White Sands, New Mexico

The best laid plans of mice and Tamara often go awry.  Mom and Dad decided to skip being groped and fondled by TSA agents and drove to Tucson this time, rather than flying. A few people have told me that I ought to go out to White Sands some time, but I couldn't quite figure out a good time/reason to drive 700 miles round trip for sand dunes. Mom and Dad provided the time and reason. Although, I think my husband might disagree...

We had plans to meet at the motel, decompress a little, then head to the park to do a little 8-mile scenic drive around and a sunset stroll with the Ranger. Alas, it was too windy and the sunset stroll was cancelled. It was so windy that we could barely see across the street through all the dust and sand in the air. It was madness. So, we decompressed a little then went to dinner and visited until bed time. We also thought it would be fun to pop in on a couple museums in Alamogordo, but since we missed the dunes Sunday evening, we wanted to get there early in the morning to avoid the blinding sun reflecting the blinding sand, and we didn't want to backtrack to town.

We grabbed a little fruit and toast and drove out to the dunes. It was still windy, but not nearly as bad as the night before. But it was cold. Only 50 degrees with crazy wind is not remotely pleasant. We drove up to a short trail and took a slightly miserable walk. It was quite impressive and interesting, and Nicco sure had fun. We got back in the car and continued the drive until we reached the interdune boardwalk. We got out and saw more sand, and the road was blocked off so we couldn't go any further. We turned around. Mom and Dad wanted to buy some postcards, so we stopped in at the visitors' center and caught a little video presentation. The video made it look like we missed the best part of the park by not being allowed to drive beyond the boardwalk. A ranger came in and said that the plows moved the sand off the road and it was now open, so we went back out again. It was true. The inner part of the dunes was really quite amazing. A literal ocean of sand. The park is some 200 square miles, right there in the middle of nowhere. We took a drive, climbed some sandy hills, let Nicco run and slide, and called it a day.

So, while it was definitely a great thing to see and I'm glad we did, I'm not sure Patrice will forgive me for a while. At least not until his back feels better. I guess a massage is in order.

Here are a million pictures of sand.

When we drove past last night and caught our first glimpse of the dunes, Nicco squealed "SNOW!"

Hardy yucca which have adapted to this harsh climate and constantly moving sand. They say the dunes move about 30 feet a year.

This sand-hill was a little intimidating, but we convinced Nicco to slide down. He was hooked.

Hand prints and a little graffiti in the wall of sand

Waves in the ocean of sand

Our first little hike

Nicco, following the path

Peeking over the edge

Patrice, shivering.

Sand Angel

Sand Angel again

Sliding

Skipping along the boardwalk

Running down the hill with the Papa

Rolling down the hill, filling his britches with sand.

Tootsie

A mouthful of sand

Racing up the hill...Patrice couldn't resist doing donuts in the sand

Looking down at Grandma and the donut from the top of a hill

Grandma, hop-skipping down the hill.

Swim Team

Today we started something new with swim. Nicco had reached a plateau where he wasn't really showing much improvement in his swim lessons. The company where he has his lessons also does a swim team and kids can join when they are 5. One of the skill requirements is that they are able to swim a whole lap without assistance. I asked his swim teachers if they thought he would be ready for that, and they assured me that he would have no problem.

So now, instead of 1/2 hour lessons twice a week, we have 1 hour workouts 3 times a week. Then in June and July, there are morning and afternoon practices, plus competition on Saturdays.

We arrived at the pool and introduced ourselves to Mr. Shane, who wasted no time getting Nicco into the routine. They start out doing stretches, push-ups, and flutter kicks:

Nicco didn't like the stretching part. I think I'll pull out the Wii fit and work on some yoga and push- ups with him.

Then Mr. Shane assigned the kids to lanes and told them to swim 4 laps freestyle to warm up. Yep, my little 5 year old boy, whose main skill requirement was that he could swim ONE lap, had to swim 4 laps. For a warm up. And he did it. My goodness. He struggled a little, but he did it. Then, after resting for about 10 seconds, Mr. Shane gave the kids kickboards and said "4 laps of flutter kicks. GO!" Part of me wanted to just grab my little boy and pull him out, and maybe have him go back to regular lessons and start this serious stuff next year. The other part of me knows that he has to do hard things to get better. After 4 laps of freestyle and 4 laps of flutter kicks, they got another 30 second break and did two more sets of 2 laps of freestyle. They got a little break while Mr. Shane showed them the proper butterfly form, then back to kicks and freestyle. I lost count, but I know he did at least 12 laps, and I think it may have even been as many as 16. They had about 15 minutes of fun time, but since Nicco was the littlest and the newest, Mr. Shane worked with just him while the other kids played.

