Bees kissing and pigs flying.....what's goin' on?

It is painfully clear to me how far behind I am in documenting our October so far. Not such a big deal to those that check in every now and then. For me, the one using this as a means of remembering what happened when, well, this every 2 day posting isn't helping!

Warning.....warning......warning......if you live in New Mexico you will more than likely be bored to tears by all that is about to follow. If you're tired of balloon pictures, stop now. Come back later. If however you like to see balloons of all kinds of shapes filling the sky....keep reading. There are a lot of photos coming......a 'plethora' as they say in the Three Amigos movie.

So, we started the day off EARLY. We left the house at 5:45 am. Cold, dark, early. Got to the field, picked up some not so great food at the tent sponsored by Bill's work (can't complain TOO much, it was free after all)

and then submerged ourselves into the throngs of people to see awesome balloons-like this one-

The frog balloon flying over Darth is one that my MIL crews for. She lives, eats and breathes balloon fiesta. Typically crowds gather around their favorite special shape balloon and as it takes off there are lots of cheers and applause and of course, people looking up. All my kids are no exception. Catalena hadn't been to a morning mass ascension in a long time, so she was takin' it all in.The twin bees are pretty cool. One, of course because they are twins (boy/girl) and two, because they always launch together with their hands (or whatever it is bees have) velcroed together. Often times the wind currents will turn them in towards each other and they'll 'kiss'.And see, pigs really do fly here in the land of enchantment! The crew for the pig balloon wore shirts that read 'I caught the swine flew'. Nice play on words!This is definitely how one can feel after navigating the crowds with 6 kids and a wagon.....It is always so amazing how colorful the whole event becomes once the sun comes up over the mountains. All the colors in the balloons seem to 'pop'........and jackets and hats are shed faster than you can say 'when pigs fly'.On this particular morning, many of the regular shape balloons were participating in flying competitions. They inflated and launched from places outside of the field and then tried to negotiate their way over the field. They then dropped targets and tried to grab envelopes off of poles that contained money or the chance to win a car. Taking a few seconds to wrestle in the grass with daddy....You know, strollers can actually fit adult rear ends....Bill and I are living proof of that!While the other 5 maniacs ran around like, well, maniacs, Catalena stayed by close enough to get a picture!If only they could ALL be as calm as her. She just shakes her head, rolls her eyes and laughs at them sometimes!

So, as if we weren't tired enough after such an early start, guess what we did later that afternoon? We came back to the field to enjoy the special shapes Glodeo. All the special shapes inflate and stay on the ground and after sunset the pilots use their burners to make the balloons 'glow'. So guess what......more balloon pictures comin' up! Later. I'm tired. I'm goin' to bed.