Tuesday, October 18, 2016

We are back!

We had a great trip!  So we started at the Albuquerque Zoo.  It was raining when we got there, but stopped later on.  They were doing a lot of construction there with new exhibits, but we got to see a tasmanian devil and several animal babies, like an oragutan and twin monkeys.  From there we went over to the Gardens for a quick view.  Not a lot blooming at the time, but it was nice to see.  They did have some morning glories which are one of my favorites and a Japanese garden with a waterfall. The next day was the Balloon Fiesta.  It was cool to see all of the balloons.  I think this was our 3rd year going.  We did not get to see a lot of the special shape balloons, though.  I think they fly those on special days during the fiesta.  From Albuquerque we drove to Durango, CO.  We went to the train museum there where Nathan got a chance to ride in a locomotive with the engineer.  We were watching them turn the locomotive on the platform to move into the shed when the engineer came out and asked Nathan and another little boy if they wanted to ride in the train.  Nathan was thrilled!  The next day we took the train ride from Durango to Silverton and back.  It was very beautiful.  I sat with Paul and Nathan to Silverton, but went in the gondola car on the way back.  It was much easier getting pictures in the gondola.  The next day we drove that same route.  As cool as the train ride was, you could see so much more on the million dollar highway and stop whenever you wanted.  The views were awesome with the yellow Aspens and the snow capped mountains.  It was overcast and rainy during a lot of our trip.  So it was hard getting good pictures without good lighting and they look a little drab since the snow on the mountains blends in with the sky.  The pictures really do not the actual landscape justice.  I was using a new camera, too.  I finally bought a new DSRL - a Nikon D7200.  After stopping in Silverton to go the Harley Davidson and eat lunch, we drove up to Grand Junction.  We saw some waterfalls along the way, too.  One stop we made was at Box Canyon.  There was a waterfall there and they had chipmunks!   When we got to Grand Junction we had dinner with Paul's friend Tim and his family.  The next day we started our trek home.  Our first stop was in Telluride.  We took a gondola ride up and over the mountain to Mountain Village.  The gondola ride was even free!  We also caught it just in time because it is only operating another week until they close it for the season.  Then they start the ski lifts.  Telluride is a cool little town.  On our way out of town we saw a group of Elk.  Another stop we made was at Four Corners National Monument.  So we got to stand in four states at once - Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.  That night we stayed in Flagstaff, AZ.  I developed a cold and the next morning it was in the 30s.  The plan was to go the Snowbowl and check out Aspen Corner.  I really was not up to it, but Paul got out and took a few pictures.  The Snowbowl was closed and we did not want to wait over an hour for it to open.  So we decided to head to Sedona.  It was disappointing because there was not a lot of color there.  It looks like we missed some of color or the trees did just not turn a pretty yellow this year.  We ate at Picazzo's Organic Italian Kitchen and then went to Airport Rd to view Sedona from above.  Then we drove home :(

Nathan returned to school this past Monday.  We got his first quarter grades and he got all A's.  There will be an Awards Ceremony on Thursday for him making honor roll!  He got a M for meeting the standard in Art, but the comment was that he is often off-task.  He got an APP for approaching the standard in Spanish with the same comment.  So those are areas that he/we need to work on.  We have not met those teachers before, though, and this was the first feedback we got from them.  His teacher also gave him a character evaluation.  He is meeting the standard for being caring, perseverance and citizenship.  He is approaching the standard for respect, responsibility and trustworthiness.  

This Saturday we are going to Apple Annie's to pick our pumpkins.  

Next weekend we are doing the Air and Space Museum's Boneyard walk.  For Halloween, Nathan is going to be Chase from Paw Patrol, Bella is going to be Marshall and Tulla is going to be Skye.