Carlsbad Caverns 2010

I had a random thought a couple months ago that it would be super fun to take the whole fam to Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands during the Christmas vacay.  I haven't been since I was 12 and Ben hadn't ever been, hence the thought that it would be fun.  I was so happy when everyone else wanted to go too!!  But White Sands had to get axed because it's somehow 4 hours away from CC...We decided to all (8 of us) cram in my Expedition, thinking it'd be totally cool since the Expo is supposed to fit 8 people.  Ha.  Hahahhahaha!  It was STUFFED to the gills with people and crap and getting in and out of the back seat was a comedic exercise every time.  However, we like eachother's company, so it wasn't awful.  We went down Tuesday morning and had tickets to see Christmas on the Pecos that night, which is a river of lights type thing, on the Pecos River.  It was so cold and the kids had to wear life jackets, but it was really great too.  Devin kept trying to clap for joy, but the jacket kept getting in his way and it ended up being more of an attempt at imitating a seal, poor guy.  I love seeing how excited the kids are for everything, it just really makes things that much greater!  Kyndal has started to pose for pictures, which is adorable, and she also tells herself things to say (in place of "1,2,3 Cheese!") before the pic is taken.  That night it was "Christmas Candycanes!!"... :)  I must say a gigantic THANK YOU to my parents for taking us on this trip, the hotel was brand spanking new and I really enjoy new things (all our houses have been new, haha), so I was in heaven.  We took a lot of trips like this when I was younger and they are all really great memories, I'm so happy to be starting this same tradition with my kiddos.  They've really enriched my life and I hope to do the same for K and Dev.  I must give an honorable mention to Furrs Cafeteria for our dining experience while in Carlsbad.  For some reason 6 adults and 2 kids in a half empty restaurant is really un-appealing to those who work there and we literally got shunned.  *Don't go eat at Larez if you're in Carlsbad!!  Feel free to tell your friends too!*.  Anyway, we only had 45 minutes before we had to be on the dock for Christmas on the Pecos so Furrs it was.  ...  We ate at Furrs all during my HS soccer team years and I didn't miss it, that's for sure, so there were some good jokes going around but it wasn't that awful.  Thank you Furrs for taking people of all kinds...  Dev always has a crap night when we first get somewhere, so we were awake basically all night with him and got to hear Kyndal's nighttime antics first hand.  She for sure talks in her sleep nightly (Heidi will attest to this, they're sharing a room this trip), and Tuesday night she was yelling in her sleep too, she is so loud!  Btw it is mighty creepy to know someone is straight up talking and saying coherent things while completely asleep.  She also has gibberish conversations whilst sleeping, which are odd.  But, bad night aside, Wed morning we got up and had awesome waffles and then we were off to the Caverns.  I haven't been since I was 12, so my memory was awfully sketchy.  I did not remember that to get to the "Big Room" was an hour long walk doooowwwwnnnn into the Earth.  I'm going to take a moment and gush about how cool the Earth is:  It's really freaking fantastic, and I loved loved loved getting to marvel at it.  It's bananas how impressive rocks can be, how impressive knowing drips of water over hundreds of thousands of years can create amazing things, how fully obvious is that God is the man in charge.  Childbearing and Carlsbad Caverns, yep, they are my two major confirmations that there is a God and he knows precisely what is going on, precisely how to make all the tiny chinks come together to create a massively perfect, well, creation.  So beautiful, SO SO beautiful.  CCs is most definitely out of the way of anything and everything, but I promise you, it will be worth the trip!  Anyway:  To continue.  This is prefaced by the fact that everything was awesome and gorgeous and ridiculously cool, so insert all that before each sentence.  We walked for an hour down and into the Earth, 750 feet down and I think a mile back until we got into the Big Room.  The kids, while they rocked the trip down, were done and ready for lunch then.  We took elevators back up to the surface and ate lunch and then ventured back down for the walk around the Big Room.  It really is big, the loop trail is 1.2 miles and takes you by some ridiculous things.  We had audio tours to listen to on the trip, and Kyndal even had one especially made for kiddos narrated by Carl S. Bat (haha).  It was all the same info way watered down, so she was talking about the same things we were seeing and knew what it all was.  By the end of the trip she could recognize stalactites, stalagmites, pools, columns, popcorn and knew you need to be careful on the path and not touch anything.  She also knows all about the bats that inhabit the cave during the summer months, and now knows what bat poop smells like.  Devin did really great too, and even snuck in a nap on Nanna and Aunt Meg for an hourish during the walk around the Big Room.  He loves rocks, he gets uber excited about them, so this was a fantastic trip to take him on.  He either walked or rode on shoulders the whole way and I'm happy to report that he is a total champ.  He's such a little pal.  Just as an aside, I also adore my husband.  He just plain loves K and Dev too, he'll walk along with them for hours talking to them and showing them things and gosh almighty, he is perfection as a Dad.  My favorite mental pictures ever are seeing him walking holding their hands.  I can't stand it.  I'm now planning at least yearly trips to Natl Parks because my kids are so freaking great and love learning and seeing new things.  Kyndal kept wanting Heidi to take pictures of her next to columns or stalgmites or rocks, and she would say (in place of cheese) "Bats live in caves!!!".  She is so adorable!!  Her little prayer tonight said as follows, and I quote:  "Thankful for our big day, thankful for our fun adventure.  Thankful for stalactites, thankful for stalagmites, thankful for the pools with really clean water, thankful for the big statue that is still dripping water and still growing really really slowly.  Thankful we could listen to the bat talk about the bats and where they sleep"  This was after a 5 hour car ride and right after waking up from a 1/2 hour nap, so I think I can be fairly certain she retained a good bit of what she learned today.  My kids are just the coolest little people around, I love hanging out with them!  I love showing them the world and man oh man, we are doing more of this, that is my first New Years Resolution!!  I'll put up pictures probably in a few days, I promise I'm going to shock you all and post on our Christmas trip within the week of it happening!!