Happy birthday, Lazarus!

My boy turned four yesterday, and when I asked him what he wanted to do, he exclaimed, "I want to go to Pie Town for birthday pie!" Out here, any trek is a big deal, and one that ends with pie is all the more special. So off we went, and on the way we stopped at the Very Large Array to see their giant radio telescopes up close. Laz and Maggie ran down the path toward the closest telescope, but their little legs faltered as they got closer and the 230-ton colossus loomed ever larger -- and they both stopped and then turned tail when it groaned and cranked on its base to swing over a few degrees!



Lazarus got a t-shirt and a solar system mobile from the gift shop, and Maggie picked up a postcard of a telescope that she now brandishes as she runs around the house while chanting, "The giant telescope MOVED and it scared me, mama!!"

On to Pie Town, where we ate (as always) at the Daily Pie Cafe and chatted with the staff, who know us well from our numerous earlier treks (including Maggie's very first road trip). No time for pie (I grabbed a six-piece sampler for the road, though!) because Lazarus wanted to go straight to the Pie Town playground -- an outdated clutch of steel pipe and splintered wooden structures that nonetheless was fun because lots of kids were there for the town's graduation party.

Gotta go -- happy birthday, beautiful boy!