And away we go!

I am so far behind on posts it's pathetic! I finally finish up with my Ruidoso posts just in time to head out the door again to go back! This time the kids and I get to enjoy the company of Big Daddy, and two of our closest friends! I am really looking forward to the trip! It turns out that Big Daddy's band is doing a "tiny tour" of New Mexico. They'll have one gig in Ruidoso and then we'll travel up to Albuquerque to visit my mom, have a gig and hang out with long lost friends! But gigs aside, I plan on RELAXING!!! Escaping the scorching heat of Texas and seeking refuge at our little mountain retreat! I mean seriously, I will be experiencing at least a 20 degree drop in temps and I cannot WAIT! To be able to spend time outdoors without melting, frying or heat-stroking! I will get to trade in the hot, muggy, sticky, smelly city air for clean, crisp, pine-scented, mountain air! Oh the ecstasy! So please forgive me while I take a couple of weeks off to recharge my mind, body and soul! I promise to explore new places and take lots of pictures so I can regale you with tales from the road when I return! Adios Amigos!

Smokin' Hot Summer Toes!

While in Ruidoso the MG girls had a toenail painting party! I'm sure that those of you who follow along know that I am a HUGE fan of painted toesies! Hot pink, peach, baby blue, hooker red... I LOVE it all! Here you see 3 generations of hot toes! We've always sported sweet feet in this family!

Afternoon in the Rio Ruidoso

We took a trek into town one morning for the kids to enjoy a pony ride. They had a wonderful time! That is, they had a wonderful time until our turn was over. The Piglet screeched like a mashed cat when we had to remove her from her pony! Oy, it was a sad state affairs! Luckily there was a playground across the street, but sadly, the swings were broken and the slides were hot. More crying ensued! But alas... there was a stream! A river actually, the Rio Ruidoso to be exact. Last year that river flooded, wreaking havoc through the town and leaving me, my mother and my two kids stranded in the upper canyon for 3 days! But on this warm summer day, it was a cool, clear, trickling stream, perfect for wading and exploring!

The Monkey Man was the first in, of course. He had his shoes off and was in up to his knees in seconds flat! And not to be outdone, the Piggy was right behind! They played and splashed, found rocks and shells and shockingly stayed dry from mid-thigh up! I love watching them together. The Monkey Man is such a good and patient big brother, well, for the most part. He holds her hand and helps her along when she has a hard time keeping up. It gives me great joy to know that they have each other and I hope they will always look out for one another. It's a bond that I will never understand being an only child, but even I can see that it's strong and growing stronger everyday. They are so lucky to have each other, and I think sometimes, even they get that!

The problem with young people...

Redneck Mother just turned me on to one of the funniest damn blogs I've read in a long time. Take a quick detour over to:

http://crabbyoldfart.wordpress.com/

And enjoy!

Ruidoso--Best shot

This is a photo of the Monkey Man playing my dulcimer. I absolutely loved this photo, my favorite of the trip!

Ruidoso or Bust! Restaurant recommendation, or not so much!

Needless to say, we didn't eat here!

Ruidoso or Bust! Critters around the cabin

Although I try to get out and do stuff while in Ruidoso, I also just like BEING in Ruidoso. There is no place more relaxing than the front deck of our little cabin! We see squirrels, chipmunks, beetles, hummingbirds, deer, lots of birds and sometimes BEARS! This trip was just full of animal visitors and we loved it! We were seeing so many birds, I finally had the Monkey Man pull out his field guide to "Birds of North America"! I wish I could have snapped some pics, but let me tell you, birds are HARD to photograph! Every single pic I attempted was crap! But here is a quick list of the birds we identified in the 6 days we were there. It really is quite an impressive role call of birdies in a single location! We possibly saw an owl, it was early morning and something very large, very white and very quiet sailed through the tall pines across the street. Couldn't get a really good look, but I know for a fact it was no egret. So if anyone knows of a large, white bird that would soar fairly high up, let me know! Anyway, here's my list:
Steller's jays
Dark-eyed Juncos
Acorn Woodpeckers I LOVE woodpeckers! They look like little comedians with funny red hats!
Black-headed grosbeaks
Various sparrows
Turkey Vultures
Swainson's Hawk
Ruby-throated hummingbirds
Rufous Hummingbirds
Western Tanagers This was a STUNNING bird, such amazing colors! There were two chasing each other around, I thought they were maybe males fighting over territory or females.
Yellow-rumped warbler
Flickers I also adore Flickers! Absolutely gorgeous!

We were visited by a couple of cool moths, I've yet to identify them, but we are always fans of moths! This little guy may not look too impressive, but there were several each morning around the light and on the door, they measured about 2" in length. Their fuzzy faces were just too cute!

This little moth was an odd one. It reminded me of a fox's face!

But our most prolific visitors were the deer, mule deer to be exact. We had small herds traipse through the lot next to us daily. They were very curious about us and intrigued by the peanuts and seed we had set out for the birds. They were slightly skittish but not at all scared of us, in fact, there were several times I thought one of them was going to walk right up on the deck!

Bucks are not too common, so we felt privileged that he was comfortable enough to lay down and rest about 20 ft. off the deck!

A group of evening visitors!

This sweet girl looks more like a kangaroo than a deer! Get a load of those EARS!

And the most adorable young buck I've ever seen! What a looker!

We never saw a bear, but we found evidence one morning. Hummingbird feeders were ripped off the deck and pulled open and there was quite a bit of scuffled dirt to one side of the cabin where it obviously lumbered down the hill. I would have loved to have seen it! It's always the biggest thrill to see one of these amazing animals. Oh well, maybe next time.

Most of the visitors were quite welcome, however this bunch wasn't so welcome! At first I worried that it was termites, but never fear, just a swarm of winged ants!