Santa Fe Family Reunion

Sidenote: I'm working on this post early Sunday morning, having run the Dead Horse 30K in Moab yesterday.  The end of the race may have been punishing, but I tell ya, this morning I'm enjoying some long-lasting endorphins.  It's 6:30 am and I'm showered, wide awake, and grinning silly, because, you know, life is good.  

Annywaaay, I promised in my last post to explain the woolly bear piñata.  (As if such a thing really needs explanation!)

We brought it to Santa Fe to celebrate Fall with the entire Wheeler family.  Why else would you make a caterpillar piñata?

Fall in Santa Fe was glorious.  The city was great, the food was delicious, the surroundings were beautiful, and the airbnb accommodated our large group perfectly.  Such a splendid spot for a splendid family reunion.

Truth to be told, the trip to Santa Fe would have been worthwhile for the drive alone.  Skirting past Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, and the Valles Caldera National Preserve, it was beautiful scenery the entire way.

My very favorite overlook .

Turns out that Georgia O'Keeffe roamed this area from her home in nearby Abiquiu.

Our first New Mexico destination was the Sante Fe Children's Museum.  With a Rubik's cube in the front lawn, it was love at first sight.

In future decades I hope to steal the title of coolest grandparent by having a bubble table of my own.  I could seriously play with bubbles all day.

I was delighted to see my big girls let their inner child loose.

Here's Eli designing with sand...

...and magnets.  (The temple replica is Jason's work.)

Ruby met us at the museum where she and Annie had a delightful time painting faces.  Fun all around.

The next morning our crew headed to Bandelier National Monument. Plenty to see!

We hiked through Frijoles Canyon where we saw all sorts of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings.  The small holes in the rock are where posts would have been inserted to create multi-level structures.


Climbing up into one of the spaces.

Surprisingly roomy.


Talkin' 'bout my guyyyy. (My guy! My guy!)

And the little gals too.

A bird's eye view of how extensive the settlement.

While there still may be moments when they fight, I love how these girls are best friends.

Cool poses with their Aunt Christy.

Our next stop: Alcove House.  Careful!  Those are some mighty long ladders.


Plus, you might meet a tarantula along the way.

The gentlemen made it to the kiva.  Here's Grandpa Charles, Justin, and and Eli.

And now for the ladies, Brooklyn, Talia, and Grandma Susie.

Christy, Justin, and Eli, all looking sharp.

Somewhere I have a very similar picture of Jason and Justin walking with Brooklyn and Talia on their shoulders.

Talia Lily painted this rock in school to represent a book she loves, Counting by Sevens.  She's looking for a special place to leave it for someone else to find and enjoy.  She almost decided on this pretty spot, but decided it's better not to leave it on National Park lands.

Some photos of the whole crew (minus Lance, who was catching up on some work projects.)

A photo of our crew.

And a photo of the cute couple that started it all.

On our way back from Bandelier, we drove through Los Alamos.  I fell asleep and missed the entire thing, but was told I didn't miss that much.  We dropped by a small visitor's center to learn more about the Manhattan project and the development of the atomic bomb in what is now called Atomic City.  Hard to think about, but important to remember.

That evening, we enjoyed a special adults only dinner, thanks to Brooklyn babysitting.  Lance was charged with finding a place to eat, and discovered this amazing Indian place called Paper Dosa.  What a memorable meal!  (And check out the size of our dosa.)

Yup, when your soup looks like this, you know dinner's going to be good.

The next morning, I was eager to check out the Georgia O'Keeffe museum.  As luck would have it, we stumbled upon their Family Saturday.  The kids got to create some fun art in their annex, then we all got to visit the museum...for free!


Unsurprisingly, Annika set straight to sculpting dolphins.

Inside the museum, they gave each of the kids a sketch pad so they could draw what they saw.

I was so impressed by how intently they approached their task.

Georgia O'Keeffe has long been my favorite artist, so I'm glad the kids had a chance to appreciate her work as well.  I think it was neat for them to feel a connection by how she was inspired not only by the Southwest, but Lake George and Manhattan as well.

But oh, how she loved the desert.

That afternoon, we went for a hike to see the aspens up in Hyde Memorial State Park.  (I tell ya, Hyde Park creeps up everywhere.)  While  the leaves may have fallen already, the aspens were still stunning shining white against the deep blue sky.

Guess who managed to bum a ride on her daddy's shoulders again?  (A clue--Ruby was home napping.)

At least she got down to explore this fort on her own.

Yay for siblings.

Uh, oh, trouble in the snow field.

Looks like she got ya, Daddy Jason.

Warming up in the sun.

At least Annie occasionally pitches in as family photographer.  

Back at the house, we lit a fire in the courtyard.

The ultimate objective--smores!

Every reunion needs family photos.  While I'm always glad to have them, getting everyone organized is a trip.

Ta da!  Amazingly, we got (most) everyone smiling.  Just for the record, from left to right, it's Brianna & Justin, Kara & Jason, all from Salt Lake, Susie & Charles from Hyde Park, Christy & Ben from Phoenix, and Lance from Chicago.  Ruby in red (aged three) goes with Justin and Brianna.  IAs for our crew, Annika is five, Talia is still eleven, Eli is nine, and Brooklyn is thirteen.  Whew.

A couple cute family photos of Justin, Brianna, and Ruby.

The last thing we did before checking out of the house was listen to Susie read some stories from her journal about the kids growing up.  I think my children were delighted to learn that their dad, aunt, and uncles squabbled as siblings too, but all turned out well.

Since we weren't in a huge rush, we decided to explore downtown Santa Fe on our way out of town.  Unfortunately the hem of Annika's dress fell into the toilet on our way out the door, leaving her with a unique fashion ensemble as we strolled through town.


Here we are at the San Miguel Chapel, the oldest known church in the US, originally constructed in 1610.

Talia enjoyed ringing the bell.

And here's Annika admiring the mosaic at the Cathedal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.  Perfect for this animal adoring daughter of ours.

Speaking of animals, Spark joined us on this trip.  Here he is all ready for the trek home.

Not ready to conclude our happy reunion completely, we caravanned home with Charles and Susie, spending the night at another cozy airbnb in Farmington, New Mexico, right on the northern border.  After all, night time stories with grandma are priceless.


Thanks to all for all the fun Santa Fe memories, with family being the best memory of all.