The JillyBean visits Albuquerque

dear mac11, had you bothered to show up last jan when we were in Austin, pffffft, you would have seen this image of the bean:

<biggrin>

dys, I remember that image fondly, and constantly regret not getting there for the real-life beauty of that moment.

That is one exotic looking baby!

so what's the deal I cannot see the imageshack photos?

Exotic? I thought she looked a bit like my uncle.

Must be a cute uncle.

He is, actually.

We both are sooo in love with the bean...and her mommy and daddy. They are a lovely family and wonderful parents. What a treat it was to hike around on Sandia, looking at the view and talking them into moving to ABQ---we hope, someday.

Those are great pictures.

Little bean didnt really have too good of a time on that mountain though.
Poor thing kept grabbing her ears and crying. The elevation did some painful stuff to her head and little ears. Found out later, she had just broke a new tooth! Combine that throbbing pain of the tooth, elevation pressure, and chilly air.. >sigh< poor baby.

I can not think of a better way to have spent our vacation time other then with Dys and Diane. The more i see them, the more I love them.
I was contemplating buying a small suitcase, stealing away into thier home, and packing Dys up and taking him back with us. Diane would come willingly, Dys.. ahh.., sedation anyone?

The view from on top of that mountain was fabulous. I have not been up there in 10+ years, Mr wolf.. never! I think that view was all it took to get the bee under his bonnet about moving out there.

The view from the back of Dys's truck coming down was beautiful :

The ride was very cold, but thanks to the choke chain I had around my neck , I was able to stand up in the bed of the truck and get my nose in the wind.

It wasnt until the strong drop in elevation that Bean was able to take a nap:


As we were going down the mountain, you could see all over, how the road was cut through some HUGE rock. Beautiful sedament laters. :


The day we arrived we basically poured our bodies into the couch and took a well needed rest. 14 hours sitting still in a little tin can, piled in like sardines takes alot out of ya. Bean of course, in a light top and diaper to keep cool in the car, hit the ground running when we arrived :


Of course, my mom tried DESPERATLY to hold this squirming ball of pent up energy so she could get a hug.. but it only pissed bean off.

Our first day we spent getting our barrings straight and getting foods for bean and ourselves. Pretty much quiet. Then we invaded Dys and Diane without warning -- ( as we did the entire time )
We got to thier home and BBB was there too. Between Dys, Diane and BBB we had more conversation about everything in the world then my poor little car-lagged brain could handle. I think the 5 of us could run for 'group' president and solve the nations problems. Here is how it would go :


Dys - " F-k it, shoot em all , start over again.

Diane - Give them the opportunity to correct themselves. Then if no progress was made, hand them over to Dys!

BBB- Send them to well funded schools, give them proper attention, give them FACTS. People cant breed crap from FACTS! Those that do need to go to Dys' office for a little personal visit.

Me- Drug em all up .

Mrwolf- (giggling ) What he SAID!!!
There. We solved the worlds problems.

Of course, all this conversation is just escaping me. I was plopped on the couch on the patio just staring, giggling every now and then and adding some 2 cents when I had brain power. One of the first things Bean does is jump into Dys' lap. I think they missed each other. :


I tried to see if the ladies would allow a picture of them .. but no.
BBB allowed a picture only if it was going to be used for target practice, and Diane just looked at me like she would kill me if i did it.
Dont let her innocent look fool ya... that is one dangerous broad!
So , we women went un-photographed.

The next morning, the group of presidents gathered again. This time at my mothers house in the morning for coffee and a make-shift brunch. Bran muffins with fresh blueberries , grapes, coffee, and strawberries.
OHHHH yummy.
The ladies sat at the table being as crude and unyielding as possible, while the men stayed outside and played with the car :

Between our crude jokes, coffee refills , and bantering.. none of us inside even realized that the guys had gone for a road trip until Mr Wolf stumbled back inside with his eyes half mast and a possible wet spot in his pants.
He told us that Dys let him drive his car and then mumbled something else.. Diane spun around and sort of half whispered, half announced.. " He looks like he just had an orgasim!"
Embarassed and giggling like a school boy, he stumbled back outside to sit and stare at this beautiful machine called a Porsche. That young man is changed forever.
The entire drive back to Austin, Mr wolf compared our little Toyota with that Porsche. HA! Pipe dreams I tell ya...

That afternoon we spent visiting my best friend Sully. I miss that little fire redhaired woman so bad. I cried like a baby and I think I hugged her so hard she is now scared of me. :-)
Bean was outside playing with her dogs and got a spit bath like none she has ever seen. Merc who is a 7year old Rottie, was so excited about having a little running toy he didnt know what to do with himself. So! With as much restraint as he could, he decided the best way to play with bean was to do 'drive by lickings' Basically.. he would run up to her as close as he could get with out hitting her, stretch his neck out , lick her until she giggled and ran, then run circles around her until she was still... then.. back up and do it again.
There is something about Bean and dogs.. they love her, she wants to ride them! hahah!

