Camping Near Ruidoso

We stopped at a park in Ruidoso that I remember from my childhood.

Brishen, Basia, Lilia, and Cece

songs by the campfire

You've gotta roast marshmallows! (and don't expect another normal pose from Brishen until he's 30)

hunting aliens by flashlight and lantern

I don't like the sight of a tail like this in my tent when I first wake up. I was relieved that it was attached to the cute horse on Basia's sleeping bag, but still.

Gathering wood was a favorite activity.

Teamwork! They did later use this same teamwork and this same log to attack Brishen.

She felt inspired to write a song. The hard part was when she asked us to sing it.

This is what a spark will do to a sweatshirt made of polyester. It also burns the skin underneath, as I was made aware.

Here's a list of some things that were roasted over our morning campfire and the results:

1. my cup of tea (pictured above)--the cup got too hot to handle and the tea did not heat at all

2. poptarts--Jon was very impressed with the results, but I'm not sure anything makes poptarts edible

3. donut hole--very amusing! the frosting on the outside gets unbearably hot (lots of laughing as Jon tries not to cry after taking a bite) but no heat reaches the center

Here's the whole crew at the lookout tower. It was so beautiful! No laughing at my head scarf. When one has naturally curly hair and gets it windblown on one day and then sleeps on it at night without being able to wash it in the morning, the kindest thing to do for the eyes of others is to cover it up as best you can. Basia's scarf serves a different purpose--to keep twigs and such out.

Here's one of the many gorgeous views.

We hiked the Crest Trail and had meadows full of wildflowers above and below us.

See those dots way back along the trail? That's Jen, Karl, and Cece. Basia and Lilia liked to run ahead, so some of us tried to keep them in sight while the others got to hear all of Cece's amazement at each flower and butterfly.

The kids made this abode where we stopped for lunch. Brishen worked on the outer structure while the girls gathered bark for the floor. They are hoping that a nice family of horny toads have moved in by now.

Do you see what I mean by Brishen's strange faces. I know that his father went through a similar phase, and he still was not over it when I met him in college. I think we better get used to these images of Brishen.

Here are the kids enjoying one of the many horny toads we caught along the way. Basia finally got brave enough to hold one.