tinkertown and tent rocks

We really packed it in today.  Got up early and went in for Shay's prenatal check up and ultrasound.  The baby is growing and doing well.  I got to hear the heart beat which was SO special.  I am very excited to meet their little boy soon.  We got breakfast burritos from a place across the street the Car Wash from TV Series "Breaking Bad."

Then we headed out to Tinkertown.  It's a museum with Ross Ward's elaborate handmade dioramas of Old West scenes & antique toys.

It took Ross Ward over 40 years to carve, collect, and lovingly construct what is now Tinkertown Museum.  His miniature wood-carved figures were first part of a traveling exhibit, driven to county fairs and carnivals in the 1960s and ’70s.
 

 Today over 50,000 glass bottles form rambling walls that surround a 22-room museum.

Wagon wheels, old fashioned store fronts, and wacky western memorabilia make Tinkertown’s exterior as much as a museum as the wonders within.

 

Took a quick trip up Sandia Crest for some amazing views of Albuquerque.

Followed by the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.  The cone-shaped tent rock formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash, and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick.

 

The boys did really well on the hike up and down.  Bennett went up on his own and needed some help hiking down.  Winston we carried only because he was so distracted and took too long.

I am proud of my boys for sticking it out on this 2 hour hike.

These pictures do not do the beauty of these rocks justice.

We are all exhausted after such an eventful day but very happy.  Nature is so cool!

Bennett really enjoyed hanging out with uncle Brian.  They are a Wolf Pack.