The Land of Enchantment: Part A

For all you New Mexicans, I don’t really understand the state slogan – Land of Enchancement. Albuquerque seems desolate, poor, non modern, very brown with single story buildings made of adobe that don't look tall enough to stand in. It doesn’t call to me Land of Enchantment. That’s not to say we didn’t thoroughly enjoy our time, but I prefer the green hills and steep mountains of my beautiful Colorado.

Day One:
Spending lots of quality time with my dad, step mom, sister, and Cole. It was a weekend for Cole to spend some fun with his grandparents and Aunt. We arrived Friday with no snow delays whatsoever. It’s a quick 45-min plane ride and Grandma and Emma picked us up at the airport. We grabbed some lunch at the China Super Buffet, spent a bit of time at the hotel and off we went to Emma’s drop in swim lesson…and we were able to give Cole a swim lesson too AND have playtime at the park.

Dinner at Paisano’s was INCREDIBLE. All of our dinners were soooo good and the wine excellent. The kids were tired from swimming, but held it together for the most part. Cole fell off the chair and whacked his head on the table; got a little scrap on the side of face/eye and it turned a little purple. Do you know how cute my little monkey was? He actually fell asleep at the table, propped on one hand and made his way to my lap when his head slipped out of his hand. It was the cutest think. Day One: Survived
Day Two:
Early wake up call by Cole at 6 a.m. Some pillow talk with grandpa, breakfast, and a trip to the Flea Market was how our morning was filled. Afternoon was a trip out to Bob and Dolly’s where dad keeps his horses. We were blessed with a drive by from the ice cream truck and we ate the treats while we walked around the ranch. There was a little baby horse, just three weeks old, that was absolutely adorable. Depart the ranch (not the biggest loser ranch) and stop by an RV selling fresh oven bread and fresh fruit pie. We made it back to the hotel for a good nap so that we’d be fresh for the PBR (Professional Bull Riding); which was AWESOME. Dad got us tickets and it was so exciting to see those cowboys (hotties) riding those HUGE bulls. Cole made it through the whole performance, flirting with cute teenage girls who thought he was adorable.

Day Three:
Cole woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Didn’t have his listening ears on; was basically a little monster all day. Although he did behave during my early morning workout in the gym and then off we went to breakfast at the Frontier, a local ABQ landmark. Grandma, Emma, Cole and I ventured off to Santa Fe for some sightseeing. Cole was the same little Monster he woke up as. We did last for a couple hours, but it was torture….for everyone. I can’t believe we all survived. Lunch and nap. Hot tubin’. Visit with the General, food, food, food. Some couch lovin' between Cole and Gma and Gpa. Then off to dreamland.

Day Four:

Our last day, we only had about three hours to do something once everyone was wake, showered, and fed. We decided to go over to Kirtland Air Force base. The trip turned sour when Cole had a tantum in the store, which sent him and I to the car, both of us in tears. I think we had both met our maximum level capacity and we both missed Dad (me for hand off of Cole, and Cole for the love and longing of his dad). We made our way to the airport and off we went, after a short fun filled time with family. Emma was definitely Cole's BFF. He followed her everywhere she went and was so patient with him. Thanks for being a great "little" Auntie.

Stay tuned for Part B which is about meeting some amazing people and seeing a part of my dad that I've never experienced before.