Rio Grande Zoo

One of our favorite places here in ABQ is the zoo. It's not huge but is still really fun.

The wolf outside the zoo. Keegan wanted to take a pic like the one we had last year but.....it was HOT!

Here's one of the rhino's. Last year, every time we came they were hiding off in the corner almost completely out of sight. This year they have a couple new cabanas for shade.

Standing near the metal lion sculpture.....no where near the actual lions.

And the cutest animal of the trip. He was so cute!!

Look at that cute baby face.

Family Movie Night

Josh and Keegan decided we needed a family movie night. So we headed off to Wal-mart to search their $5 movie bin. We ended up with Scooby-Do and the Wiches Ghost. A favorite of Keegans. Along with brownies and popcorn we were set. So we moved the coffee table out of the way, gathered pillows and blanket and settled down.

I finally figured out the timer on our camera. It's only been 2 yrs.

Super Hero Keegan

Keegan decided that he needed some super hero accessories. So he opted for a head lamp and goggles.

Posing for just a second. I think it's hilarious that the goggles are sucking one eye and one is being pulled and is kind of squinty.

The super hero needed a computer break.

Aquarium

Last week we visited some of our favorite places in Albuquerque. We started with the aquarium.

One year older, same picture spot.

The Jelly fish

In front of the big tank. Lots of good things to see, including our favorite puffer fish.

Up close of our friend the puffer

And of course the albino sea turtle, I think he is actually my favorite.

Keegans Crazy Faces

So here are some of the faces I got while trying to get some pictures today.

The only semi-normal one in the bunch

When I tell him to give me his "Zombie Face" he refuses to do it as "scary" as he normally does.

I tell him to smile and I get "squinty eyes"

And this, I believe is the one that means "ENOUGH PICTURES MOM"

Age 32, day 2

Since Josh didn't work today, we celebrated his birthday by going up the tram. We did the samething last year and really had a good time, so we went again.

Here is the ski resort on the backside of the mountain. There were some deer running back and forth but would only come out right AFTER I took a photo. But I swear, they were there.

Keegan and his muscles. We took his pic on this same rock last year.

Cute red chair on the lift.

View of the valley on the other side of the Mtn.

Josh and Keegan resting and enjoying the view.

After the fun ride up the tram, the nice cool air (55 degrees), and the ride down, we headed for a birthday lunch at.....were else??? Sadies.

Hope Josh had a fun day after his birthday.

Happy Birthday Josh!!

Josh turned 32 today. We would have had something fun planned but his work planned otherwise. He worked today, on his birthday, for the first time ever. Because of this Keegan and I tried our best to make his evening the best.

He came home to Beef Burgandy ready to eat.

German chocolate cake, ready to be cut.

And a card written by his 4 year old.

And after all the feasting, Josh was able to play x-box with all his friends.

Siesta in Old Town

Today we went to Old Town. We've been there before, obviously. But it's got some really fun shops. There is a Christmas Store that has great ornaments and also some really yummy stuff too. And then there are always the normal touristy shops.

Here's my cute little man taking a siesta in his sombrero.

Ok, so maybe no siesta was involved. But he's still cute right.
And no trip to Old Town is complete without a trip to The Candy Lady. It's a super yummy candy and chocolate shop.

My little helper

I decided to make cookies the other night. Keegan wanted to help, we decided on Snickerdoodles. I found out very quickly that even if it is necessary to make cookies, he still doesn't like getting his hands messy. I tried to get him to help me mix with his hands but, it quickly turned into him NEEDING to wash his hands. He did however love sneaking tastes of the dough.

Here his is snacking on the finished product.

Holy Toads!!

The other night we were leaving the house for an after dark trip to the store. Keegan was out the door first, I'm not too far behind and I hear him say. "Daddy look a frog" right out our front door.

Just hanging out, was this baseball sized toad.

He was a fatty.
After getting home I googled "Toads of NM" and found out that they are all poisonous to animals. If I had to guess, this is a Woodhouse Toad. So, now I have to watch out for toads, who knew. We didn't see any last year.

Cannonball!!!

Keegans new pool trick. The other day I just described what to do, and next thing I know he is leaping off the side yelling "Cannon gurgle gurgle" Most of the time he can't get the whole word out before he is under water.

Albuquerque!!!

I can't tell you how excited we were when we got the call. We were 3 days away from leaving Roswell, headed to Island Park. Still not knowing what was next. Josh's phone rings, it's his recruiter telling Josh that the Heart Hospital Of NM wants him back. And even better still, not for a week, so we have time to go camping with everyone. Something we didn't get to do last year.

So after 35 hours in the car we made it to Island Park and back to Albuquerque. Just in time too. Green chili's are ready for roasting and the Balloon Fiesta just weeks away.

So we are back to seeing this in the morning. Almost every morning.

In just a few weeks we will be seeing this, up close and having so much fun. Paul and Tari get ready.

Too many to even count!


And of course plenty of this. Yummm

Island Park

We LOVE going to Island Park. This year we were able to make it, after almost 20 hours in the car. We drove from Roswell to Salt Lake in one day, 14.5 hours there. When we got in at about 10pm, we quickly un-packed the car and re-packed our bags so that we could re-pack the car and leave the next morning. We got up and were on the road by 9am.

Once up there we got to spend 5 great days in Riverside Campground. We love that place, it's so beautiful up there.

We were able to go into Yellowstone one day and back to the cute town of West Yellowstone another day. It was just nice to relax. And Josh loved the fishing.

And completely unlike me I only took 1 photograph the whole trip. I'm not sure if it was just the relaxing atmosphere or the simple fact that I was still worn out from all the driving.

The only picture I took is an updated one of 4 generations of Viehweg men.

Keegan looks less that happy because he DID NOT want to leave.

This picture is taken in campsite A16. Josh's grandparents camp in that site almost every year if they can get it.

Bottomless Lake State Park (Roswell)

The week before we left Roswell, we found a fun place to go play. It is a State Park just outside the city. It has a really nice lake for swimming. With lifeguards and everythigng. The have a nice sandy beach to play on and the water was at a temperature that Keegan could actually stand to play in.

Because there was a nice sandy beach, we stopped and bought a bucket and shovels. At one point on the drive I turn around and this is what I see.

What a goof.

He loved building sand castles and then using little rocks as windows.


Flip Flops

Here is the picnic table area. So nice and shaded the whole time.

He finally let me burry him in the sand. He realized that the sand was warm so when he got cold it didn't sound like a bad idea.

The State Park has other lakes you can hike to and fish. But right at Lea Lake there is a campground, you can rent paddle boats or even scuba there.

Aliens..last one I promise.

The day before we left town there were a couple of aliens I wanted to get pictures of. And I promise this will be the last Alien post. Especially since I really don't think I will ever want/need to go back to Roswell.

This was at the entrance to a hotel.

This was just outside the visitors center. I'm not sure if you could really put mail in it. If you look closely it does have a website printed on it. I haven't checked it out, I'll do that later.


And this one was outside of the KFC