After a quick stay with Grandma in San Antonio, we headed west to Fort Stockton. It was the first time I'd been to the Davis Mountains and, while not quite as dramatic as the Rockies, they definitely held their own charm. We stayed in a little cabin in Fort Stockton where we had easy access to the McDonald Observatory and the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute. Matt really wanted to go to Balmoreah Springs, too. He's been planning to go there for the last 20 years, and finally when we had it all planned out, we found that it was closed due to repairs to the pool. So sad!!! I guess we'll just have to go back...
Annie hung out with me while the big kids (including Dad) went on a hike at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute. At five months pregnant, walking around the gardens in 90+ degree heat was plenty for me!
A funny heart cactus we discovered along the trail. --No we didn't pick it, somebody else must have discovered it and wanted to share the love....
We got to drive right up to the famous telescopes that scan the universe and walk around for a bit....We didn't get to go inside and look through them, much to the kids' disappointment, but we did stay for the evening program at the visitor's center. It was all about the moon and its phases. Both Michael and Sadie got picked to hold the "moon" as it traveled around the audience with a light shining on it to show how the phases change.
Then, it was time to head north to Carlsbad Caverns, NM. We enjoyed an almost-pleasant tour of the Living Desert Zoo. It would have been great, if it hadn't been 100+ degrees outside. (Note for future reference: visiting the desert would be much more pleasant in the winter months, rather than at the height of summer.)
The next evening, as the sun was setting, we got brave again and ventured out of our nice air conditioned hotel room to discover a beautiful park on the banks of the Pecos River.
Monday morning found us up bright and early to explore the Caverns themselves. The cool, damp cave air was a nice change from up above!
That evening, we came back for the bat program. Thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats fly out of the mouth of the caverns every evening in search of a tasty insect-dinner.
After all the fun, we headed back to San Antonio to visit a little longer with Grandma and Grandpa, then back to Houston and home sweet home.
Just some cute pictures:
These little kids sure do get along great...most of the time.
At the zoo:
Dressing up as Mom:
The longer, the better! Actually, I'm not sure Annie was ever able to suck hard enough to get anything out of hers, but it was fun trying.
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