Our 1st Balloon Fiesta!

My friend Carm has been talking about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for years, and showing her amazing photographs of it, trying to convince me that I just had to see it in person.  This year I decided it was time to finally check it off my bucket list and Joslyn and I enjoyed a girls weekend to visit my friend and her family.  Carm and I met online on a wedding planning site, random I know, but we bonded.  We call each other sister wives but neither of our husbands could handle us both, ha!  We've met up a couple times and text pretty much every day.  We shop together while 790 miles apart, exchange decorating tips, share our frustrations as stay-at-home moms and our triumphs.  I feel like I know her kids even though I last saw her oldest son when he was 6 months and now he's 3 years old with a 1 year old brother. It was so much fun to watch her boys interact with Jos and have a friend show me her very favorite thing.  Words can't possibly describe the experience of seeing a field full of colorful balloons, inflating and lighting up in the sky.  The pictures just don't do it justice....it's awe-inspiring.  I started to get emotional at one point because I got to have this amazing experience with my daughter, a memory that I can share with her.  It was an amazing weekend and I will cherish the memories I made forever!

Jos was awesome on the flights.  She is a traveler! :)

This $1 fishing game was a big hit.

We got up at 4:30a on Saturday morning to see Dawn Patrol and a Mass Ascension...but the wind didn't cooperate and the balloons couldn't go up.   The kids didn't let that stop them from having fun.

Jos posed at these cut outs for about a half hour.

 And the kids all got balloons!

It was so cute to see them all lined up in the back seat :)

Checking out the local cuisine.

That night we hoped the wind would calm down and we would get to see a Glowdeo.  Luckily we got our wish!

Carm said usually there are way more balloons and they glow for a lot longer but I have to say, I didn't care. I was impressed!

I loved standing in the middle of the field, in the middle of it all.

I looked around and everywhere I turned there were more balloons taking shape. 

Jos loved the panda.

As it got dark, the balloons glowed in the night sky!

Michael worked on wrangling the kids.

Our night ended with fireworks.

The next morning we got up at 4:30a again to see Dawn Patrol and a Mass Ascension.  This time we were not disappointed!! It was completely worth waking up that early in the morning.

Jos is wondering why she's up when it's still dark out.

Jos and Owen were best buds...most of the time ;)

Jos kept saying "balloons in the sky!".

The entire sky was filled with balloons.  

You can't possibly capture the scope of it in a picture.  

Jos was a big fan of the boys' toys :)

We stopped at their neighborhood park before heading to the airport and then it was time to say our goodbyes to our friends!