Fall is here!

Dan & Gary watching the perpetual marble mover at Explora.

Fall has started here, which for me means a big housecleaning and settling in to things like making cookies and green chile stew. Most of last week was spent at home, continuing to unpack and organize our home.

We finally got Dan settled into his room -- well, his toys, shelves and a mattress are settled into his room, making it more inviting as a play space and the living room look less like a drop-off site for used toys. He still sleeps with us, but he's spending more time in his room -- playing, building with legos or watching TV -- than before.

The last two Fridays, we've swapped hosting with another Mom, and her two sons -- same ages as Andy & Dan. We all hung out here last week, and at their home this past Friday. The boys have a great time together. The older two spend most of their time trading/dueling yugioh cards; the younger two spend their time exploring garages and backyards. It's really nice that both boys have a playmate when we get together.

Dan, exploring Conor's garage a few days ago.

We spent a recent afternoon at Explora, after a busride into town and some sightseeing in Old Town. Both boys signed up for the Lego lab, along with three other friends. We had signed up as soon as we arrived at the museum, then went off on other pursuits. Andy generally heads off on his own at Explora. At 2pm, when the group was gathering for Lego-lab, Andy was nowhere nearby. I found him over at new exhibit area, playing a song on some musical 'instrument' set up there. Along with him were two of the volunteers he knows well. After the first few minutes of the lab set-up, Andy decided that the allure of new sound exhibits was stronger than a lab assignment he'd done before and he left the lab. Dan and Conor were eager to stay and required help from an adult so Mindy & I stayed.

Dan at the Lego lab workshop. The goal is to build and program a robot to pick up 'space boulders' and to rescue an astronaut and help him escape before the next asteroid storm hits.

The boys sitting in front of the water fountain that commemorates the naming of the village of Albuquerque 300 yrs ago in Old Town.