Lets go on vacation!

I think at this point, most people just remember 2020 as, “Year of the Rona”……. and well, it kinda was. On Doc’s side of the family we planned to bypass buying presents, and instead, invest in a family vacation somewhere. We all live in West Texas and the closest mountains are in Ruidoso, NM. It’s known as the “Mountain Playground for West Texans”. If there’s snow it’s fun family skiing, and summer provides horse races at Ruidoso Downs. Downtown is super cute, fun, great shopping, and there’s a casino just a short drive away!

As 2020 was coming closer to an end, there was talk that the New Mexico border was closed. They weren’t letting anyone in, especially for just vacation. We took a family vote and decided to postpone for one year. Here we are one year later, Covid really hasn’t changed that much, except no closed New Mexican border, so……..

NEW MEXICO OR BUST BABY!!!

We rented a big house north of Ruidoso, fully furnished, great big deck, hardly any neighbors (great when you have young, wild kiddos) and just a short drive to town and all sorts of fun! We were welcomed with mule deer in the front yard and somehow the kids dropped enough food on the deck while running around, that we attracted the local raccoons at night. It was SO NICE to get away and do something like this. We brought stockings for the kids and that’s what they got to open while we were there. We still had family dinners every night, and breakfast every morning together. All kids even stayed on their nap/sleeping schedule (which is life-giving if you’ve ever vacationed with kids).

There was no snow on the ground, but there was man-made snow on the tubing hill. The kids were FEARLESS and loved it. I should say “the kids” were all ages in the family, from 2-65! If you ever get tired of the monotony of Christmas and want to change it up a bit… spend the money you normally would on presents, and go somewhere. You will not be disappointed, I promise!

Look through your kids eyes… vacation doesn’t have to be fancy, or expensive, or to some exotic location. We picked a spot we could all caravan and drive to. We brought almost all our meals, which allowed us to be able to sit around and have a great time, vs losing our mind at a restaurant with four kids under the age of five! The kids, parents, and grandparents all loved it! Just go ahead and try it!