like to freeze mine for a frozen dessert “ice cream” of sorts. It’s delicious! I added Blackberries too!)
Later in the day, we headed over to the playground to pretend we were monkeys, while Daddy and Pip played a game of Horseshoes. Cindy tried to play too, but as it turns out, Horseshoes & Cinderella don’t mix. MHG had a blast though! She was doing pretty good for a wee lass of just 8.
P.S. That’s our RV behind the guys in the next 4 pics. I love being right up front. I don’t have to drag my laundry very far to wash it.
Eventually, everyone’s A.D.D. kicked in, so the guys paused their game to go back and set up Pip’s tent finally. They later continued their game while I was cooking everyone dinner and the girls were corralled back home with me.
The girls LOVE setting up tents. I seriously think I could give them one tent and they would spend all day setting it up, taking it down and setting it up again. Now that Pip gave it to us, maybe I’ll do that someday when I’m desperate for quiet time, lol.
Two years old is such a fun age. Cindy ALWAYS has to help. It doesn’t matter what it is either. She’s definitely Mommy’s little helper. I just think it’s adorable and I’m glad I’m never in a hurry, cuz lord knows that it takes whatever it is 5 times longer so she can do it all by herself, haha!
Another event from the week included a visit to the Aztec Ruins National Monument. MHG joined the Junior Ranger program and we had a ball checking the whole place out. It was incredible to imagine the hustling and bustling of the Puebloans 900 years ago! The whole place consisted of about 400 rooms!!! (We didn’t go through that many though.)
All the doorways were so tiny. I felt like I was doing the Limbo every time I went through one.
You can see a lot more pictures of our trip to the Aztec Ruins HERE on this post.
Later that night, Pip treated us to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Oh boy was it delicious! MHG had her very first Baby Back Ribs and she was hooked! Cindy had Mac n Cheese (penne pasta) and ended up eating most of my fries. It. Was. Awesome! Thanks again buddy!
The following morning, I found this guy trapped between the glass and screen of my kitchen sink window. We’re pretty sure he was just a large jumping spider (about 1” big). I had Pip get rid of him, but I didn’t want him to kill him either. He was safely removed and placed elsewhere on the property. :)
Pip hung out with the girls and I for the day, homeschooling and talking with us. It was a lotta fun to get to catch up with his latest happenings. Once again though, I’m sure he was thrilled to hang out with Nic once he was off work, haha!
Our last night with Pip was spent hanging out with Pip and enjoying his presence before he left us in the morning. The girls hung out inside (where it was warm) and watched some episodes of Scooby Doo. Cindy passed out eventually and I thought it was too precious how she fell asleep…even after I carried her to bed. My little cherub (when she’s sleeping).
My boys and their creepy eyed smiles, lol.
Sleeping Beauty Cindy.
The next day, it was hard to say goodbye to Pip, but we held it together. We took a few pics with him before he jetted off.
Ladies and Gentlemen, here is a rare sight…my Husband is actually smiling!!!
After Pip left, we were sad, but we know we’ll see him again soon! We spent the remainder of the day just relaxing outside while the girls played in the dirt some more. (They really don’t like being interrupted to take a picture, lol.)
“Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Roma-roma-mamaa!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!”
Roma-roma-mamaa!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!”
(Just in case you finally got that song outta your head, lol!) ;)
