we went to new mexico: day one!

Bart's brother, Bret and his family, have been living in New Mexico for a little over a year, and we miss them like crazy!  So, Bart found a conference to attend for his continued medical education in New Mexico so that he could visit them.  I decided to tag along, and, since Krew is still free to fly, he got to come with!  Sadly, the other two boys had to stay behind, since they had just started school, and because plane tickets are nearly $500 right now!

Bart went out there on Wednesday, and Krew and I headed out early Friday morning.  I was nervous about flying with an almost two-year old, so I packed my iPad, coloring books, a new activity book, cards, cars, snacks, stickers, and candy.  I was so prepared!  Well, the first flight from here to Minneapolis was less than an hour, and Krew looked out the window for 78% of the flight.  He did not need any of the distractions/entertainment/food I packed for him.  I was happy and relieved that the first leg of our trip went so smoothly.  

Then, came my most dreaded part:  a three hour lay-over with an almost two-year old!  Luckily, the Minneapolis airport is huge and we just played for hours.  One of the first things we saw was this huge Moose.  I've mentioned several times that his favorite animal right now is a moose, and he was beyond excited to see this guy!  (Notice that Krew is wearing moose pajamas too!)

 Then, some nice stranger saw me taking pictures and did the whole awkward, "Do you want me to take a picture of both of you?"  and I said yes, but what I really wanted to say was, "No thank you, because I have been traveling with my one-year old since 5:45 this morning and I'm sure I look lovely, and I don't love this moose statue as much as he does, and I don't know if you are actually going to take our picture, or if you are going to steal my camera and take it with you on your flight to who-knows-where."  But besides the glowing spot on my head, I'm actually kinda glad to have this picture.  We went inside this moose store and Krew proceeded to hug all the little moose toys, and moose shirts, and moose socks, etc. and tell them all how cute they are!

 After I peeled him away from the moose store, we found this Harley.  He loved "riding" the motorcycle, and he loved reenacting one of my favorite videos of the twins on a motorcycle when they are about this same age, which he has obviously seen a lot.

 After a quick airport breakfast, we found this cute play area.  I tried not to think about all the germs from all over the world that would be covering every inch of this play area, and just enjoyed watching him have a blast!

 Not only did we survive our long lay-over, but it was actually fun to be able to play with him like that, without worrying about all the things I should be doing.   The next flight was 2 1/2 hours, and Krew slept for the first 1 1/2 hours, woke up, watched an episode of Dinosaur Train on my iPad, had a snack, and we landed!  I couldn't have asked for our travels to go any smoother!
We had a little bit of time to kill once we got to the hotel before Bart was done at his conference, but Krew kept himself entertained, mostly by jumping in this awesome hotel crib!

Once Bart came and got us, we headed to the mall to do some shopping at the Disney Store, since there is not one any where near me and I love that store.  Then we ate at a Mexican restaurant that was super spicy (I guess it was obvious that I wasn't a local), and drove around and saw a bit of Albuquerque.  Then, we waited until Bret and Charise and the kids got to the hotel so we could meet their new baby, catch up, and play with their kids for a few minutes before we all headed to bed.