Boy Scout campout

Boy Scouts has been filled with a lot of really fun activities

I've never done before.

I'm working my way through my Tiger Cub Handbook.

I sold popcorn.

I've earned a few badges and beads.

And today,

I had my first campout!!!

We climbed the rock wall

Nearly to the top!

Weston took a turn too.

He's a Tiger Cub in the making.

We went on a hike,

roasted hot dogs,

retired a couple of American flags,

and listened to old Native American stories

told by a man in full Indian dress.

It was pretty fun,

even if it was a bit cold.

We didn't camp out--

Mom was working, Dad was single-parenting, and it was pretty cold--

but we still had a great time!

Spooks at the farm

Guess what we are for Halloween?

The Royals Hotdog Derby.

Awesome, right?

Great idea, Dad!

You've never seen anyone so excited to put on their costume

like Beckett is.

Anything to be like the big brothers!!!

Tonight we broke in our costumes at

Deanna Rose's Night of the Living Farm.

We even got to meet up with Austin and Kayla!

First up was the spooky hayride.

I kept complaining it wasn't that spooky.

On our walk to the spooky haunted house,

we ran into a bison.

It charged the fence at us--

I thought Dad was going to throw us out of harm's way!

The haunted house didn't go very well.

Beck and Dad hung back anyway.

Weston didn't make it past the entrance.

I ran back after the creepy first girl wouldn't move

out of the path.

Kayla came out screaming being carried by Michelle.

Austin made it.

He said he closed his eyes and ran.

Maybe next year.

Something we did love was the scavenger hunt.

We walked through the woods with flashlights

looking for a bat, a witch's broom,

a few spiders, and other things.

It was really fun.

The pirates' race is always a good time

Beck was just thrilled to be there

like everyone else

It was really fun!

We love this warm-up to Halloween!

Fall soccer's final hurrah

I've come a long way this season

with my soccer skills.

I've scored a lot of goals,

worked on my dribbling and kicking,

and I'm a pretty aggressive, go-getter player

I make Coach proud!

I make this look goooood!

Jack had a great season too.

He may dread it before

("Soccer is keeping me away from FUN things!")

but he sure has a good time while he's there.

Smooth moves, dude

And Beck?

Well, we've interrupted a few naps

for a good soccer game.

Sorry, third child.

But all good things must come to an end.

Jack's team won 3rd place in the tournement!

Go Green Ninjas!

I was THRILLED to get my first "Big Soccer" trophy

Go Ninja Turtles!

The countdown to spring season begins...

One more fun-filled day!

On our last day in ABQ,

we started out our morning with a trolley tour of the city.

Everyone loves a trolley!

(Although Kurt did try to talk us into his much cheaper

"K&K tour"--Kurt and a Keg).

We learned about the history of the city,

saw some of the neighborhoods,

visited the UNM campus and became honorary Lobos,

and saw some pretty cool sites.

Check out the spaceship house

But the highlight for Mom and Dad were all the Breaking Bad stops.

We saw Jesse's house

as well as the crappy motel and the hotdog stand.

They thought that was really fun.

But wait!

There's more!

Aunt Mandy arranged a horseback riding trip!

We drove about an hour from Albuquerque

to a remote ranch.

Then we drove another 30 minutes behind a dusty, old trailer

filled with horses

(did I mention we were nearly out of gas???)

Just when we were really getting unsure about all this,

we stopped and loaded up.

It was a great ride!

Jack and I are hoping to ride solo next time

(Jack--"but I already know everything about riding a horse!")

Our guide (Dakodah) took tons of pictures and video,

but they still haven't arrived.

Here's the one shot Mom got:

Up and down canyons and mountains,

over several peaks and valleys--

it was a beautiful ride!

ABQ,

we've sure had an awesome trip!

The Glow

But wait!

You thought Sandia Crest was enough fun for one day?

You'd be wrong!

After a tasty Mexican meal

("Red or green?" (chilies)..."Christmas!" (both, please!))

we headed back to the Balloon Fiesta for the Glow

We did a little shopping

(notice the slingshot in Weston's hand),

checked out the chainsaw carving contest,

and settled in for the show...

The sun is going down...

...so the balloons go up!

Around 200 balloons fill up,

but don't take off.

They stay grounded

and burn their torches all together.

It was the coolest thing we've seen so far!

There were a lot of cool balloons up:

the cow

the bees

Spiderpig

the dog

Beck was impressed

How could you not be???

To top it off,

there was one of the best fireworks shows 

we'd ever seen.

An awesome ending to an awesome day.

Watermelon Mountain

Albuquerque is known for the Sandia Mountains

which mean "watermelon" in Spanish

(they light up pink at sunset).

We thought we'd check them out today!

We hiked all over...

It was a beautiful day--

look at that sky!

And that view!

It was fun,

and a bit exhausting at around 7000 feet

There was a funny little museum about New Mexico skiing,

complete with a chair lift

But that's not enough for us...

we want to go UP the mountain in a gondola!

It was a really fun ride!

Floating through the sky

 And a looooong way down!

But the view was worth it!

Our Christmas card picture?

Albuquerque, way down there

We did some hiking at the top 

and wrote our names on the rocks

Another awesome day!