Yoo 716 - Guadalupe Mountains National Park (and the EVENING BAT FLIGHT AT CARLSBAD)

Towards the end of September we stuffed our car full of gear for a dog, a baby, and 3 adults to survive 10 days on the road. It was especially challenging because we were planning on camping most nights. And we still needed room for the dog, baby, and 3 adults in the car while driving.

I had to get creative with the packing list and Greg had to play tetris with the trunk but we made it work. Though if you ever ask Dylan how comfortable she was, remember she only had to pay 75 cents for the trip. It was going to be free but we were scrounging up coins to pay cash for a campsite one night and she had to help supplement.

Despite this, getting out of Texas was the actual hard part. Over seven hours of driving and we were still in Texas! Peanut stretched the drive into nine hours because she only has so much tolerance for her car seat. The second you take her out she's cute as can be. But we survived terrible highway 285 and a wrong turn in Orla, TX (we didn't turn, that was the problem) and made it to our first way point: Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

I think I would like this park. It's hard to tell seeing as how we did absolutely zero hiking because Roscoe isn't allowed on trails. I really really wanted to hike up to Guadalupe Peak (the tallest point in Texas) as it's one of the few remaining items on my Texas bucket list, but it wasn't to be. No convenient dog boarding options!

But it was still a fun place for Skylar's first night camping. We luckily snagged one of the last tent sites on a busy weekend! The tent pads were too small for our super tent so we had to rig a "two-thirds" pitch and hope for a calm night.

Dinner was terrible because we forgot the salt and cheese. I know we bought the cheese because I remember seeing it on the counter. Dylan swears she packed the cheese. We never found the cheese on the trip and still haven't found it anywhere in the house so the case of the missing cheese remains unsolved. But dinner needed the cheese. All the while we were smelling the hot dogs roasting at a neighbor's campsite and looking at each other like, "Why did we try to get fancy with our food??" At least we had peanut butter M&Ms and Starbursts to reward ourselves for eating all the veggies.

Then we drove up to Carlsbad Caverns for the sunset and evening bat flight program. The problem was, I went into the evening bat flight with high expectations. Greg had visited as a boy scout and all through our relationship I've heard about THE EVENING BAT FLIGHT AT CARLSBAD(!!!).

Dating: "Want to go see the bats at Natural Bridge Caverns?" "It's not Carlsbad."

First anniversary (bats at South Congress bridge in Austin): "This is so cool!" "Carlsbad has way more bats."

Everyday life: "These tacos are delicious!" "I guess, but they're not the evening bat flight at Carlsbad."

If only I was exaggerating. Also probably relevant, Dylan and I had just watched Batman Begins (...and Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises...) to further pump ourselves up for the all-consuming tornado of bats that was going to erupt from the depths of the earth in THE EVENING BAT FLIGHT AT CARLSBAD. Also also, Dylan is terrified of bats so at a very minimum I was hoping to enjoy her reaction.

And that's where I'm coming from when I say I was disappointed.

Greg hung out in the parking lot on Roscoe duty while Dylan and I (and Skylar!) walked to the cave entrance. They're really serious about silence during the program and Skylar quietly watched the ranger presentation while we waited for the (all-consuming tornado of) bats. And then it was time. First, a trickle. "Oooooooh! Bats!" And then...a trickle. Minutes later? Still trickling. Any second now...nope. Skylar was the first to voice her frustration and at the evil-eye cue of a park ranger, I got up and walked around with her off by the bathrooms. I still had a perfect view of the trail of bats disappearing off into the sunset.

It was pretty. And went on for close to half an hour. But it didn't quite live up to the hype. And Dylan didn't even get squeamish. We walked back to the car and I had one word for Greg.

"Really?"

In his defense, he was 12 at the time and maybe there were more bats. I don't know. It's my fault for setting expectations off the mind of a 12-year-old boy. I hope I didn't mar his childhood memory too bad with my post EVENING BAT FLIGHT AT CARLSBAD teasing. All the way back to camp.

And then we slept. Peanut all thru the night! I had the genius idea of using the bin that we store all of our sleeping/tent gear in as her crib. I cut a cheap foam camping pad to size, covered it in a pillow, and voila! No need for the bulky pack 'n play. Though that only worked on this trip because it was already a bit of a squeeze. She slept better than I did though. My sleeping pad had a slow leak that I thought I had fixed. Around midnight I discovered that I hadn't.

All funny memories. Even if Roscoe was giving me the stank eye by morning. "Yeah, tomorrow night you guys can just leave me in the car with the air conditioner on. And the whole backseat to myself, thanks."

He still doesn't love camping in Texas.

