Ruidoso, NM

We had a great weekend getaway to Ruidoso. It is only a 4 hour drive for us so we left Friday morning. When we got to Ruidoso, we went to Bonita Lake for some fishing and sightseeing. Friday night, we had a delicious dinner at a yummy steak house. See the above pic for Jackson enjoying Gruyere mac and cheese. I'm not sure if the regular mac and cheese will ever do again! On Friday alone, we saw five deer. Russell insisted on getting Jackson as close to a deer as possible. Luckily, no one was injured! All the deer were on the condo property so they were pretty tame and used to the crazy guests! Speaking of the condo, we loved where we stayed. It was located in walking distance to mid-town (where all the shops and restaurants are) and it was on a stream with a great courtyard. You can see the pic of Jackson on the balcony with the stream in the background. As you can imagine, he loved looking off the balcony at all the nature around us.

On Saturday, we woke up early (there is a time change). We went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods to stroll around the lake. Jackson was pooped from the activity so he and Russell went back to the condo for a nap and I got to do some well deserved shopping! After the nap, we had lunch and headed to the horse races. They were a blast. That is definitely something we will do again. After seeing the horses, we stopped by a park where they had pony rides. Some kids were scared but not Jackson. Since he is young, Russell had to walk beside the pony. It was a busy day and, as you can see from the pic, Jackson fell asleep with me on the couch when we got home. It was a rainy night, so we ordered takeout from an Italian restaurant we had seen close by.

This morning, I got up really early. I guess I was still on Lubbock time. It was really nice to sit on the couch with Maggie and actually finish a cup of coffee. I am usually so busy, I really can't remember the last time I finished a cup! When the boys woke up, we headed to Lincoln National Forest for a hike. That was really fun and we hiked for much longer than I thought we would. I thought Jackson or I would get tired but we didn't. I guess it was the refreshing fresh air and cool temps. After the hike, we headed back to town to do more shopping. As strange as it sounds, Ruidoso has the best shopping. It is difficult to make it to all the shops in Mid-town because there are so many. So, we got lots of good stuff this morning and Russell got his usual souvenir t-shirt. After shopping, we headed home. Jackson did really well traveling. It started out as a rainy ride home, so Jackson, Maggie and I ate cheeseburgers and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the car. It was really nice to snuggle with my babies and thinking about the weekend made me really excited about our new baby on the way!