Look to the Sky!

And folks, this is my final post for the day (NINE in one day!). Might as well end on a high note, eh? And by high (no, I'm not talking about my cold meds), I mean high in the sky!!! That's right, the Greenies attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta this past weekend and Carter got up close and personal with some hot-air balloons! To summarize in just one word, the experience was: AWESOME!

Those that have been to the Fiesta know that it is nearly impossible to take anywhere less than 3 zillion photos. I've lived here for more than 10 years, I've been to the Fiesta three times, and I STILL took a zillion photos! It's just that cool! (PS I did reduce all of these photo sizes, so it you want to see any of them better, just click on them.)

So I chose my favorite 50 or so pics and thought I'd post them for all to see. Let's begin with arriving on the field - pre-5AM, no daylight just yet:
Carter was a little drowsy, but he soon got into the spirit (yes, these shots are taken directly from the launch field):
Let the "awe" begin!
Dawn breaking, Carter's already focused on the sky:
A kind woman from Kentucky took our family photo:
A few sit-and-watch shots (they were starting to inflate "Pencil Boy" right in front of us):
Another family shot - again, Carter focused on the sky:
Daddy and Carter:
"Look!"
Carter had a blast running around the launch field with Daddy:
A few more up in the sky:
This one was right in front of us. It was HUGE and we had a hard time guessing what it was going to be. Clearly it was in the "special shapes" category, but what the heck was it?!
I let Carter walk up and touch the balloon as they were inflating it. Needless to say, it was the highlight of his day:
The sky was filling fast (I think the paper said we had 500+ balloons this year):
The highlight of Matt's day - the "Darth Balloon" was being inflated right behind us. Awesome! They even have their own array of Storm Troopers that walk around the field and meet the guests.
The famous "Bees" were also being inflated right by us. This year they had three bees (and I'm pretty sure the owner is from Arizona, so luckily we get to see these each year!):
Even spotted a Jayhawk in the crowd! I know that it's an "international" event (we even saw a "Jordan" balloon), but it's always nice to see someone sporting the KU love in such a huge crowd!
About 30-minutes later we finally got to see what the giant balloon was... A chicken?
Carter watched it go up with glee:
And a few parting shots from the day:
I think it was perhaps one of the most fun days we've had as a family! Carter's excitement was contagious and I think we'll be cherishing these memories for years to come! It was especially fun to watch him point to the sky and say "boon!"

Hope you're enjoying the cooler weather and thanks for reading all of my ramblings!
~kerrie