Fun Things to do in Albuquerque, New Mexico

If you find yourself in Albuquerque, NM there are a lot of fun things to check out.

1. Albuquerque is known for it’s Balloon Fiesta every October. There are also plenty of companies that give hot air balloon rides year round. Even though I have never been there for the fiesta or gone on a hot air balloon ride; I got to see hot air balloons almost every morning when I looked out the window:

hot air balloon over my mother in law’s house

2. Albuquerque Aquarium/Botanical Garden is awesome! It is a fairly small aquarium but it has many of the large sea creatures that you would find at bigger aquariums. It is also connected to a really fantastic botanical garden that my kids really enjoyed. You can get into both features for one very fair price. A must see!

Albuquerque Aquarium

 

Albuquerque Botanical Garden

Lots of fun statues at the botanical garden!

The kids enjoyed the big critters in the garden!

3. Tingley Beach was pretty fun. However, I’m not sure why they call it a beach. It is really just a man made pond and there is no sand. I actually would have called it the Land of Misfit Ducks. We brought bags of old bread to feed all of the ducks and geese there and we saw some of the craziest birds! You can also rent paddle boats here but we opted not to do this because it was 109 degrees and I forgot the sunscreen and water for the kids!

Here I am with the kids at Tingley Beach

This duck appeared to be born without any wings

This duck either swallowed a tennis ball or he has a goiter

This duck looked just like Elvis! Look at that hairdo!

4. The Sandia Peak Tramway is highly recommended. It is the 2nd largest tram in the world and goes 2 1/2 miles up to the top of the Sandia Mountains or 10,000 feet. The view and experience is absolutely spectacular!

 

Sandia Peak Tram

5. Tinkertown Museum is one of my favorites! It took Ross Ward 40 years to create this place of art and eccentric collections. Around every corner is something that delights the eye and provokes a jaw drop or a giggle. He began his life carving wood figures for circuses I found out from his wife while I was there. Ross passed away in 2002 but his wife still keeps the museum running. I talked to her after our visit and told her the place reminded me of a place I went to as a child in Wisconsin called the House on the Rock. Her eyes lit up and she said, “That was one of Ross’s inspirations when he created this place!” I don’t think she told me where Ross grew up but she told me she lived only a short way from where I live in Wisconsin! What a small world it is!

The kids and I at Tinkertown Museum

The walls are all made out of bottle and there are so many cool things around every corner!

My husband and kids in front of Otto and the one man band

The kids and I with the creator’s wife

My favorite bottle on the wall!

If this didn’t make you want to visit Albuquerque, New Mexico; maybe this will: They have some of the cheapest gas prices in the nation!

Gas prices June 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So We Did

I’ve seen it in pictures but it was one of those things that I have always wanted to see in person.

So we did.

These are my kids in front of Mount Rushmore. What? This isn’t the real one you say. Oh yes, this is a knock-off at Wall Drug in South Dakota. Wall Drug is also another place I always wanted to see after I received a post card from a friend when I was 10 years old stating her parents took her to Wall Drug in South Dakota. In her postcard she didn’t state what it was or what she did there so I had no clue what she was talking about but to me it really sounded like a questionable place to take a kid. It wasn’t until many years later (like 2 years ago) I found out that it is a famous pharmacy in South Dakota.

It is best known for it’s 5 cent coffee, amazing doughnuts, a ton of crazy photo props and a huge T-Rex dinosaur that scared the bejiggums out of our 2 year old!

My husband being a good sport and posing with his 5 cent coffee!

I’m pretty sure this is the only place in the world that you can have your picture taken with a huge jackrabbit with a saddle on it’s back!

This giant T-Rex that roars, his eyes light up and his head moves has turned my 2 year old into a dinosaur hater!

Honestly though, I have always wanted to see the real Mount Rushmore. As an American it kind of seems like it’s one of those things you need to see before you die.

So we did.

My kids in front of Mount Rushmore

It really is a sight to behold. I’m glad we went to see it. It’s amazing to me that someone not only thought about doing this so long ago but actually executed their plan and brought it to fruition. Absolutely remarkable in my opinion.

Isn’t it spectacular?

Another truly great moment on our recent vacation! Two Mount Rushmores in one day!

 

 

 

 

 

No, I Am Not in the Loony Bin

Have you ever wondered what the recipient must feel like that gets a Nobel Peace Prize or an Academy Award placed into their hands?

I have an inkling what this must feel like.

No, I don’t have a shiny trophy to place on my mantel but I do have my sanity.

I survived a 3 week cross-country driving trip, clocking over 3,500 miles, with my husband and 3 children. In my eyes, accomplishing this and maintaining a semi-normal mental health status ranks right up there with having a prestigious award bestowed upon me.

Don’t get me wrong; things weren’t always ideal. Thoughts of leaving a child or two along the side of the highway did take up fleeting moments in my mind. Overall though, things went smooth and most importantly we all lived to tell our version of our family’s 1st major vacation together.

I wish I could say this is what the whole car ride looked like but it didn’t!

Two weeks of our trip was spent at my mother-in-law’s house in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We also attended a family reunion in Las Vegas (not the glitzy, casino-flooded city but a small town in New Mexico). There had to be around 600 people in attendance at this 3 day affair. I think it’s safe to assume my husband’s side of the family is very fertile! The other week of our trip revolved around traveling from our home in Wisconsin to New Mexico and back again. We made many stops at various landmarks and did a lot of really cool things.

Despite all of the sight-seeing, my family all agreed that the best part of the trip was spending time with our kinfolk in Albuquerque. I come from a small family compared to my husband, so the chance to have my husband’s 7 other sisters and brothers, their spouses and tons of kids of various ages running around is like having a party all of the time.

This is only my husband’s immediate family in attendance at the reunion. There was about 7 more groups there this same size or bigger! My family and I are on the far right.

We took over 3,000 pictures on this vacation so in the coming weeks I’m sure I will be sharing more highlights. Right now, I have to get back to unpacking, laundry and all of the other stuff that goes along with being away from your home for 3 weeks. I just wanted to say hi to everyone, let you know you were all missed and I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things in the blogging world!

Lots of love,

Melissa

No Trashy Magazine at the Beach This Year

There is a beautiful beach a little over an hour from our house called Whitefish Dunes in Door County that is situated on Lake Michigan and is a little slice of heaven and almost makes us feel like we’ve left Wisconsin behind.

My husband and I started going there when we were dating. Our days there were always perfect. We would bring a blanket, a small cooler filled with sodas and a couple of sandwiches, and a trashy, celebrity magazine for me. I would lay on the blanket catching up on all the celebrity gossip and he would sit and build amazing sand castles. We would nap and swim on and off throughout the day. We would leave feeling refreshed!

As we started having kids, we would drag them along too along with several more supplies. The feeling of “being refreshed” has deteriorated little by little every year.

This past Tuesday marked the first time we ALL went to the beach (last year we left the littlest at grandma’s house). So this year it was my husband, myself, my 7 year old daughter Iris, my 5 year old son Bency and the almost 2 year old Cesar.

Our van was chocked full of essential items to make it an excellent beach excursion for everyone! Everyone was expected to carry armfuls of supplies… except for the baby who had enough of a plight trying to trudge through the deep sand by himself with his chubby little legs.

We made it to the “perfect” spot with 2 huge blankets, an enormous cooler stocked full,  a grocery bag of food, a huge bucket with tons of sand toys,  a backpack full of sun block, extra clothes, diapers  and other things to meet any medical emergency needs, and of course 5 huge towels. There was NO trashy magazine this time.

Throughout the course of the 6 hours we were there, we applied sun block several times on everyone, constantly handed out water and food, changed a poopy diaper; which is extremely difficult in sandy conditions and had to identify several foreign objects found on the beach by my kids…sometimes they were sea shells…sometimes just bird poop. We spent time in the water with everyone and some time playing in the sand. I had to retrieve the littlest one a couple of times…he had joined another family a little ways down. I think he was beginning to sense my fatigue and was hoping to be adopted by someone else before the day was done. My husband started another magnificent sand castle but the littlest one was quick to start destroying it.

We got there early in the morning and were some of the first to arrive!

Cesar playing in the sand

Bency and Iris playing in the water

We buried Bency in the sand

Cesar destroying Daddy’s sand castle

Dad in the water with the kids

 

There were moments though when I just looked around. I saw the kids laughing and having so much fun. Through my exhaustion I was content sitting in this little slice of heaven being a mom and doing all this stuff for my kids that moms do. It wasn’t about me. It was about giving my kids a really wonderful day and supplying them with a great memory.

On the way home to satisfy my need to know that I had just given my kids the best day ever I asked, “What was your favorite thing you did this summer?”

There was no doubt in my mind that they were going to say the beach. NO DOUBT.

They said…..”That we got to go the library a LOT this summer.”

A little part of me wanted to cry that a canvas bag, library card and an excursion a few blocks away was their favorite.

A little part of me wanted to scream in delight…”Next year we are going to the beach without the kids!!”