She Did Something

When we called Jim’s mother to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day she told us “Allen lives in Albuquerque.” Allen is Jim’s cousin and Jim had completely forgtten that this was where he lived (Jim’s a 6 year old in a 64 year old body..memory is a difficult thing for him). We extended the room stay for one more night and made plans to visit Allen and Amy that night. Patti was involved with a school field trip with the boys during the day so we headed out to explore Albuuerque’s “Old Town”. I absolutely adored this place and this place adored my wallet too…long story…let’s not go there. Afterward, we headed over to Patti’s because the dryer in the hotel wouldn’t dry my clothes. We stayed until almost 7 then went to the other end of Albuquerque to visit Jim’s cousin.

We had a great visit with Allen and Amy. We hadn’t seen them in a number of years so Jim and Allen got talking about old times. Amy and I strayed to casino talk. Apparently there are many casinos around Albuquerque. I’m pretty sure Jim was going to great lengths to hide this fact from me, but Amy filled me in. As a matter of fact, we talked about us staying one more night so that we could go to the casino and I actually convinced Jim this was a good idea. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince Dale at the hotel that it was a good idea to cancel someone else’s reservation to let us stay one more night. Jim tends to take these things as signs that we weren’t meant to do some things (especially if it involves casinos…but we won’t go there either) so there was no convincing him to just stay in Allen and Amy’s spare bedroom.

Amy, Jim and Allen

We headed off to Durango, Colorado

Let me start this one by telling you that Jim really wanted to hang signs around Brandon and Dylan’s neck so he could just call them one and two (most of the time he doesn’t remember my name..identical twins are completely beyond his memory capability). I didn’t think this was a real good idea so he just didn’t call them anything while he was riling them up. Jim is in his element in places like the Biological Park in Albuquerque. I, on the other hand, tried hard to keep them straightened out, but occasionally just randomly said “Brandon” or “Dylan” to see which one turned around. By the end of the day I think I had it down fairly well that Brandon was wearing a white shirt and Dylan was wearing red. The boys have distinct personality differences. I just hope I matched the personality with the name correctly. My apologies if I got this wrong, Patti.

Brandon, Dylan and Jim check out a Sea Turtle

Jim did a great job of keeping the boys amused so that Patti and I could have some talk time. Of course, we had to keep an eye on Jim, but I told the boys that it was their very important job to keep him from getting in trouble. I was very proud of their ability to do this. I also pre-warned Jim that teaching them some of the things their Uncle Shaun taught them was simply not acceptable. No offense, Shaun, but teaching them to burp the alphabet over the phone??? If I didn’t pre-warn Jim he would have tried to one up you…a pretty scary thought. I’m sure when Patti and I weren’t looking Jim taught them some of his own really strange kiddish things, but it’s like he has a secret pact with them or something. He’s just not telling.. I know they were all, Jim included, really interested in the dead fish floating in the pond and they excitedly made us go look at it. Jim denies and responsibility for the fascination but I know him better. All in all, the boys, all three of them, were very well behaved at the Bio-Park

Dylan and Brandon Climbing On Rocks

We had a great buffet lunch in The Shark Reef Cafe. This time we were smart enough to let Patti sit between both kids instead of letting Jim sit next to one. There’s always a danger that Jim might teach them to shoot spit balls through straws when he’s next to a six year old. Separating them looked like a good thing at the time. The cafe has a wall of glass so that you could watch sharks, sea turtles, and mantas swimming by as you eat. It was a great experience even if Patti was really sneaky in preventing Jim and I from paying the bill.

Patti, Brandon, Jim and Dylan

We considered going to Old Town after the Bio-Park, but we were all pretty tired out and in need of downtime. Jim and I headed back to the hotel to call his cousin Allen and relax for a bit before heading over to Patti’s to meet Dave. We were greeted at the door by naked little boys, in various degrees of towel wrapping, who had just gotten out of the bath. As soon as they were in their pajamas, Jim proceeded to help them build pillow and blanket forts to hide in. Of course there was also the water squirting dinosaur.

Since the boys had to get up for school the next day, we made it an early night and after eating the most excellent takeout barbecue we headed back to the hotel with plans to meet up after Patti was done chaperoning a school field trip the next day.

The only stop we made between Pueblo, CO and Albuquerque, NM was Trinidad, CO. Every now and then Jim caves to my need to get off the highway and offers a side trip through an “Historic Downtown”. I think this is to keep me from sulking about casinos we pass, but Trinidad turned out to be worth it. Passing through the main street, I noticed a blue T-shirt in the window of an insurance office. The T-shirt said: “Got Duck?”. Figuring that Jim just had to have this to go with his duck, I made him stop. The T-shirts, along with a duck hat, were for sale as a Kiwanis Club fundraiser.  Of course, we bought a set.

We got into Albuquerque later than we planned, but I do remember Jim having very heated discussions with the GPS. He honestly believes she lies to him all the time and calls her the nastiest names possible even if I do tell him he’s not allowed to say that “F” word. I try to protect her feelings by putting her away, but Jim always asks me to get her back out just so he can scream at her some more. I did learn to spell Albuquerque after deleting it then re-adding it as a destination several times though. Jim is good for something.

Anyway, we got there kind of late and since I was worried that we would be keeping my niece Patti’s boys up late, we called her as soon as we got to the hotel and agreed to meet at an Applebees in 25 minutes. I’d never met Patti before but had seen photos and could see a strong family resemblance to me but she was really easy to pick out because of the red-headed twins, Brandon and Dylan. We took a few photos outside the restaurant while we waited for Patti’s mother, Carol, to arrive.

I never like pictures of myself, so look at that one. You probably won’t see many more. Please note that Patti and I have the same nose and similar eyes.

As is usual, Jim got along very well with the kids…well except for the pinching incident and we still aren’t sure who started that. Brandon was a little slow to warm up, but Dylan and Jim hit it off right from the start.

We had a good dinner and some great conversation while Jim riled up Dylan who was sitting next to him. Next time they can’t sit together. I swear Jim is a six year old in an old guy’s body. They had fun even though we were keeping them up late.

Meeting Carol was a good experience. I’d never met her when she was married to my brother but had seen letters she had sent to my mother with photos of the kids. I know the letters were important to my mother.

Since we were pretty tired and the boys were up late, we parted ways just after dinner with plans to spend Mother’s Day together. Jim and I headed to the hotel, Homewood Suites near the airport. I think I could very happily live at that hotel. For the price of an average hotel room, we had a living room, a bedroom and a full kitchen complete with dishwasher. This was by far my favorite hotel so far. The staff was very friendly and I promised Dale my blog would make him infamous famous. So, here you go, Dale…the picture with Jim’s duck and the duck hat!