Balloon Fiesta!

Being a Teta is the best!

We finally took the kids to Albuquerque to visit Angela and family and to see the Balloon Fiesta for ourselves.  We were NOT disappointed.  If you have the opportunity to make it to New Mexico in October I cannot express how amazing an experience this was.  We can't wait to go back!

We flew into Denver and drove the 6.5 hours down to Albuquerque instead of flying directly there because the difference in plane ticket prices was ridiculous.  We saved a lot of money with this plan but in retrospect we lost two full days spending time with the Palevich's so we probably wouldn't do it again.

Playing Busytown

When we got into Denver and made it to the car rental place, they asked what brought us into town to which I replied "oh! We're going to visit my sister in Albuquerque and to see the Balloon Fiesta".  Idiot.  The receptionist said, "Oh, I'm SO sorry, but our cars cannot be taken out of state".  So that was awesome.  We had to take the shuttle BACK to the airport and then hop on ANOTHER ONE to another car rental agency to get a car.  That put us back an hour and a half and GoogleMaps had us arriving in ABQ at 3am.  Chris and I decided (wisely) that we'd never safely make it so we found a hotel room about halfway there and stopped for the night.  It was a smart decision to ensure we got some sleep before we tackled the remaining 3.5 hours in the morning to arrive at my sister's house.  The kids were CHAMPS but they were exhausted too and glad to sleep in a bed.

Roughhousing with Uncle Jed

When we finally arrived in Albuquerque at around lunchtime we were SO happy to see everyone!  Natalie just turned one last week, Russell is the most mischievous adorable two-nearly-nearly-three-year-old, and Mason was SO happy to see Oliver they immediately went and played together and were only somewhat mean to Russell in their exclusive four-year-old club.  We attempted to go see the "Glowdeo" that night but the winds were too high so we relaxed at home.

Pumpkin Patch!

The next morning we had to convince all of the kids to go to the pumpkin patch (they were having so much fun playing they didn't want to leave home!) where they played in the corn pit, fed the goats, rode bikes, dug in some dirt, played mini-golf, and surprisingly were ok with not purchasing any pumpkins. 

Petroglyph National Monument

Overlooking Albuquerqu

At lunchtime, we took our kids to Petroglyph National Monument so that the Palevich three could get a good nap in.  My parents bought me a National Parks Passport book where you can collect stamps and stickers whenever you visit a National Park/Monument/etc.  And, as many of you know about me...I LOVE a good list to check off.  So!  We collected our first stamp and saw some super cool Petroglyphs on a little mini-hike.

The balloons are inflating!!!

We headed to the shuttle for the Balloon Fiesta again that evening to go experience the "Special Shapes Glowdeo".  IT. WAS. AMAZING.  We arrived at the Balloon Park at about 5pm and got to watch as people started to bring in their balloons and FILL THEM UP RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.  WHILE WE WERE STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM.  AND THEN THEY'D TURN ON THE BASKET FIRE (I don't know what that's actually called...) RIGHT NEXT TO US so the balloon would go up in the air (but the basket stayed on the ground the entire evening, the balloons were just floating).  It was freaking amazing.  I can't believe they let you be so close as this is happening.  The kids were ENTHRALLED and so was I. 

The whole gang at the Glowdeo

Zoë's favorite balloon

Oliver's former favorite animal

GLOW!

As it started to get closer to sunset the kids had a fantastic time running from balloon to balloon to collect the trading cards that they handed out at each one with a picture of the balloon and where it was from on it.  Super cool!  Lucky they had enough glow gear on them that it was a little easier to keep track of them.  But it definitely took all of us to keep track of them in the increasing darkness.  At dark the "glow" began and the balloons would all light up at the same time and twinkle.  It was so cool!

So beautiful!

And.  Just as fast as it began, it was over and the balloons started to deflate.  WHILE WE WERE STILL ON THE FIELD.  You had to watch and be careful where you were walking to make sure you weren't crushed (this is an exaggerated word here) but a balloon.  While we were walking back to the shuttle there were skydivers with cool fireworks and then a pretty good fireworks show.  The kids were champs and made it without meltdowns back to the house and got ready for bed immediately.

Mass Ascension Morning

Brrrrrrr.  34 degrees!

The NEXT morning, we left the house at 5am to watch the Mass Ascension.  It took us an hour and a half to get to the parking lot but even with the walk to the balloon park we got there with about ten minutes to spare!  As we were parking the "Dawn Patrol" went up in the air to see how the flying conditions were.  It was very cool to see the half a dozen balloons up in the air in the dark all lit up.  When we got to the field the balloons were all inflating and as they were starting to take off we were RIGHT next to them!  The "zebras" (the people who helped clear space and keep people safe on the field) would use their whistles to direct the traffic and make sure there was room for the balloons to take off.  It was VERY exciting and for two hours the balloons left the field regularly. 

The kids were wrecked for the rest of the day but it was worth it.  ;)

For the rest of the day we relaxed, napped (some of us), played outside on bikes, and enjoyed one last evening together (with matching jammies, duh).  The next morning we had to leave early to get back to Denver and the airport to fly home.  We made a quick potty stop at another National Park (Pecos) to get another stamp, but otherwise it was an uneventful trip home (though there was lots of whining and tired children behavior...).

We were all glad to be back in our own beds to sleep but we are SO looking forward to our next trip to Albuquerque AND to see the Balloon Fiesta hopefully sooner rather than later.  What a great event!