Balloon Fiesta 2009!!

Thursday night we went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The weather was perfect! There was no wind and it was nice and cool. We did the Park and Ride so Alex was super excited about riding a "yellow school bus" to Fiesta Park! We met Grandma S. at the parking lot and she went with us.

After arriving, we immediately headed to the food stands. The kids had pizza and lemonade and of course, a funnel cake! As we sat and ate, they started blowing the balloons up. Last night was the Special Shapes Glowdeo, so all of the balloons going up were special shapes! Aurora's favorite balloons were Darth Vader (which is guarded by storm troopers) and Noah's Ark. Alex's were the elephant and the jack-o-lantern. Mine is the Haunted House and the Bumblebees that kiss!

After they get them all blown up, it's almost dark, and they start doing coordinated 'burns', where they all run their fires at the same time and glow in the night sky. Everyone counts backwards from 10 and then yells, "BURN!!!!" and they all light up! They do it over and over for about an hour. The Albuquerque Fiesta is one of the few remaining balloon events where people can go out on the field, touch the balloons and baskets, and talk to the handlers. Afterwards they do fireworks!

The kids had a blast! We can't wait to go again next year! Here are pics, and a short video of the burn.