His form is far from perfect and he had to take some breaks in some of those laps, but I was impressed and amazed that he stuck with it without whining or complaining.

I expected him to come home and want to snuggle, but his dad was already home, so they teased and played a while. However, when he finally stopped moving for 2 minutes to sit down to dinner, he could barely keep his eyes open. When I tucked him in, he was too tired to even drink his sippy. I think it will be a good, long sleep for him tonight!

Encore

We managed to communicate correctly this week and arrange a second trip to the zoo. When we got there, these monkeys were just singing and yelling away. It was crazy! I've never heard this kind of monkey sound before.

As you can see, the noise was a lot to take for the tender ears of the youngsters, or something.

I like this picture of the giraffe and peacock together.

I realize that the free roaming zoo birds are probably accustomed to being hollered at and chased around the park, but I was still nervous for both the birds and the boys. I envisioned an avian attack.

This peacock appeared to be showing off to a pigeon. Nicco was very excited to see its feathers up.

Having fun climbing around one of the many rocky hills and caves scattered about.

The zoo playground

Two little desert tortoises

A bunch of animals were on display in the conservation center. I don't know why this picture is sideways. It isn't like that on the camera...Anyway, you can kind of see the cute little hedgehog in the sawdust. Nicco was brave enough to touch him. He's pokey, as one might expect.

I was really surprised that he pet the snake. Twice.

But he wouldn't pet the ferret. Weird.

Another messed up picture. These two armadillos chased each other all around their pen. I snapped the picture just a moment too late...Nicco touched them too.

Hide-n-seek in the dinosaur egg

Counting steps (there are 20)

Another one of the cool statues in the park part of the zoo.

The boys had fun. It's always more fun to do things with friends than just with your boring old mom.

Guess What Today Is...

That's right, 70 degrees in the pool. Swim time, baby! Nicco was driving me (and Frankie) bonkers, so when the temperature read just a hair below the 70 degree line, I decided to toss the kid in. He was a little timid at first, considering the last time he went in the pool. See, our friend Dan is a little crazy. He jumped in the pool when he was here a few weeks ago and the water was only about 62. Nicco, however, figured if anyone could go in, everyone could go in. He is a little young to process Dan's philosophy. Nicco quickly and miserably realized that 62 degree water is freakin' cold. He cried as he dried.

Today, he splashed his feet and played on the wading ledge for a while before he decided to go for it. He did eventually decide to go for it--all in! Jumping, swimming, diving. Yay!

Now he is snuggled up watching a show. 70 degree water isn't exactly warm, you see.

Mama can only dip her toes.

(Those pale legs will probably remain pale. I'm practically 40 after all, and not interested in skin cancer.)

In Which I Ponder Family Roles, Chores, and Self Sufficiency

I have started reading a chapter in a little chapter book to Nicco before bed. We read The Magician's Boy and we started Stink, The Incredible Shrinking Kid. I was sick one night last week, so the Daddy had to take over story-time duty. Nicco also happened to get a nosebleed while I was kneeling at the porcelain altar, so the Daddy had to take on nurse duties as well. The next day, Nicco suggested that we give Daddy reading lessons so that he can read "more better." Also, Daddy-sized fingers don't plug small noses as well as Mommy-sized fingers. So Mommy is Reader and Nurse in our house, and Daddy is Gamer and Builder. That's fine. We fit those roles best.

Nicco is growing up and his role in our family is evolving. He's getting big enough to contribute to our home in new ways, a.k.a., chores. His chores are small...things like putting his own dishes in the sink after a meal, putting his clean and folded laundry in the proper drawers, dusting, picking weeds, and taking care of the cat. She is his cat, after all.

So now that I'm making Nicco help take care of his part of the house, I realize that I don't make him take care of himself much. I brush his teeth, I dress and undress him, I wipe his bum after a "sitting one." I remember when I potty-trained Nicco in the two weeks between the end of school and the beginning of summer camp when he was two. My friend Nikki was surprised and amazed that Nicco accomplished the task so quickly, and she confessed that she wasn't especially ready to address that particular task with her son. She's a bit of a control freak/germophobe, and it was just so much easier and cleaner (and controlly) for her to keep changing diapers.

While there are many benefits to having an only child, I think that is something of a disadvantage to having only one kid. Without a new baby to baby, the older sibling is not forced to do things on his own. It's easier and cleaner and more efficient for me to dress and clean the boy myself, and otherwise do things for him that he is capable of doing for himself. I do realize (metaphorically, of course) that if I don't start making him wipe his own bum, he'll need me to do it for him forever. He needs to grow up and I need to let/make him. Ugh.