More Camping and a Zoo

 September seems to have been our vacationing month even though the girls have already started school. We had one free weekend at home during the month of September, but two weeks after our trip to Utah for Labor Day, we had another camping trip with our ward. I picked up the girls from school and drove straight over to Tyler's work where we picked him up and then drove two hours into New Mexico to a camp area owned by the church. Our ward has this camp out every year and we were super excited to be able to go with them this year. There were a lot of people already set up when we arrived, but after setting up our tent, we relaxed around the fire while the girls found their friends and roamed from firepit to firepit. It was very cold, but luckily we knew in advance and were very prepared. It was even colder than what it was in Utah, so we took all the same clothes, plus an extra layer to stay warm. I even remembered hot water in a thermos so we could all enjoy hot chocolate with our s'mores.

We survived the night and spent time playing Saturday morning. There was a little zip line for the kids, so each of the girls took a turn. The adults had to help re-align the pulley every time and run it back to the top so they got a work out too. Aubrey even took a turn, but I guess I didn't get a still picture of her. I was able to get videos of each of girls having a turn though.

 There were so many kids, the girls didn't want to leave. They were having so much fun. There was a huge hole near the playground that kept the kids entertained when they weren't roaming the forest.

 We left the camp area around lunch time, so we took our time driving back home. We got to stop at all the fun places we saw on our drive up the night before. There was a country store on the side of the road that advertised apples, fudge, desserts, and souvenirs. The girls each picked out a bracelet and we got our picture by the huge apple boy.

 We picked up lunch and then stopped in Alamogordo, New Mexico where there was a zoo/playground on the side of the road. It was so funny. I saw a caption that said something like "oldest zoo in the southwest." It was actually bigger than we thought, and well worth the $1.50 per person price. We walked through an aviary and I think the birds could smell our recently eaten lunch because they were following us everywhere. Tyler had to shoo them away just so we could get out of the double gates.

 Some of our favorite exhibits included the llamas, mountain lions, kangaroos, bears, monkeys, and turtles. 

  There was a huge stage in the middle of a grassy area that was probably used for bird or animal shows, but the girls used it as their very own dance stage.

 Taryn was awesome in her stroller for the whole visit. Whenever we stopped long enough I had to catch a few pictures of her. She wished she could have gotten out to dance on the stage too, but I loved the outside shots where you could see her beautiful brown eyes.

The sidewalk along all the animal exhibits also included some stone animals that were perfect picture spots. I used them to get all four girls together. They wanted to roar like the lion in this first picture. 

 I was so happy Tyler was willing to take the side trips on our way home. It made for some really fun family time and awesome memories. I'm so glad we're taking time to make some family only time even if it's just a quick trip on a random weekend of the school year. We love it!