Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

This time of year is my absolute favorite.  The weather is getting cooler, the leaves on the trees are starting to change color, Halloween is right around the corner, and the Balloon Fiesta!!! Here in Albuquerque we have have the largest hot air balloon "show" around.  Balloonists from around the world gather at the Balloon Fiesta Park and take flight in our beautiful blue sky.  As the sun rises the sky is filled with colorful dots drifting North.  It's always been hard to wake up super early to go see the balloons take off so we usually hit the Glowdeo.  Weather is always tricky down here and the last 3 times we have attempted to go it is too windy for the balloons to go up.  So this year we woke up at 4:15 in the morning and headed over to the Fiesta to watch the balloons take off on day 1 of the Dawn Patrol.  Audrey was in Heaven watching all the balloons take flight.  Elijah enjoyed himself because he actually got to see them go up, which he hasn't done since he was little.  Some of these pictures really could be in a calendar or in a frame and we get to see it in person every day for a week!!!  Enjoy!

Dawn Patrol taking flight

Mini family photo op

The sun is finally starting to rise

Taking flight for the festivities

Mama and Buggy

Daddy and Audrey pointing while saying "dat?"

This poppy balloon set up shop right next to us.

Beautiful colors

Audrey getting to feel a balloon for the first time.

Waddles the Snobird

Lady Joker.  It's some sort of bug/clown.

Colored skies of Albuquerque

There were also oblong shaped balloons.

Airabelle the Creamland cow

Spider Pig and the butterfly trying to air up

Darth Vader made an appearance as did his Storm Troopers.

Using the fan to blow air into the balloon.

Charlie Brown also came to the Balloon Fiesta.  Isn't this sweater awesome??

Gizzmo the Gargoyle

The cherub and Spider Pig

So massive and beautiful.

Yay..the elephant!!!  Nelly-B.

Audrey being a ham

Audrey and the unibomber

The red one is the mama and she is Lilly Little Bee.  The blue one is the daddy and he is Joey Little Bee.  They had a baby, the purple one, they named Joelly.

Joelly kissing her mommy

Stinky

This is what happens when you wake up really early!!

Okay, what is this?  A mosquito with a cape?  Can't figure it out!!

St James Tea Room

As a surprise to my friend Melinda's  upcoming birthday me and 2 of our friends surprised her with a night out at a really neat place called St James Tea Room.  It's a great place for women to go out and get dressed up, have some tea, and finger foods.  There are 3 courses on the menu and a tea to go with each.  The theme of the night was a Murder Mystery, based off of the game Clue.  It was a great night (away from the kiddos) where we got to chit chat and feel a bit more lady like.  In the end, Stephanie was the murderer per the red jelly in the bottom of her mousse.  I had a great time and I hope Melinda had a great early birthday gift!  Thanks to Stephanie, Melinda, and Brittany for making it so much fun!

Stephanie, Brittany, Melinda, and me

Nice touch!

Each of us had a different saying on our plates.

The 3 tiers o'food

Some of the food was a bit eccentric for my "boring" taste buds, but it was fun to try!

The best part!

Annabelle's Oktoberfest Birthday O'Fun!

Today we got to celebrate Annabelle's 1st birthday with an Oktoberfest theme!  The drive was long, but well worth it!

 The kiddos got nice party favors....clackers and beer steins.  Audrey didn't want to put down her beer stein!

 Walking and "drinking" do not mix!  Really there was nothing in her stein but a pretzel, but new walkers always look drunk.

 Checking out the cows.

 Tanner wanted to join in on the action and maybe get a hug.

 Audrey is now the ex-girlfriend.  Tanner's new girlfriend showed up.  She had to get love...after all, it was her birthday!

 And 1 more makes 4.  Braylon decided to join in on the cow gazing.

 Audrey walking back after viewing the cows.

 Annabelle and Audrey (with her messed up bow) checking out their mugs.

 Braylon likes to double fist it.

 This is what you look like after you have drank too much.  Really, this is just one of those many bad photos!

 Audrey chilling with her daddy!

 Elijah's breadstache.

 Audrey and her breadstache.

 Happy 1st Birthday Annabelle!

 Goth lips thanks to the black frosting.

 Mmmmmmm cupcakes!

 Mommy and Daddy!

 Nice family photo!  You don't get many of those!

 The kiddos enjoying the bubbles.

 And Audrey has had enough.  She was off to investigate a diaper bag.

And this is how the party ended.  A spider trying to bite Brittany and scared Stephanie, mommy to the birthday girl! 

What a great time, great food, and great friends!

Fun with Daddy

While I was finishing up my day at work Elijah decided to have a little fun with the camera and our little ladybug.  Here's a sneak peak at daddy/daughter time!

A Day at the Zoo

On Audrey's actual birthday I took the day off so we could go the zoo as a family.  It was SOOO hot that day so all the animals were lethargic.  I started feeling like that towards the end!  We first ate lunch on the lawn area and then meandered our way through all the animal exhibits.  We dressed Audrey up since it was her big #1!  

 All done with lunch...now let's look at some animals!

 Lethargic lion.  

 Not sure what this is called..but he looked like a mini deer.  So cute!

 Lethargic jaguar.

 Semi lethargic mountain lion

 Audrey wanting to play with the "kitty"

 Daddy and Audrey like to point at things.  

 Walabi's are so cute!  Plus it was nice and cool in this area.  I thought sitting on the bench would be a good idea.

 The one photo of me and Audrey.  

 We were trying to figure out if this gorilla was just fat or really pregnant.  She/he enjoyed eating cardboard though.

 This much skinnier gorilla wanted to be bulimic, but didn't have it in him.  He puked twice.  And ate it.  Twice.

 While Elijah went to take a work call I found the splash pad and changed Audrey so she could cool off.  Daddy found us and quickly got a squirt right in his butt.  I guess he needed to cool off too!! I managed to miss any hits of water.

 This is where I wanted to hang out. Minus the stench and getting eaten by hippos.

 Time for the train!  Notice the ice block that Audrey is holding.

 Gimme the camera mom.

I couldn't resist putting a picture of the capybara on here.  We had to make the haul over to his area because this is Elijah's favorite animal.  Go figure.  An oversized hampster/guinea pig. 

This mommy peacock and her baby were wandering around near the splash pad so I fed her some of Audrey's cheeto things.  First of all, she's greedy and almost bit me.  Second of all, she doesn't share because her baby left hungry.  Jerk.

We had such a good time wandering the Rio Grande Zoo as a family!  What a great way to spend a Wednesday!