My moms dogs are not quite as friendly. She has 2 shepards..absolutly beautiful . This is Sadona :


and this is Shilo -


Shilo we think, happens to be in-bred. Very skittish, very unsure. No way were they coming near us or bean. Beautiful dogs though. Everytime they barked outside the window, no matter WHERE she was, bean would scream then giggle so hard she fell over a few times.

Attention! All A2K gatherers! THAT's how the post-gathering recap is DONE! ^^^^^^^^^

Great pics, great stories, thanks Shewolf!

How'd the trip go in general? How'd Jillybean do in the car?

We stole a little more of Dys and Diane's time that evening.. calling them at the last minute seeing if they wanted to go to dinner with us. ( we did this alot )
So out we ran to Chilis where we ate, solved more world problems and gabbed like crazy.
The next morning, my moms friend got us some passes for the Zoo and Aquarium. So we spent the day walking around, petting animals, chasing bean and just having a really good time.


I got to feed some Lorakeets- wich just made my day!


Found a long lost branch of my family tree -


Then found the roots -



Finally got home and let Bean get her first REAL nap in days -


Then decided , we didnt want to go home so soon.
So, we stayed yet another day and that is when we went up to the mountain peak. :-)

>sigh<
Im ready to move back to NM now. Great vacation!

Aw, sweet little sleepy Bean.

Aren't lorikeets great? Columbus zoo has them, too. I love their warm little feet. (Somehow expect them to be cold.)

of course, through out the entire visit, there are quick snaps of everyone
and even one of me.
Pissed that the camera is in my face, tired because I didnt drink enough water, and trying to slink away.. Mr wolf got a pretty good one of me -


then I snuck one of my mom and bean.
My mother is just as camera shy as I am and hates to be photographed.
SO I sat on the other side of the room and pretended to ' fix' the camera.
She was getting her hair in rollers and putting some in Beans hair so she could play with those and not pull hers out. -


and when I find the other ' sneaky ' pictures of Mr Wolf, bean and myself. I will post those as well.

I'll second that. Good Reporting!!! Glad you had such a good time!




<And that's a beautiful photo of you... now we know where bean gets her good looks. >

Man, you look so Jackie Brown! Great sunglasses. And looks like you're having fun with shorter hair.

I'm getting a haircut tonight, sick and tired of ponytails all the time. Still long, but not SO long. Not sure if it will be enough for locks of love, nice idea.

I agree! That was a great report and absolut beautiful
pictures. We knew shewolf was a beauty but this photo
is exceptionally well taken. Bean is just so precious
and darling, one couldn't help but cuddle her.

I also like the photo with dys - brings out his tender side.
(after reading his bed wetting wishes to McTag

wow.. sorry I missed the other posts.
Making recaps takes a while. ;-)

But yeah! I love those birds!!! I couldnt get a good photograph of me while I was feeding them but-
I had 2 on my arm at the cup of food, one on each shoulder, several on my head, and 2 hanging from the front of my shirt !!!
They were all excited about being fed, but the little cups were too small to give each of them some, so i wen out , got another one and went back into the cage. JUST LOVED IT!

Jillian did WONDERFUL in the car. A little protest here and there... that.. in all actuality, lasted about a minute at a time. I was absolutly impressed with her. No tantrums, no crying, nothing.. just a little whimper here and there. We stoped a few times but not as much as we were hoping too. Simply because it was a loooong drive. Longer then anticipated. almost 14 hours total. (sigh )

Jillybean is one of the best natured babies I've ever known. She puts up with almost anything. The only time she really got fussy was when she was in real pain, with the tooth breaking through and the altitude problems.

I don't know why shewolf doesn't like to have her picture taken, she is beautiful--talk about exotic! For me, staying in the background is just fine, thank you very much.

BBB and I discovered that shewolf's mom is great and hope to stay in touch. It is such fun to have friendships with many generations. There is so much to appreciate in each person, regardless of age.

Dys and Jillybean have a "thing." What it amounts to really is that Dys is totally captivated with her. She sees a gentle man with a wonderful beard who will let her sit on his lap and talk. Jilly gets her talkativeness from, guess who--her MOM.

They apologized for calling at the last minute to see if we could do something with them. Little do they know that apologies are never necessary--we loved the drive up the mountain, even though it was terribly crowded with the car seat taking up most of the room. Shewolf and Mrwolf were good sports and squeeeeezed into the back seat and actually had a good time. I hope they have become unscrunched by now.

I think we might be Jillybean's official "extra" grandparents now. It is an honor and a joy.

( big evil grin.. )

Little did you know diane.. i DID sneak some pictures of you and Dys..

they wont be posted though. I promise!
I will email them to ya if you would like. ;-)