{ENMU Natural History Museum}

I think one of the charms of those little hole-in-the-wall museums is how intimate it is for those wander the exhibits.  Portales has this small Natural History Museum in conjunction with the University, at which one can casually watch the alligators being fed while talking to the students who run the museum.  We like to watch the turtle follow SONshine's finger while the wee "food fish" frantically seek shelter from the larger "eating fish". The black widow is now monstrous, having been there for at least 2-3 years. Seriously, she's an impressive specimen.  The lung fish is extremely captivating and kinda makes me think we may be more closely related to fish than I'd like to believe. We watched the kids glide slowly around the snake enclosure, gasping and giggling when the snakes threatened to strike.

The stuffed animals are both intriguing and disturbing, but both our kids delighted in pointing out the familiar {and exotic} specimens to their very outdoorsy Papa and their slightly less outdoorsy Momma. The bison garnered much attention, as did all the forms of bird {Papa is a birder and his little junior birder was thrilled to name several, turning to his Papa with exclamations of: Papa! Look at this Ruby-throated frog catcher!*}  We moved on to the geological museum next, allowing the kids to study the various rocks, stones, and formations on display.

They learned what products use the minerals we were perusing, and even managed to touch far more stones than I even saw on display! Find this small museum here.

We had this little museum entirely to ourselves, which was something of a novelty.

  *Not the bird's real name. I'm less talented than my boys at recognizing the different birds/calls/nests.


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{Agave Lemonade}

It gets an A+ from my family. Try it here.

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{Clovis Splash Park}

We checked out the shiny, new splash park in CLovis today. It's only $1 per person, and it'll open in waves, {11am, 1pm, 3pm}, so that at no time will it be a madhouse. ... Well, it'll be an organized madhouse.

The structures were colorful and inventive, engaging children of all ages, and the water was tepid, allowing the warm sun to heat our skin even while the water was cool enough to keep us outside.  Children of Clovis found themselves gleefully awaiting the drop of the "buckets" and playfully aiming at each other with the oversized water shooters.  The rings were just the right size for the babes under 4, but didn't exclude the older children either.  This is a fantastic addition to Clovis, and fits perfectly with Hillcrest Park.

If you're new to the area, have kids, or are just passing through, this a fun little stop, and it's nestled in a park complex that also claims the zoo, a play park, the local indoor pool and the dog park.  There's sure to be something for your little one at one of those locations!

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