2 years ago, my mother announced that for her 60th birthday, all family members would be meeting in Albuquerque, NM…first of October(ish), for the annual Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in honor of her 60th birthday. The year has come! The month has come. The trip…has, sadly, passed. It was awesome and strangely cold for what you would expect from New Mexico! Houcks, Hardings, Scharpfs and Lugenbuels traveled from far and wide to gather at the Albuquerque Residence Inn on October 7th. Words are meaningless…pictures are…amazing!

 

Aiden, who has been interested in hot air balloons since he was literally like 2 years old was in HOG HEAVEN! He pointed, squealed, giggled…and was topped in enthusiasm by ONLY Nana!

Saturday morning session pics: It was windy and there was, for some time, a doubt as to weather or not the balloons would even lift off. Some of the larger ones did what I nicknamed the “blow and show” <—blow up, show off, deflate. BUT…a TON did take off and it was AAAA-MAA-Zing (Den….that was for you). The first day of the Fiesta, a week before we arrived, the balloonists set a world record for the number of balloons to take off from one place in 1 hour: 350-something! AND….the Fiesta is amazing in the fact that you can walk RIGHT UP to the balloons as they inflate & take off!

Brian’s favorite balloon – the chili pepper!

 

Logan’s school mascot is the shark!

Nana and Papa

Me and Denna

A bag I made for Nana. They are apparently redoing one of the entrances to the Balloon Fiesta grounds complete with a paver brick walkway. You can purchase bricks and have them engraved. I found this info during my hours of research the week before we took off for Albuquerque. We decided to purchase a 12X12 paver for Nana’s birthday. I wrapped up a computer-processed image of the brick since it won’t go in for a while yet. It has an engraved hot air balloon on it and says “HHLS Celebrates, Sheila’s 60th, We Love You!!!! 2011” <—or something like that :)

The lovely thing about the Residence Inn is that we didn’t have to go out for food for EVERY meal (a lot to take on with 12 people…5 of whom are 6 and under!) We even had a birthday party. GG (Nana’s mom – my Grams) made and brought the cake!

The Birthday Girl!

 

The evening session started off with these amazing Navy parachuting guys (yes…not a technical term, but it’s all I’ve got)

 

The plane that dropped them off circled around and looks like it’s about to hit one of the guys who jumped out – cool pic

There are lots of balloons known as “special shapes”. this haunted house is one of my favorites! You can see a clown going up behind it.

 

Strangely, Denay and I both (independently, I might add) chose this balloon as our very favorite of the entire Fiesta. It’s tie-dyed I think, but I didn’t know that when I picked it. And…it’s got a totally weird name, as I learned when I went to talk to the crew….who was all dressed in tie-dye with like dread locks and stuff. The name is something crazy, but means “beauty of the sky”. A lot of the balloons had these really pretty, glossy trading cards that they passed out. Aiden’s entire goal at the Fiesta was to get as many of them as he could. The people on this balloon said they had no cards left…Brian thought maybe they were actually passing out something a little different than the traditional cards. har har har.

This event is called the Evening Glow and it’s SO BEYOND WORDS AMAZING! First, it’s night…then all the balloons start firing their gas at the same time and it looks like day time! No balloons take off, but they inflate and stay inflated for quite a while. We walked around, talking to the crews, admiring the balloons and collecting cards.

There was a fireworks display after the Glow. Here are Logan and Aiden ready to enjoy the action!

On Sunday, we all climbed into our rental cars (well, except for GG and GGpa who drove from Oklahoma) and drove to Santa Fe. What a beautiful drive!! The topography is amazing with the mesas, mountains, red and black sand…so different from where we live and totally fun to see! In town: The best store ever? The Five and Dime (they have sling shots, rubber band guns and camo fanny packs…like awesome!) The best place to play? The stage in the middle of the town square! Here’s me, Nana and GG

Daddy and Bray

A bird’s-eye view of the best table EVER for our family. This restaurant was DEEEE-licious! Missing persons include: Brian, who was taking the picture plus me and Bray who were taking a potty break.

Den and me chatting on the steps of the stage in the city center while the kids played.

Brady donning his new camo fanny pack and showing off his new rubber band gun (see Five and Dime references….the kids won’t stop talking about that store either! Next time we go, Brady already knows that he wants to buy, ‘the tiny bell with a hot air balloon on it…from the five and the dime’)

Den’s little guy – Nathan. aka: Nater-tot! For some reason, this is the only baby in the world who hates me. My own flesh and blood and the kid hates me! In my defense, he also hates Brian….and ain’t no baby alive who hates Brian…except this one I guess! In all seriousness, we think it’s because he’s confused by the similarity between me and Den. Logan did it too…a little…not as much…just a bit…didn’t cry when Den tried to hold him or anything…I’m just saying….

Logan!

Aiden the monkey

Den’s oldest, Ryan – he loves me, by the way!

Brian spies on us through the camera from the stage where we left him and Tom with all the kids as we shopped. ;)

Back in the rooms: everyone gathered in Nana and Papa’s room for pizza and movies. Movies were seen on the TV by the bed while football took center stage on the TV in the “living area”.

Brady, who hates a lot of people…including me some days, decided that Auntie Denna is the best and cuddled up to her all night long while watching Rio. See, but I’m fine with it. Just because her baby hates me…while my baby loves her…it’s cool….totally cool….whatever. ;0)

In true Brian fashion, I have about 390 other pictures on our camera, but these are the good ones. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!! We all had a total blast!! Since we returned, Aiden has been talking quite frequently about wanting to move to Albuquerque. Perhaps he doesn’t understand that the hot air balloons are only around for 2 weeks of the year? :)