Have a great day :-)

Yoo 714 - Skylar, 5 Months

I'm discovering more of Skylar's personality daily and falling more in love with mothering this soul. She is fun times a thousand. I love the poopy moments, I love the crying moments, and I especially love the laughs and squeals. Just this past week, she started sitting unsupported and thinks she's pretty big. She's still a little wobbly but getting better everyday. Some of my favorites right now include when she sits next to the window with her puppy, her frustrated grunts when we put her down on her belly, the grins I get from her crib first thing in the morning, and, of course, her hair. I constantly tell her that she can take her time growing up, but she isn't listening.

Have a great day :-)

Yoo 709 - Lincoln Zoo

We had to go to Lincoln to pick up a rental car last week and spent a few hours at the zoo to make a day of it. My mom insisted that she took us to this zoo all the time when we were kids but I wasn't remembering any of it until we got there. Then it came back. Measuring my wing span, looking for paper to feed Leo the Lion, and playing in the Eagle's nest. And so I carried on the tradition with Skylar.

She was as thrilled as any six-week-old could be, happily snoozing away in her carrier. But I exuded enough excitement for both of us! I measured our wing span and fed Leo and sat in the Eagle's nest and went down the slide. All the while loving being a mom and having my baby cuddled up close. This is such an awesome, easy stage. She's perfectly travel-size and sleepy. Though that's quickly changing...

Greg had an exciting day as well. He got to hold a tarantula, touch a snake, pet a peacock, and feed a camel. My favorite was his narrations of all the animals' thoughts. Especially the bushbaby. Its exhibit was behind a blackout curtain, with only the glow of one red light illuminating its wide piercing eyes. Super creepy. And then Greg comes up behind me, in a hypnotic voice saying "Just give me the baby. Set it down and back slowly away. I needs this baby."

He lost narrative privileges after that. Though I'm not convinced those weren't the bushbaby's real thoughts...

For the record, I did not touch the snake and I'm still strongly questioning the legitimacy of their claimed "legless lizard" exhibit. Though I could appreciate his name. Legolas.

Still, a fun day. And we got Sam's Club soft pretzels and frozen yogurt to top it off. The end.

Have a great day :-)

Yoo 708 - Backyard Bonfires and Babies

A big sky changing from blue and orange to star-studded black. Crickets chirping in the distance. A cuddly mini-furnace snuggled in arm. The remains of Shadow's kennel and the old shed crackling under flame. Big yellow dog lazily curled up in circle. A certain wife "strongly suggesting" her husband cook the marshmallow a little longer while husband gets frustrated and insists that it's fine. There's nothing quite like our backyard bonfires right now. I love them. And s'mores.

And don't let me forget that big yellow dog not-so-lazily spotting the cat and darting off on a very determined chase. Until he reached the end of his tether, almost breaking his neck and successfully breaking one of the stair posts he was anchored to.

Dad. Don't worry. We fixed it.

A couple more pictures from Skylar's one-month milestone. I plan on using her blue elephant as the "measuring stick" for her first year. These were a actually pictures at 5 weeks because said measuring stick got left in San Antonio and was waiting for a ride up with Greg.

Skylar, oh-so-proud of herself! Her poopy diaper exploded up her back while I was feeding her in Aurora. Then, mid-change in the car, she erupted some more with a nice little water fountain to top it off. Naturally Greg was the one changing her. It was messy. Then, right after the change, she royally spit-up all over him, covering his shirt and shorts.

No I wasn't laughing...

We were completely unprepared with extra clothes because this was a spur-of-the-moment trip, so she got to be naked + a diaper baby cuddled up in her carrier for the afternoon.

I love naked + a diaper baby. She is so cute.

Loving the swing! I kind of love that it's a wind-up swing with a 30-minute limit. Takes me back.

Cuddles with Dylan! I'm going to be sad when she goes back to Utah. She's pretty good at getting smiles out of Skylar.

Basketball at the church...and making sure Peanut is protected from any errant shots while she naps!

Cute sleeping baby. Speaking of sleeping, she is on a sleeping kick. Three nights in a row she's slept six straight hours! And several five hour streaks during the day. She's sleeping a lot. I don't know what to do with myself other than enjoy the sleep and wait for the fluke to be over.

Crazy baby. Seriously, her hair. What to do with it!

More staring contests with dad.

And more basketball at the church. She was actually turning her head to watch the action. Until she got tired of standing still and I had to walk up and down the sides with her. While scoping out a potential future husband for Morgan...

Baby clothes soup. Washing up a bunch of my old clothes for Skylar. There are so many baby pictures that are going to get recreated once she fits into these...

Roscoe, barking up the pole at a squirrel, as he does. Latest ingestion: a dead bird. He's currently exiled dog once again.

Beats, for baby.

Also of note, we've been pretzeling all the things. Make-your-own pizzas on Monday with a pretzel crust and French dip sandwiches with a pretzel bun last night. All homemade and so delicious. I'm on a pretzel kick and it's not getting old.

Have a great day :-)