Roswell, NM

Thursday, June 19th-Sunday, June 23rd 
We spent three nights in Roswell, NM.  I have to say that the town loves their aliens.  I did not have any encounters with real aliens, but plenty of encounters with the fake variety.  No abductions here!

 Instead of an unofficial stop?

 Hope there's no alien in the chicken!

 Even the McDonald's is shaped like something from outer space.  Yes, that's my foot on the dashboard again...guess it's a trend.

 Comic books for aliens

 They like to play poker. One of them was cheating and had a card up his sleeve!

 The record shop had an alien band.

 This had medical supplies.

 They even come in pink.  The eleven year old refused to be a part of this picture, but Marinda was happy to hold her (?) hand.

 I think this is my favorite.  They disembark a spaceship at a hotel and decide to ride a wagon?  Some are small enough to fit underneath the spaceship while others are bigger than the space ship.  It made me go, "hmmm."

 Yes, we had to go to the Museum. 

 A reenactment of an alien visit in the museum

 We thought about leaving the kids for the UFO...kidding of course

Every museum needs an alien autopsy room.

And to top it all off all of the streetlights on Main Street are aliens too.

AZ to NM

Snapped a few pictures on the way from Flagstaff, AZ to Roswell, NM on Thursday, June 19th. 

 Hard to see how pretty this is when it is taken from a moving vehicle at 80 mph (Don't worry...I wasn't driving when I took these), but crossing the border from AZ to NM looked like this.

 You can see the reflection of my foot in this one.  My foot was sitting on the dashboard.  It kind of looks like I am about to smash the mountain.

I think Thoreau was in Concord, MA...Walden Pond anyone?  I don't know why but the thought of Walden Pond  set in NM sent me into fits of giggles.  Too many weeks on the road or English nerd?  Probably both!

Flagstaff again

June 16th-June 19th
Got to spend three nights in Flagstaff as we journeyed from southern California to New Mexico on the road trip.  It was great to see the family again, but also a little harder to leave this time since I know it'll be awhile until I am up in Flagstaff again.  Claira, my niece, was so excited when we drove up that she ran up to me with a huge smile on her face when I got out of the car.  There are not many things better than the excitement of a two year old so excited to see you she can't stand it.  On the other hand there is not much sadder than a two year old crying when you leave her.  I am blessed to have a family who loves me and is excited to see me.
Just a few pictures:

 Driving from LA to Flag is not the most exciting drive in the world.  We pushed through this part of the driving in seven and a half hours with one bathroom break and ice cream for lunch.  The kids did phenomenal.  Thank goodness for Dairy Queen, DVD players in the car, and ring pops.  Not our finest moment as adults, but it got us through the drive as quickly as possible and in relative peace.

 It's great to see the kids play together.

Mom and I took a trip to the new casino in Flagstaff and played some slots and roulette.  We didn't come away big winners, but we did have fun.

Van Nuys/ Los Angeles area

June 10th-June 16th 
We got in on the evening of Tuesday, the 10th and left the morning of Tuesday,  June 16th for a total of six nights.  We really didn't do anything major which was fine because it was fun just for the kids to spend time with cousins (some they had never even met).  We didn't even make it to the beach.
I did get a much needed break by watching The Fault in Our Stars and a manicure/pedicure.  Not a lot of pictures were taken but here's a few:

 Griffith Park in LA

Finally got to eat those lollipops from the taffy factory. 

Monterey day two

Tuesday, June 10th
We spent the day at the Monterey Aquarium before driving to southern California.  It was a great aquarium for the kids because there were plenty of touch tanks, activity centers, and things to climb on. 

 See the sign that says sardines?  The aquarium is on Cannery rd.  I learned that the street used to be a cannery for sardines...hence the name.

 These turtles remind me of Finding Nemo

 Mason was not having the photo op.

 Penguins are always my favorite.

I think I enjoyed the touch tanks as much as they did! 

 It's hard to see, but there's a yellowish cylinder like object in the middle of this octopus.  It looked a bit like a pulsing heart and kept pushing in and out of the cylinder.

 Steam punk octopus

 Even Mason liked the jellyfish exhibit

I think we wore them out...Can't see Meghan, but this is us leaving the aquarium on the way south.  I think the gang may have been asleep before we left the parking garage. 

Monterey day one

Monday, June 9th  
Whale Watching and 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach

So here's the deal.  I took Micayla (aged 11) on a whale watching tour today.  I was super excited because I have always wanted to see whales in the ocean.  It was on my bucket list.   My motion sickness kicked in like a bat out of hell.  Too much information I am sure, but there is something absolutely awful about throwing up over the back of a boat.  Thus, I did not get very many pictures and spent most of the FOUR HOUR trip thinking "I can just look at whales on the internet" and "Is Micayla ok at the front of the boat alone?"  For those of you that know me you know how much I love animals and conservation.  Normally I would love the fact that they were pulling Mylar balloons and other trash out of the ocean, but there was one point where I had the thought, "Let the animals die because I am going to die and be their food if we don't get back to shore now."
Here are the few pics I snapped at the beginning of the trip and the end of the trip:

 Sea lions sunning on the rocks

 These row boats are waiting for the Great American Boat Race to start.  They are racing to Hawaii and will take around three months to get there.

 Swimming sea lion

 Dolphins

 Dolphins

Can you spot the sea lion who has the right idea sunning himself on a rock?

 Just a few pics of the 17 mile drive...playing golf at Pebble Beach means golfing on a cliff-side I guess?  My ball would be in the ocean!

 A little blurry.

 Too bad Northern California water is so cold!  It looks swim worthy for sure.