Family Fun

Last week Craig's sister, Becky, and her family came to see us. We had a really great time with them! We always love it when they come down. Becky and Monte have four children. Courtney is 12 and she and Megan are the best of friends. Nicole is 10 and she and Keri have a great time together. Ryan and Adam are only about 4 months apart in age and Kyle is 4. The boys always have a great time together and this visit was no exception.

On Friday we had a great day trip to Los Alamos. Craig had to work, Tori was in Colorado at a band competition with Amie and my mom, and Katie had to go to school so it was just Megan, Keri, Adam, Aaron and Me. Craig's dad works in Los Alamos and so it was fun to go see where he works. Everything he does is super classified so we couldn't even really see the building that he works in but we got the idea of the drive he makes everyday and the proximity of his office, (he drives 1 1/2 hours each way to and from work).

The first thing that we did was go to the Atomic Museum. The Atomic Museum tells all about the first nuclear bombs and how they were made. I was not that excited, I mean learning about a bomb that killed so many people is really not up my alley. I soon changed my mind, however, and decided it was a wonderful place to go! I would even really like to go back without my kids so that I could read everything there.

We went to a movie about Los Alamos. It talked about how Los Alamos came to be, (it was a secret city during the war, set up to try to make the bomb and end the war). They talked about how many scientists, including Albert Einstein, wrote President Roosevelt and begged him to do research in this area so that the war could end. I loved that their goal was ultimitaly to save lives!

The museum also talked about all the advances that have been made as a result of nuclear power. It had a great kids room with hands on activities. All of the exhibits has computers you could work on to help you understand the science behind the exhibit. It was really cool!

After we left the museum we went to Bandelier. It was perfect weather, (70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky) and a perfect time of year, (lots of green, yellow and red leaves, beautiful blue sky). We had a delicious lunch by the river and then hiked to the ruins. Bandelier is National Monument full of native american cave dwellings. You can hike up to them and go inside to see what the native americans lived like many years ago. There are also Indian Ruins on the ground that you can see. We all had a great time.

We drove home through the Jemez mountains where we saw several deer and other wildlife. It was a gorgeous drive home!! The perfect ending to the perfect day!