White Sands, NM

I love to discover new places, so when Ryan suggested a day trip to nearby White Sands, NM, I was super excited. We got there a little before 10:00am, and the sun was still hiding behind the clouds, so the temperature was nice and comfortable. During the winding drive into the heart of the desert, Drew kept saying, "Look, snow!" It really did look just like snow. Even the sides of the road had darker looking drifts from the "sand plows" that must clear the way frequently. We finally selected a large hill with no one in sight and trudged up with our disc sled and wax in hand.

We had a great time taking the kids down the hill. At first they were both petrified to walk up the hill by themselves because the sand made such an unstable surface and it was very steep. After a while Drew started going up using his hands and feet, and proudly declared that he did it (made it up the hill) all by himself. When he got tired on the incline I would hear him say to himself, "I need to keep going." Matt never really reached that level of self-determination, choosing instead to whine and insist on our help.As luck would have it, the sun came out and Mommy & Daddy began to feel as though they had been stranded in the desert all day. We were blazing hot and exhausted from climbing up the hill over and over. Even people in the best shape would have been challenged by this exertion, but add to it a man lugging his two kids up the hill and a hot pregnant woman (as in temperature) on doctor's orders to restrict activity, and our kids didn't stand a chance to spend hour after hour in this playland. Ryan and I took the kids back down to the van to take a water break. The water break turned into a snack break. Then Ryan turned to me and said with a tired laugh, "I almost feel ready to ready to go." I said, "Me too." So that was it. An activity that lasted less than the drive there, but totally worth it. I took this shot of Ryan as he was getting the sled ready for the first ride down. Then I got the family gathered for a group shot and--the camera died! D'oh! We'll do better next time.