Tingley Beach, ABQ

New Mexico is a landlocked state, as you may know, so this staycation does not feature a beach in the sense of an ocean coast. Tingley Beach is a recreational space created by the city of Albuquerque that consists of four ponds, lined up west to east, across the road from the ABQ BioPark. It is popular primarily as a fishing spot, though there are also trails* (*sidewalks) around the ponds, plenty of ducks and geese to watch and/or feed, and paddle boats to take around in the largest pond.

I wanted to take the little Buschmans on a trip to Tingley Beach this weekend, to do something fun with them as much as to get out of the house, and I'd never been to the Beach before and wanted to check it out.

geese

behold the ship sculpture

Pond 1, or Confrontational Geese

Pond 2, or Kids-Only Fishing

Bobo and Pongo

showcasing the chewing tobacco tin sculpted into the back pocket

Lucky and Boomer

Boomer and Lucky

Dad and Patch

Jelelah and her hubby, Nick

Pond 3, or Duck Island

as they say, bottoms up!

oh! did you know I have a vest I can carry most of the gang in?

a bench at the edge

Beau and Curly

Beau, Patch, and Curly

Pongo

Bobo

Pond 4, or Special Tout Water

Lucky

Curly

Patch

Boomer

Beau

zoo-train tracks and speed limit sign

Jelelah

the Fish Globe

we decided to head to the river, which was bushwhacking distance

riparian foliage

the Rio Grande, I

the Rio Grande, II

river-watching

group shot on the viewing dock

Just wanted to share some pictures of these cuties, since our downtown travel definitely warranted a photoshoot! Hope you enjoyed!

Mesa Court

Materials:

• a friend (or a few)
• a tennis ball
• shoes (optional)

Directions:

• Go to your local tennis court, or a fenced-in yard of some sort, or the open street (if you're okay with running around and generally making a fool of yourself under the risk that you'll be hit by a car). Be sure to bring a friend, or two, or three. Utilize net or indicate line that separates the sides for the players.
• Collect a tennis ball, or ball of some sort (NOT a baseball; these might actually hit you/jam your fingers and HURT).
• Toss ball back and forth, trying to catch the ball as soon as you can after it goes over the net/marked point between player sides.
• Switch to your non-dominant hand. The game gets more challenging here, and so the catching becomes less important.
• Return to dominant hand, and throw ball with force, trying to make it go as far as you can throw it based on where you're standing in your court area.
• Shoes are not required for this game, unless you are running around in an area that poses any sort of threat to your feet (such as a mesa full of goatheads and cacti and such things).
• Point values and a scoring system may be added. This could coordinate with how many bounces it took for you to catch it, or if it went outside of the green (in an actual tennis court), or any number of things you want to incorporate to individualize your game.

Note:
My friend came up with the title for this game, not really seriously, just kind of referring to our activity in passing. We had been referencing our barefootedness during the game (which was quite interesting and pretty fun), and my friend wanted to remain barefoot, but we had to leave the tennis courts and walk through the wild desert land. While walking through aforementioned terrain just outside the tennis courts, I wondered how horrible it would be if you were playing the game or walking around barefoot on that sort of terrain, with weeds and goatheads and cacti and all matter of poky things lying in wait).

Grocery-Store Basketball

How to play:

• Go to any grocery store or supermarket. You can be going there for regular groceries or not.
• First make your way to the toy section. Find a small bouncy ball (not so small you won't be able to throw and catch it) that fits comfortably in your palm.
• Find any empty aisle that either has a random empty shopping cart or bring a new one in. Position the cart halfway down the aisle.
• One player starts on one end of the "court", and the other player on the opposite end. Rules are adaptable. What my brother and I did was run to the midway point (halfway between their end court and the cart) or to center (where the cart was) and shoot the ball into the basket, pass back and forth with overhand and underhand throws, and knock down shelves of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

Have fun! It really gets your heart pumping when you have to chase after the ball if it has gone off-course so it doesn't trip someone passing by the aisle (too late, I'm pretty sure my brother let that one happen). So if you have a busy schedule or have kids or want to feed the kid in ya, give it a try!

Chlorine Dream

The public pool.

Putt Putt Golf

Yeah, today's fun outing was Putt Putt Golf, and after that, the movies: Chimpanzee and The Pirates! Band of Misfits. I understand now why I hate movies so much. Especially kids' movies.

Anyway, mini golf. I was not trying my best, but my brother was definitely being sore about his own lousy playing. He just kept saying, "Oh, well of course Dad's gonna win," and I kept telling him to get a good attitude, but after a while, I just checked out. I thought it would be fun, but it was just boring and tedious.

Well, anyway, here are some pictures. There're always pictures.

 

  

Can't Help Myself

Adorableness photos. I've found that, depending on the lighting and where the light hits, my doll Sunny will actually look as if she's expressing a different emotion. Weird, but awesome. Using this to my advantage for sure.

with one of her favorite playmates

Cutest doll in the world. If I still had Virgil(her rival - she despised him) I'd put pictures of him, but he is in my home no more.

(I like to call these my "artsy" shots)

impossibly long-legged, but it's understandable

impossibly big-eyed, too

before a glorious two-hour nap

my little worry-wart child

result of an Otter Pop