Tricks and Treasure...

We spent our last evening in Ruidoso exploring around the cabin where rumor has it, is alot of treasure! Everyone was really excited to head out see what we could find!

We had to be extremely careful because there were wild animals everywhere to protect the hidden treasure. Luckily, Uncle Barry/Daddy has great vision and saw the first animal hiding in the trees before it was too late. He had to point it out to all the kids so they would better know what to look for...

It was a bear! As huge as a tree! This one was pretty alarmed by our presence, but seemed fine as long as we kept our distance...

This is a picture Leslie took of one of the many "boody" traps that surrounded the treasure...

Then we met the most feared of all deterrents, a Wild North American Forest MiMi!

We were able to subdue it by getting all the kids to run up and scare it then smothering it with hugs! It was an ingenious tactic and worked perfectly. We didn't have to fear anymore animals now that the fearful MiMi was with us, but the booby traps were still abounding. All the kids kept sharp eyes and disabled countless traps along our treck home. Caden found the feared, "Neon Booby Trap." He picked it up and carried it with him until he reached a place where he could securely and safely dismantle it. Don't let his smile fool you- this was one of the biggest and worst booby traps we encountered...

With Caden's MacGyver like survival skills, and Cole's heart of a warrior, we made it home safely. Thank God for our strong little men...

And the family was safe and happy once again...

A Horse of a Different Color...

Leslie took several exquisite pictures with her camera while at the museum. It's amazing how much better they turn out when she's outside!



She was once again drawn to the natural flora of the area. I thought these bright orange flowers with the dark stormy clouds as her backdrop seemed especially inspired...






She also took a lovely picture of her favorite MiMi! In her photography, she's even respecting the rule of thirds which I don't even think her Daddy has taught her yet...

Looking up at the giant horse head...

Here is a grey box, flag pole stand, and bench. I don't claim to understand all of her artistic choices.

Here we are all taking a picture of her taking a picture of us...

Part of Leslie's collection included several close-ups of the plaques surrounding the horses...

Everybody needs a crab hat some time...

Daddy must of had a massive headache from chasing Calla around...

One more picture of MiMi amongst the beautiful backdrop...

Giant Horses and Museum...

Our adventure for our second day in Ruidoso included a trip to the Giant Horse Museum, aka Hubbard Museum of the American West. The girls were pretty happy to simply get a change of scenery and a new place to explore!




Outside of the museum is a collection of several giant horses. They really looked amazingly lifelike. It was funny to see the little girls next to them...

Luckily, they had a decent sized kid's area for the girls to play in. Leslie got to ride a horse...

The big one was a little scary for Calla, but she a found one a bit more her size to ride...

The kid's area was pretty elaborate. They had costumes for the girls to wear...

And a place for Leslie to cook us a snack over the open campfire...

Then it was time to load back in the wagon...

Once we got "home," Leslie was able to prepare a proper meal, clean wool, and tend to the baby in a cradle that was suspended from the rafters. Now "Rock a bye Baby" makes so much more sense to me!

Leslie played in this house for a long time. I'm glad MiMi was with us because I had no idea what alot of the tools and devices were they had to explore. My city education never covered an intense look into praire life. Furthermore, I've seen most Little House on the Praire's and don't remember them covering these aspects either!

The clouds had cleared off, so we took another lap around the giant horses and this time, Leslie and MiMi climbed the tallest mountain!

Day 2 Fun...

Sunday morning was the best day Barry has had in a long time. He got to go play golf with his brother in "absolute perfect" weather. It was so pretty there in the mornings. The skies were clear and crisp, but not too cold, and simply being in the mountains with trees rustling and birds singing put us all in better moods!



Barry hardly ever plays golf, so he would of had a great time regardless, but getting to play with his brother was especially fun for him. It is rare that he finds someone to play with that he can beat without apologies:)

MiMi and PawPaw taking a rare break from all the action...

We also learned that Barry's love for Legos was passed down to both the girls...

Leslie took another picture of a Ruidoso bear(y)...

Ruidoso Revealed...

We started to get a little cabin fever in the unchildproofed house by the afternoon, so we decided to take a trip into Ruidoso and shop around. We let Leslie take her camera to see what she found interesting. It slowed us down a ton, but it was cute to see her enjoying the sights so much! Her main focus of the trip was all the beautiful flowers outside the shops...

Her camera has a feature with crazy pictures on it. So, you think she's just taking a picture of you until you download the camera to the computer. Then, surprise...

Daddy needed some glasses...

Calla too...

Oh man! She clown faced me!

Barry and I really love these next two pictures. We imagine them as being some of those specific artistic choices I talked about earlier. Sculpted bears are on EVERY doorstep in Ruidoso, and she captured a great picture of the town's essence. I love this picture of the big bear taken from her angle. Cute and creepy all at the same time...

I think I need to print this one to display somewhere...

The funniest part of this picture is that she didn't even know what it said:)

First day Extras...

There were several very friendly deer around our cabin. You could tell they were used to all the commotion. They would let the kids get about 5ft away before they'd scamper off! These two had a trail they followed that went right over the driveway, so we saw them several times over the weekend...

We already had the grill hot for steaks on Saturday night, so we went ahead and took advantage of it and roasted s'mores...

Leslie's shot of the doggy door...

Leslie's shot of the Daddy...

Leslie's shot of the toys abandoned inside for more fun outside...

From Leslie...

It was surprisingly fun how much we all enjoyed Leslie taking pictures. She takes pictures of EVERYTHING, but seeing how she takes them is very insightful. Barry likes to think of each of her pictures as specific artistic choices and thereby fully validating each interesting picture.



These are all pictures for the Saturday morning discovery walk taken with Leslie's camera. Here is proof of the friendly deer...

These were the flowers that the butterfly was sitting on. I love that from her angle, these flowers look giant! I often forget how little she still is...

Cole found a beat up pine cone that was not only worth picturing, but also keeping...

An example of artistic choice. This picture I imagine is a commentary on the cost of modern conveniences at the flora's expense...

And here's a big rock with a puddle. Cool...

I think Holly probably took this picture, but here is a better shot of the caterpillar...

Uncle Barry's kinda crazy, but the kids think he hung the moon. Not sure what the prompt they were given here. Caden looks like he's in full Justin Bieber posing with bat, Uncle Barry looks to a cross between pirate and hype man, and then Leslie... just her go-to pose of crying/hiding...