Carlsbad Caverns

Today we went to Carlsbad Caverns. It's fairly close to Roswell and honestly probably the only thing worth seeing in this corner of the state.


Here's Keegan outside the visitors center. He refused to look at the camera because it was too bright outside and we had just spend 4 hours underground.
Jr. Ranger Keegan. I should have made him take his hat off because now it looks like he is wearing 2.

***Warning, the following blog post contains way too many pictures. You are free to scroll past them without fear of hurting my feelings.***


Here is the Natural Entrance to the cave. We chose to walk down the approx 750 feet to the rest area where our Ranger guided tour would begin.

It was really dark and there were a ton of Cave Swallows flying all over.

This is a ways in, they call it The Witches Finger.

Josh and Keegan, he insisted on wearing both hats.

Cave stuff

Almost touching, just another thousand years and maybe.

The Lions Tail.

Not sure about this one, it was really tall though.

The boys again. Keegan really did walk most of the way.

More

Tons and Tons of things just waiting to fall and stab into you.

Looking straight up into the stalactites.

The boys again. I swear he walked.

Hole in the wall.

close up of one of the really tall stalagmites

This one is sideways, sorry. Turn your head and see some of the "Drapery" formations

One really squigley drapery

More drapes

Only 3 more pictures below this I swear.

Again, so close but not quite.

Info about the lovely elevators that took us back to the top so that we didn't have to hike the 75 stories back to the top.

We really had a lot of fun at Carlsbad Caverns. I have wanted to go there for a really long time but it's just not really near anything. It was really one of the neatest places I've ever been to.

Texas

We can now say we've been to Texas. After leaving Carlsbad Caverns we realized that we were only 16 miles from the Texas border. Since Josh's grandparents are from there and his dad was born there we figured why not. We have been to every other state in the west. (Nevada is up for debate for Keegan but none of us can really remember) I can't say we actually saw much of Texas other than these signs before turning around and heading back into NM. But, we were in Texas for a minute or two.

Josh standing in Texas.

Here is the Welcome sign.
They claim they are friendly drivers but I just think they are dang speedy drivers.

I promise Keegan was in Texas too but he was asleep in the car and DID NOT want to get out for pictures.

Less Hair Than He Was Born With

So Keegan got the shortest haircut of his life. Almost 2 weeks ago he ended up with a cut on his head that I super glued closed. (With Dr's permission and supervision) Well, to glue it I had to cut his hair in that area. Skip to today, cut healed beautifully but while superglue comes off the skin after about 7-10 days it doesn't come off of hair very well. To get the glue out of his hair I had to again cut his hair in the affected area, which left him with an annoying (to me) bald spot.

Here is is tonight at about 6:30

Midway at about 6:35 with the male pattern baldness going on.

And then the AFTER.

This is the smallest amount of hair this kid has ever had. He was born with a full head of hair and got his first haircut at 9 wks old because it was out of control. It is soooo drastically different that I'm positive I don't like it. He however, doesn't care at all. He thinks he looks like our good friend Tyler. Oh well.

I told him I was sorry and asked if he would grow it back for me and he said, "Well sure, I'll try" I also asked him when he would grow it back and he told me he would do it "while I'm sleeping" and he told me it will take 10 days. I hope it grows back that fast.

You HAVE TO try this, super easy and YUMMY. And honestly I was a bit creeped out by my alien pics.

I have to admit, I stole this from a friends blog. Like flat out copied and pasted straight from her blog. I could have re-written the recipe and taken my own pictures but that sounded like a lot more work. And to be truthful, I was too excited to eat it that I couldn't be bothered with taking my own pictures.

Also, I really wanted to share this recipe with my friend Lisa and since she refuses to check her e-mail I figured it was the only way.

I've been on a kick lately & I eat Georgia Cracker Salad almost every day for lunch. Forgive my pics because I was just taking them on the fly since I had my camera sitting there. Super easy!


