August Misc 2!

Ok, I lied, one more quick post before the trip to Maine. I mostly want to show off the very cool lightning shot I got last night. But read on if you want to see photos of Indian Market in Santa Fe from Sunday...

You can see storms coming from miles away in Albuquerque, and when I saw the sunset developing so beautifully, I knew I had to get the camera ready....


On Sunday, Michael and I went up to Santa Fe for Indian Market, which is an annual gathering of hundreds of New Mexico's native artisans. Each pueblo has their own distinct style. It gave me a chance to see all the different styles of pottery from the different pueblos, and figure out which I like the best (Acoma). It was also fascinating to see the price range for a similar piece of pottery, just due to the artist ($120 to $2000!). I didn't take any photos of the actual pottery, out of respect for the artists, but below are a few shots of the crowds...

Hard to see in this shot, but the tents and crowds stretch wayyyyyyy into the distance.

The storm clouds were gathering, somehow we didn't get rained on though...

The mighty Santa Fe River (no seriously, that is the river!)

See you on the other side of Maine!

August Miscellaneous

I know, August isn't over yet, but after tomorrow we start the crazy preparation for the big Savage clan gathering in Maine! So I know these will be the last miscellaneous photos before then...

We went to the Biopark with Grandma to check out the butterfly house. On the way, there was a model train exhibit that Nathan loved. He figured out how to press the button to make Thomas the train go around his track. Then we watched the larger train go around a few times. He would get very excited as the train approached the bridge.

Nathan was a little less enthusiastic about the butterflies. He thought all the flowers were pretty, but was ready to move on to lunch already. I had to hold back for a few minutes to try and get a few good photos of all the pretty butterflies! I didn't have the right lens with me, but I did the best I could with my trusty new wide angle...
A few days later we went to the Cottonwood Mall with Grandma to check out the carousel. It was the first day of school, so we had the place to ourselves! Nathan wasn't so sure at first, and held of for dear life to the horse. But soon he gave me a little smile and "ba" (his word for almost anything).
I am starting training for a 10k in October, so "big blue" (our monster stroller) has been out to play a lot more often. One morning, something clicked, and up Nathan crawled into the stroller. Now he gets mad if the stroller is folded up, because he can't climb into it. And he is attempting to climb up on absolutely anything he can! Below is video....



Today we went to the zoo. It was a... well, zoo! Saturday craziness. But we had fun, Nathan couldn't get enough of the giraffes (so much so that he gave them his hat, ooops!), and we got to see the baby elephant's first birthday party.

Checking out the koalas and wallabies.

Picnic lunch at the zoo. Nathan loved watching the kids run around the park!

Saying "hi" to the baby elephant.

Next post will be the family vacation recap. We are so excited to head to Maine!!

Santa Fe and Videos

Just a quick blog post while I am waiting for some auctions to end for items I am selling on Ebay.

The weekend before last we went to Santa Fe for the day. It was a last minute trip, and we didn't plan ahead, so we ended up on a random route, and never even made it to tourist-central, the Plaza. We first went to the Children's Museum. Which, at $5 a pop, was a bit of a rip-off for a 13 month old. We made the best of it though... Below is Nathan out in the garden, crawling through some of the large concrete pipe and playing the pipes.

Nathan fell asleep as we left Santa Fe, and so we decided to take the long way home and swing by Chimayo. Chimayo is believed to be the site of miraculous healings, and therefore is the destination of pilgrims and travelers, who see it as a very holy site. Brief history of Chimayo:

http://chimayo.us/

Michael and I had gone there years ago, but on that trip, I filled up a memory card with photos and subsequently lost it. I was excited to take more photos, but the weather, and the mobs of people didn't make it easy. Ah well. So here is a shot of the church (taken with my trusty new wide-angle lens):
This past weekend we stayed local and went for a nice hike a mile up the road at the base of the Sandias. It was short because I was breaking in my new hiking boots. Oh yeah, and I forgot the backpack for Nathan. Oops! But he got lots of walking practice in:
Notice below there are cacti planted all along where a small trail used to be, a very effective way to discourage people from using it and let the vegetation grow back.
Nathan also learned an important new skill in the past week. Unrolling the toilet paper roll (I may or may not have encouraged him at this very moment to get the shot):

I finally got Nathan's walker to stay upright (it is a car when folded down), and he has been off and running ever since! {Please ignore the volume on this one, I sound like a big dork!}


Nathan also discovered a love of peaches today, turn on the volume for maximum effect!