Last Days in ABQ

We've been packing in the experiences here on our last days in Albuquerque. We accidently found a new park while in route to another place. The kids loved the "spider web" climber made out of red rope. Check out the neat pictures. Friday we went to Casa San Ysidro, a beautiful authentic adobe home run by the Abq Museum. Natalie has been reading the American Girl Books, specifically the ones about Josefina who lived in the New Mexico territory in the 1800s, so this place was like the book came alive to her. I loved the family altar/shrine area and the amazing apricot trees, esp. the one in the picture that is growing sideways and needs a support to keep it up. Oliver and Natalie loved the ant hill that they found in the courtyard as much as anything. On the way home we saw some sheep taking a nap by the road. Saturday we finally made it to the Pueblo Cultural Center and enjoyed watching the Zuni Bear Dance group as well as a weaver weaving belts. On Saturday afternoon we revisited the Explora Children's Museum and said goodbye to our friend Joe Martinez, my Dad's buddy from his Air Force days. Today we enjoyed the Living Sea movie in the Dynatheater (IMAX) and a Planetarium show. Then we went Letterboxing in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. We had to hike through a desert trail and down an arroyo and find the box under some scrub oaks. We were excited to find it and there was a "hitchiker" inside to boot! Then we tried to go up the Sandia Tramway, but it was too windy and had to close for the day. On to a park close to our apartment where we found a letterbox easily by a cedar tree at a playground (hence the picture of Natalie in front of the tree). We made a point to take pictures of our last sunset of Albuquerque and I celebrated by trying to fly a kite in the crazy winds. The kids danced in the arroyo and we took pictures of all the tumbleweeds. Enjoy!

Oliver's 5th Birthday

We revisited the Aquarium and Botanic Gardens just before Oliver's Birthday. We got to eat lunch next to the shark tank and the sea turtle put on quite a show for us. Oliver picked himself out a shirt from the gift shop which says "There's a commotion in the ocean." He loves the fact that it has two giant squids on it. We had a Star Wars theme for his birthday this year. We bought gourmet cupcakes for the occasion from a local bakery called Cake Fetish. He also got a 3-headed dragon puppet from Natalie and the book Flotsam by David Weisner (which also has squid in it). But his favorite would have to be the light sabre or "life saver" as he sometimes calls it. He and Daddy have taken their light sabres into the arroyo to have "dance fight" time. If we had to pick a sport for Oliver at this point, I'd say he is headed for fencing in the 2020 Olympics. After opening gifts he chose to go putt-putt golfing for his special day. The next day was Easter. We had lots of big neat plans, but all of them got thrown aside as CD's cold/allergies got worse and both kids were struggling with congestion. We did an indoor egg hunt in the apartment and colored some real eggs as you can see in the pictures.

Santa Fe Palm Sunday

We drove to Santa Fe on Palm Sunday to view the procession around the plaza. Every year the Catholic, Episcopal, and Presbyterian Churches near the plaza join together on Palm Sunday for a procession of palms while singing "All Glory Laud and Honor." It was an amazing sight. Oliver loved chasing the pigeons. We took in the New Mexico Museum of Art and ate lunch. Then CD took the kids to the Santa Fe Children's Museum while I went to hear the Santa Fe Pro Musica sing Bach's St. John Passion at the St. Francis Auditorium. Note in the pictures that Natalie was old enough and brave enough to climb the climbing wall at the children's museum.

Petroglyphs Revisited

Last Saturday we returned to the Petroglyphs, but this time took Daddy with us. Also this time we climbed the highest, toughest trail. It was a very windy day, so we felt like we were going to be blown off the top of the mesa. The strong winds also made it hard to take good photographs b/c we couldn't hold our camera as still, so they are a little fuzzy.

Prairie Dogs at the VA

One day walking around the VA campus at lunch I thought I spied a prairie dog. Sure enough, on closer examination, I found a whole network of prairie dog burrows. Here are some pictures we took of them peeking out. The Namaste Road picture is for the benefit of all our Indian relatives.

Art is OK

Thursday afternoon we had a wonderful surprise. While driving around doing errands, we discovered some sculptures near a bus stop on Menaul Blvd. We did a U-turn and parked in the lot to investigate. After taking a few pictures, we discovered more in the parking lot. We kept following the trail and it led us to a fun shop called Art is OK. The kids found dragons, mermaids. cowboys, frogs flying an airplane, an armadillo, and more. Enjoy the pictures.

Gettin' Our Kicks on Route 66

The historic Route 66 runs through Albuquerque and we have enjoyed a few of the places along it. First we tried Kelly's Brew Pub and then Standard Diner. Both of these places are old motor works locations now made into restaurants! Then I took Natalie to see the ballet Coppelia at the Kimo Theatre. What a lovely work of art that building is. I'm so glad the local citizens saved it from demolition in the 70s. It is done in the pueblo deco style and was built in 1927. Glowing buffalo skulls, cermonial canoe lights, Indian drum chandeliers and amazing murals grace the interior. They even have one of the old movie projectors from the 1930s sitting upstairs for your to walk around and look at. Central Avenue, as Route 66 is called in town, then runs west of downtown and edges the southern border of Old Town. We have spent a lot of time in that area, as our earlier post suggests. Most recently we enjoyed the First Friday Fractals at the Museum of Natural History and Science. It was an amazing presentation by Jonathan Wolfe of the Fractal Foundation. Now we have fractal fever. We have checked out books on snowflake structure and Oliver has drawn smiley face fractals. Check out the amazing pictures of math making beautiful art!

Isleta Pueblo/Friends

On Sunday we had a fun time at the home of Joe and Jerry Martinez. Joe was my Dad's buddy from his Air Force Days. As kids we stopped by a few times to visit here in Albuquerque while we were on our trip out west to visit other relatives. It's been about 20 years, but I remembered parts of their home and yard. Natalie and Oliver enjoyed playing with their grandkids, climbing trees and dancing as you can see in the photos. Joe took CD and I two miles down the road to Isleta Pueblo. It is a beautiful old mission with thick walls, old paintings, and beautiful stained glass. Joe used to play guitar here years ago. Joe is retired from his job if 30+ years, but now works part time at Explora, the local children's museum so we see him a couple times a week there. He also does community theater, and we just missed him starring in the role of Galileo at the museum in January. He was directed by Lou Ann Graham, the sister of Vivian Vance. Vivian you might remember from the I Love Lucy Show, was also a performer at the Kimo Theater here in Abq (see next post).

More Old Town Photos

We sure have been enjoying the Old Town area of ABQ. Last week we twice visited Explora , the children's hands-on museum. They have great exhibits as well as neat architecture and outdoor playspaces. We really enjoy all of the public art here as well. Oliver's favorite is the tile mosaic wall near the parking lot of the museum. Also in the pictures at right are two from the famous San Felipe de Niri Church in Old Town on Saturday. Then we had a nice lunch of Indian Fry Bread Tacos. We also enjoyed trips to the Rattlesnake Museum (where a Prairie Rattler put on a show for us with its tail) and the Turquoise Museum (where Natalie was in Geology heaven). We even had time to visit the Atomic Energy Musuem, too. Last Sunday had us headed to Popejoy Hall here on the campus of UNM to see the traveling musical "A Year With Frog and Toad." We've read the books to the kids for years and listened to the soundtrack, so it was fun to see it live. We tried Letterboxing for the first time Sunday afternoon. We had some great clues and a chilly but scenic walk to a site nearby. However, the secret location had been relandscaped and the box was no longer there. So, we'll try again this weekend.