Chop up tomatoes and cucumbers. I used about 1/3-1/2 of a hot house cucumber and 1/2 of a tomato. Only because I was too lazy to go get another tomato. I usually like 1 whole tomato, but I digress...

I know you know what cucumbers and tomatoes look like, but in my fantasy I am channeling the Pioneer Woman. If you don't know her...see me.

Now add yourself a little dollop of the mayo! Just eyeball it (channeling Rachael Ray!) but about half of a kitchen soup spoon. Just enough to get things moist.

Ok, so maybe today I was a little liberal w/ it. Shut up.

If you are feeling a little saucy, add yourself some chili paste. :) This is also a good way to keep peeps out of your salad! Although Kaitlyn could eat this whole bowl by herself and it is a good way to get her veggies, so I often forego the spice.

Now add in some of these puppies!! I use about 6 Saltine crackers. Note: When you are serving this to a crowd, put the crackers in and IMMEDIATELY serve! Those suckers only stay crunchy for about 5 minutes.

These are crackers. ;)

Add just a pinch of salt. Pinch I say! But with the pepper...now bear with me...hear me now, believe me later...I use 18 grinds. ~cringing~ I know!! Sounds like a lot! But I tell you, add it a few grinds at a time and you'll see what I mean. When you hit 18, its like magic happens!! I'm not a huge pepper person either. But it just takes it to the next level!! Hopefully your grinder gives you a fine grind. Otherwise, you're on your own.

See what I'm saying?! LOTS of pepper. Ok, now I know this doesn't look too appetizing. And to be honest, I'm not sure if the crackers are in there yet...oh wait...I see some! Ok, crackers are in! More crackers are better but I'm trying to cut back, ya know. Carbs and all that. :)


Recipe is courtesy of Shari and her fun blog listed in my "Fun Blogs To Follow" column.

UFO Museum and Other Alien stuff.

Today we decided we would go to the UFO museum. On our way down the street we passed a few touristy stores. There is a lot of funny stuff to see.

In one of the store fronts there is a alien being autopsied.

One of the many blow up aliens you can buy.

Aliens like Coke too.

This is what the U-Haul company has on some of their U-Haul trailer.

Painting in the Musuem

This is a recreation of the alien autopsy that may or may not have taken place.

Fake alien, Keegan wanted to know why he has "owies" on him

Scary alien. I may have nightmares tonight.

A second Coke machine that supports alien life forms.

A metal sculpture of the cowboy that found the supposed spaceship and the debris that he found.

The boys looking in some of the shops

The McDonalds in the shape of a UFO

Aliens, Aliens and more Aliens

So we made it to alientown. When you first drive into town you start seeing aliens on buildings, fences, holding the welcome sign to hotels. Standing out in front of the KFC.


The front of the Wal-mart is decorated with aliens and spaceships.

They even have paintings of aliens buying groceries. Apparently they like watermelons and McDonalds.

The little house that was rented for us has a fenced in backyard. Keegan decided tonight that he needed to run through the sprinkler.

He wanted the water on really high, as it was it was hitting the house on one side and the fence on the other. Along with the little house is a little yard. But we aren't complaing, Koda loves it as long as he isn't in the sprinkler.

My skinny boy playing in the water.

Here is our 50's retro kitchen. It is small!! The counters are white with gold flecks in it. The sad thing is that it took me over 3 hours to realize there is NO DISHWASHER!! And I know that my in-laws survived a little while without one, but they also used a lot of paper plates and plastic utensils.

Here is a view of the dining room and then living room from the kitchen. It is not huge by anymeans but is clean and works just fine. If you see the TV, just before it on the right is the hallway to the bedrooms. Ours is fairly small, but functional, other than we have no place to put the dog bed. Keegans room is just about the same size and has 2 twin beds in it and has enough room for the dog. So it all works out fine.

So there you have it. Our little place in Roswell. Oh and other than the washer and dryer in the garage, I can't really complain.

So be prepared for a post with as many aliens in it as I can photograph.