Albuquerque Zoo Pictures

On Josh's day off this past Friday, we went to the zoo.  I thought for sure that Houston would have the bigger and better zoo, but I was wrong.  I think I like Albuquerque's zoo better.  We had a lot of fun!

Eli is complaining about the smell of the flamingos; we think it was the water.

The tiger was very active as he was jumping in the water.  It was one of our favorites to see.

You can't see it very well, but just above Eli's head in the picture is a koala.  It's hidden in the leaves.

If there's a train, you can bet Eli wants to ride it.

Eli was trying to be goofy by turning his hat to the side.

Nap Power

Ever since Eli watched an old episode of He-Man online he has been proclaiming "I have the power!"  Today when I reminded him of his nap time, we had a very humorous conversation about nap power.

Eli:  "I can't take a nap.  I don't have nap power." 

Me:  "Oh really?  Why not?"

Eli:  "Um...(thinking)...because Daddy has the nap power and he didn't give it to me, so I don't have the power to take a nap."

Me:  "Oh, I see, so you have to wait until Daddy comes home, and then you can take a nap?"

Eli:  "Yes, yes.  I just don't have nap power.  But Daddy gave me garbage truck toy power, so we can go play garbage trucks!"

Me:  "Oh, okay, but guess what?  I have nap power because Daddy gave it to me before he left."

Eli:  "Oh, so you can go take a nap?"

Me:  "Yes, and you can come with me because I will give you the power."

Eli:  "No!  (starting to cry)  I don't want you to give me nap power because I don't want to take a nap."

Well, I guess it was only funny until the crying took over, but you have to hand it to him, he's a creative little boy.

Nana and Bampa Visit New Mexico

Eli's Nana and Bampa Pratt came for a visit over Memorial Day weekend.  Of course, this gave us the opportunity to explore some new areas around here.  We went up to Santa Fe, which is about an hour away from Albuquerque.  We didn't spend a lot of time in the town itself, but I would like to go back.  It seemed like it had a lot of history and would be very interesting. 

We spent most of our time at Bandolier National Monument, which is known for its cliff dwellings.  They were fun to see, though it was quite hot.  It was a different kind of heat from what Houston has.  Houston has the "I'm miserable, drenched in sweat, and can't breathe" kind of heat.  This was the "burning fire on my skin with warm wind slapping my face" kind of heat.  Josh and I both agreed it was preferable to Houston's heat, but then again it was the end of May, not July. 
 
We also went to Petroglyph National Monument, which is about 15 minutes away from our home in Albuquerque.  You can probably guess what it's known for and what we saw.  Both national monuments were a great way to see and understand the cultural and historical roots of the area. 

This is Albuquerque.

Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanical Gardens

Last week on Josh's day off we decided to explore Albuquerque's Aquarium and Botanical Gardens.  Since we have been to many aquariums with Eli, the thing that stood out about this one for me and for Eli was the ship section.  Eli was excited to pretend play pirates. 

I enjoyed the botanical gardens.  Houston doesn't really have anything like that (at least that I've been to or know of).  They were quite pretty, and they had a train section with Thomas the Train and Percy that Eli loved.  We had a hard time pulling him away from it.