Red River-Part 1

We took a trip to one of my favorite vacation spots for the week of July 4th this year...RED RIVER, NEW MEXICO!! My sweet grandfather (Popo) built a small cabin in RR when my mom was a little girl. I grew up vacationing there every summer from the time I was 2 until I was 17. I just love that place!!! It's very near and dear to my heart. Especially since my sweet Popo passed away...Red River reminds me of him so much. I love being there and feeling close to him. I've been DYING to take Caroline (and now Matthew too of course :-) to visit Red River since she was born, and I was so excited to finally get the chance to take the kids this summer. Unfortunately, Matt couldn't get off work after our beach trip and the move. However, my mom and aunt, Jean, drove with me and the kiddos. They were a HUGE help. The five of us rented a cabin next door to Popo's cabin where my other aunt, Susan, and her family of five were staying (they now own Popo's cabin).

The first day we were there was July 4th so we headed to downtown for the "big" parade:

 This sweet child just CANNOT open his eyes in the sun :-)

 Waiting for the parade to start:

 It's funny how things often look so "perfect" in family pictures (like the one above). The parade was far from "perfect" and not what I was expecting at all. After catching only a couple of pieces of candy, Caroline just wanted to sit down and eat them. She wanted nothing to do with the rest of the parade. Matthew screamed his little head off from the moment the parade started until we took him away from the noise. It was too loud/overstimulating for him. Oh well, there is always next year.

 Caroline was SO excited to pick the candy up off of the street catch the candy from the floats:

 Waving!

 Caroline had her ears covered most of the time...the parade was super loud

 "Look what I got!!"

 Jean, Caroline, my mom and my cousin, Trey

 Matthew loved his pink frisbee...he can pull of playing with a pink toy because he is so secure in his manhood :-)

 After the parade, we headed straight to our favorite store in Red River...The Bobcat!! Owned by our dear friend, Sheri McShan. Her store has some of the most beautiful hand-crafted jewelry and pottery I've ever seen, and I just love seeing Sheri and catching up with her. She has known my grandparents/family for a very long time, and we have pictures of me "shopping" in her store at age 3 :-)
Sheri and Caroline (sorry, bad pic of Sheri with her eyes closed)

 Caroline, a.k.a. my little shopper, immediately began admiring a pretty silver bracelet with a green stone in the middle. Sheri, in her usual sweet and generous fashion, GAVE the bracelet to Caroline as a gift. Caroline will be wearing it for special occasions only! She is still super excited...it is her first "real" piece of jewelry:

The rest of our 4th of July was spent having a big, yummy lunch at our cabin (thanks, Susan), splashing/throwing rocks in the river, taking naps, attending the annual Upper Valley BBQ party that evening, and taking pics with the kids at our "posing spot" with Wheeler Peak in the background: