Balloons, balloons, balloons!

The kids and I took our first trip in two years to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. We had a GREAT time! Sadly, we were only able to see one mass ascension. We went down to the launch field on Thursday morning to watch the special shapes. It was an absolutely perfect morning, traffic wasn't too bad, the temperature was comfortable and the skies were blue, not to mention the breakfast burritos were YUMMY and the cocoa was hot! There were a bunch of new special shapes this year which is always fun to see, but they aired up and flew off SOOO fast! I was left really wanting more and feeling a bit disappointed. Just as we were getting ready to pack up, we ran into friends and started chatting and next thing we knew, they were airing up the traditional balloons for a contest. They put a several sets of car keys atop tall poles and the balloonists tried to fly in and snatch the keys. Whoever grabbed a key won the car it started! So we got an extra 2 hours to watch these beautiful balloons come in close then float away and come back in again (they call it boxing). It was an amazing sight and the kids were intrigued! We ended up taking the Friday morning to go to the zoo instead and that ended up being the last day they flew as bad weather came in over the weekend and prevented them from flying. As you can see from the photos, it was an amazing event, and we're looking forward to next year!

Good vs. Evil


Me and the kiddos on the field


When pigs fly!


Brazilian bees and friends


Two of my faves... Gargoyle and Panda