The trip in review.

Well, we made our first flight.Aaaaand, I discovered that I'm not quite *there* yet in my photography skills that I should bother trying to take pictures from inside the aircraft. The kids had a great time flying. The folks around us were all headed home to Texas and had no problem sharing their "first flight" stories with the boys, pointing out interesting things, laughing, sharing. The flight attendants were just sweet as can be to the boys, and made a point to let each of the children know how much they appreciated their polite manners and thoughtful traveling ways. I let the attendants know how much *I* appreciated the positive feedback. (A little reinforcement never hurts, does it? I *do* appreciate that.)

I was so pleased not to have ended up in a confrontation with anybody from TSA that I thought about buying myself a drink! But, then I realized... we still had two airports to go through. So I stuck with Dr. Pepper. Which was probably a good call, since we missed our connecting flight in Dallas. As you can see, either James sprouted ale from his head (a new mythology for the traveling family?) or Zorak didn't have the same concerns surrounding alcohol and confrontation that I did. (Which would make sense. He's a friendly, amorous drinker. I turn into Sleepy Dwarf or a banty rooster - neither of which is recommended when traveling with children.) Emily, in the back there, is trying to crawl over Zorak so that she can "cheese" for the camera. I'm so glad she's reserved and cautious.

Obviously, the layover didn't bother them one bit.

We made it into New Mexico in the wee hours of Friday morning, slept a bit, then headed to the City of Rocks for three days of camping, hiking, hanging out and laughing. The kids thought it was the best. thing. ever. Seriously? How often do you get to climb thirty feet up a rock wall and pretend you're being crushed by a boulder? Of course, this is best done with cousins who share your penchant for the weird and wonderful (One of them, Cousin M, is there on the far left). And note the Totally Cool Older Cousin who willingly posed for the shot by pushing the boulder off the little guys. *happy sigh* How cool is she? I love her.

(Side note: my zoom lens was fully engaged. They are way. the. hell. up there. Totally Cool Older Cousin kindly stayed close enough to snatch Smidge by the britches should he have toppled over the edge. Because I would have been useless, what with the paralysis and incontinence and all. Sometimes it's really hard to let go. I'm glad we have family that makes it easier to do.)

My favorite part of the outing, aside from getting all my children back in relatively good form, was having everybody converge on Saturday for a good, old-fashioned Hangin' Out & Eatin' Session. Sissa and T (the Totally Cool Older Cousin) had come up with us, as well as Cousin S and Cousin M. Then Aunt Sally came down from Silver City, Aunt B, Uncle Fred and Gram came up for the day from Cruces. Cousins Kris and David came up to stay the rest of the trip. There were a lot of us, and it was wonderful. Can you believe Gram stayed most of the day? Here she is, at 98 years old, having a wonderful time in the desert...


Next up, petroglyph hunting and group photos for the uninitiated.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy