Our week in Stanley was so much fun. We spent lots of time sitting around visiting and eating yummy things and just really enjoying being surrounded by the people we love. Erik loved all the snacks and the dogs and the toys, he was pretty happy here. One of his favorite treats was the watermelon Grandma Mower and bought. He'd never had it before, and he just went to town on it.
At both grandparents' houses, Erik loved the piano. I can't wait until someday I get to have my piano in our home so he can learn to really love it.
Grandma Kathy sure enjoyed her snuggle time with Erik. He's not a super snugly guy, but he did consent to spend some time in the rocking chair.
Some of Erik's other favorite activities were eating...
and playing on the slide outside the public library. He LOVES to slide!
We were headed into Albuquerque and decided to make a quick email stop at the public library. It was really fun to go there, and really weird to have Erik in tow, because this is the library both Ethan and I grew up going to. Erik found a big bin of board books, and made a beeline straight for it.
Of course, he wasn't particularly interested in reading the books, his goal was to take every single one out and throw it on the floor. We decided after that it was time to head over to play with the toy train until everyone else was ready to go.
It was so strange to be sitting and playing trains with Erik here, this room is where all my favorite books were as a kid (actually, they're still there), and I spent a lot of time in here.
Ethan's dad, Kerry, raises sheep and has for a long time. This was the first time I've gotten to watch him work with them though, so that was really fun. He shears his sheep (and actually gets hired to do other people's too) the traditional way, with blades instead of clippers. I got to watch him do two lambs in preparation for the county fair this weekend, and it was really fascinating. It was so funny looking to see the lamb sitting on it's bum for it's "hair cut" without doing any of the thrashing or fighting I was expecting. In fact, now as I'm typing this, I think maybe I should've had Kerry teach me some of his holds for Erik's next haircut!
The sheep dogs were so cool to watch. They were right there, just waiting for that lamb to make a wrong move so they'd have an excuse to do their thing. I got to watch Dad herd the sheep with the dogs, and it was so cool! I didn't get any pictures though, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Erik wasn't particularly interested in the sheep shearing, but he was really enjoying playing outside. As I've said before, dirt is not something you see too much of in Mississippi, and he LOVED it!
Dirt and dogs, life doesn't get any better than this! Erik loved the dogs so much that on one of our last mornings there, he said his first word. "DOG"
Kerry works for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and for part of his job he was trapping and banding doves the whole week we were there. I went out with him and Ethan one afternoon to see what they were up to.
And of course the dogs came too. Aren't Ethan and Hope so cute!
The dogs were just way too interested in the birds, so I did what I could to keep them out of the way for a few minutes while Dad and Ethan cataloged and banded the doves.
After taking care of the birds, Ethan and Dad tried out one of Ethan's new guns. If I were really cool I could tell you all about the pistol they're shooting, but about all I remember is that it's a Glock (I think)
While they were doing there thing I wandered around and looked at the old fallen down homestead we were at, and took some pictures and looked for cool old stuff. I just love the wide open spaces here, what a view!
After I'd walked around for a while, I decided to find a spot where I could sit and watch the guys shoot. I saw a hunk of cement a little ways away and thought that it looked like a good place to sit. When I got over to it I just had to laugh. Don't you think it looks like it would make a good place to sit? I'd had no idea what it was before I got close to it, and it was just too funny to realize what it was. I must say, I don't think I've ever seen a toilet made out of cement before.
The week we spent here was so relaxing and so nice, I can't wait until we move back out west someday and we can do this more often. Erik needs more time like this with his Grandma and Grandpa!
