there's more

We braved the great outdoors again this weekend with much more success than our previous excursion. No good stories this time though, just a great time had by all. We also went to the Salman Raspberry Ranch to pick raspberries. (Thank you Ben) I have wanted to do this for quite some time now so it was pretty exciting for me. Benson really enjoyed himself too. It really made me want raspberry bushes.

the smithsonian might say no

Can I have this for my birthday?

missing you

I'm bored. Does anyone want to come to my house to play?

duck was a neutral party

This just might be my favorite picture book. We borrowed it from the library recently and Ben and I both had a good laugh as we read it to Benson. I highly recommend it.

we are real campers now

Yesterday we decided to go camping. So we went to Walmart (where I got into a fight with the check out clerk, funny but just another reason to forever VETO walmart p.s. I won), bought a tent and some hot dogs and marshmallows and took off to the Jemez (pronounced HAY- mess) waterfall. Here are some things you should do before you leave to go camping. 1. Check the weather. People, it is not a good idea to set out for a great adventure in the mountains without checking the weather. Did it rain you might ask? Yes, yes it did. Did your $40 tent hold up you might ask? No, no it did not. Thankfully we had an air mattress so it was just a little pool on the floor and we stayed dry. Going back to the list now, 2. Take more things to keep yourself warm than you would ever think you would need. I froze all night and ended up "sleeping" with Banks because he was cold too. Sleeping is a relative term here, because although I was surely not fully awake and walking around, I was definitely not sleeping either. Although Ben and Benson seemed to have faired much better than I. Anyway it was cold and rainy and we ran out of fire wood but this leads me to... 3. Always camp near a whole bunch of nice elderly people. We met the nicest people up there! They gave us fire wood and graham crackers (for s'mores) and even offered to let us sleep in their RV the next night if we wanted. It was a hilarious trip and although many things went wrong we all had a really great time and might even go again soon..ish. The final photo is of us the next morning. Benson sure looks cheery. :)

this little piggie

Last night while I was making dinner (breakfast foods for the 3rd night in a row, mmmmmm...) Benson did the cutest thing. Banks was in his little bouncer chair and Benson went over and started playing "This little piggie" with him. He would say, "This one? (holding a different appendage each time) Okay!" and launch into another round of the game. Banks was smiling so much and it was so sweet to see Benson being the big brother I hope he will end up being.

bibidy bee bop shu-op

Last night we went on a date (with our third wheel Banks) to Seasons (a really nice restaurant in ABQ) to listen to their Saturday Night Jazz on the Rooftop on it's last night this year. Wow. It was so amazing. We sat on the balcony with candles, overlooking cobblestone streets and a beautiful fountain and listened to great music and ate Tomato Caprese and Peach Tart. It would have been a perfect date if Banks hadn't cried almost the whole time but that's what it's like to be a parent I guess. Anyway I was wondering if anyone here listened to jazz and could recommend a good album for us. Jazz, anyone?