Balloon Festival

We heard about a balloon festival that is held annually in Albuquerque and thought it would be fun to take the boys and check it out for ourselves. We left right after the boys got home from school on Friday and since the boys didn't get much of an after school snack they got hungry for dinner pretty fast. The big boys kept singing the song Albu-turkey and when we were looking for some place to eat Rhet kept telling Keith that he didn't want to go to Albu-turkey but wanted McDonalds. The poor kid was just plain confused. While eating our dinner on the road we ended up driving the remaining leg of our trip in pouring rain. By the time we arrived at our hotel the rain had let up but we didn't know what tomorrow would bring. Luckily as we headed up to our room a couple in the elevator said that there was to be clear skies the next day and that the balloons should be able to lift off. 5:30 Saturday morning arrived and we had to get up and get dressed because take off was scheduled for 7:15. We loaded our tired bodies in the car and headed to the park. On our way we ended up in a long line of cars only to be redirected from some officers who told us another way to go. We followed their instructions-pretty easy, only 3 right turns-only to be deviated far from our course. What!?! We headed back and realized the first right turn was not at the street they told us but the nameless street right before the street they told us. Now that we are on the the correct 1st right turn we proceeded with the remaining next 2 rights, only to discover that it took us in a complete circle. Keith was at the least to say very annoyed at the officers giving the directions since they took us in a circle and we ended up finding our own way. What good are the police detours if they take you in a circle-can't get anywhere going around and around. By the time we parked and headed to the field it was 7:30 and lucky for us the balloons hadn't started yet. It was cold and wet from all the rain the day before but the sun was up and warming us slowly.

This seems like a good spot to watch.

Keith and Elle watching a balloon be blown up.

My cute girl!

The boys in front, but can't see with the sun in their eyes.

Rhet wanted one by himself.

The balloons just starting to be blown up.

A few have taken lift off.

More and more getting bigger.

Spider Pig

More lifting off.

A cute bumble bear.

The balloons were carried in the truck and being blown up right before our eyes.  It was pretty cool to see the whole process.

more...

and more.

A quick family pic.

This shark was being blown up right in front of us.

A few more bumble bears.

One last pic before we head off.

There was still more balloons to take lift off but since we were up so early the boys were hungry and cold and wanted to head back to the hotel to eat and go swimming, but it sure was a fun morning.