Balloon Fiesta 2010 (part 1)

Be warned, there are a lot of balloon pictures.

And this is just the 1st day of the fiesta.

Up before the sun, binoculars ready for the first signs of balloons.

The sun is just coming up and the balloons are starting to go up faster.

They were going right over us and landing right behind us.

Keegan was playing in the car and found the bunny ears from last years fiesta

More to come! We are going to Balloon Fiesta Park tomorrow to be right in the middle of it all.

Spoiled???

Spoiled?? Here is our sweet doggy sleeping on Josh's fresh pillow. Looks comfy right? He must like the smell of the fabric softener

Staycation

Josh had a few days off and our original plan was to go somewhere new, but I'm still not ready to spend any length of time in the car. Instead we stayed home and did some of the things we never got around to the last time we were here in ABQ.

One of the 1st days we went to the New Mexico State Fair. (sorry no pics) It's huge!! There is so much to see and do. The fair food is what you hear about from people outside UT. There are soooo many different kinds of foods to choose from, one of which is a gigantic turkey leg. They looked so good last year but I didn't get one so this year it was my #1 goal at the fair. We got the turkey leg......it was AMAZING!! So good infact that Keegan (my little non-meat eater) was forced to try it and then wanted 10-15 more bites. He thought it was great. Ok, now that I'm done talking about food, the rest of the fair was great too. There are soo many fun things for kids. They have a whole tent setup with hands on stuff for them to do, coloring, crafting, science experiments. And the best part for Keegs was free coloring book, crayons. Then of course there are all of the animals to look at and pet. He loves those too.

Another one of the days we went to the Albuquerque Balloon Museum. It was one of the places we really wanted to see last year but for some reason we never made it. So this time.....off we went. Inside there was a whole hands on area for kids and also told the whole history of ballooning.

We thought about going to the U of U vs. UNM game, after seeing the crazy ticket prices ($30.00 for a 4 y.o. I don't think so) We decided to throw our own little football party at home. I made a whole bunch of appetizers and we watched the shellacking of UNM. On Saturday as we were out and about we found ourselves behind this SUV. Obviously we weren't the only Ute fans in NM this day. We were pretty sure it was one of the players family, since his picture was on the back. ha ha ha

One afternoon we headed to It'z. Kinda like Chuck e Cheese but MUCH better food and well, clean. The games are great and we ended up with a TON of tickets. One of the things Keegan wanted were vampire teeth, here he is showing them off.

After a fun few days Josh had to go back to work and the fun had to end. Just kidding, we always find something fun to do.

Funny little story

We were in the car today when I hear Keegan in the back seat say

"I have some rules for the next time we spend the night in a hotel."

I said "rules, you have rules for us?"

He says
"Yes,
Rule #1 stay in your room.
Rule #2 if you are thinking of having a party in your hotel room, don't do it! and
Rule #3 if there is a bug in your room, you squish it with a book."

When I asked him where he heard all of this he told me "Koda" (our dog)

So really, where does he come up with this stuff?

Favorites

I've done this before but I'm going to do it again just to see what I get. I'm going to interview Keegan.

1. What's your favorite animal? "Hmm, I don't know.....maybe the tiger

2. What's your favorite color? "Red! Red cars, red chairs, red suits"

3. What's your favorite show on TV? "Scooby Doo"

4. What's your favorite toy? "My dragon, he's right there and my Bakugon"

5. What's your favorite book? "One with Llama's"

6. What's your fav thing about ABQ? "Hmmm, I like all of it"

7. Favorite thing to eat? "cheese sandwich"

8. Favorite Restaurant "McDonalds"

9. Favorite Movie "Ice Age and Dinosaur and Tom and Jerry and
Scooby Doo. Those are my favorite movies"

10.Favorite game "I spy with my big blue eyes"


So there you go, a small interview with Keegan

Rio Grande Zoo

One of our favorite places here in ABQ is the zoo. It's not huge but is still really fun.

The wolf outside the zoo. Keegan wanted to take a pic like the one we had last year but.....it was HOT!

Here's one of the rhino's. Last year, every time we came they were hiding off in the corner almost completely out of sight. This year they have a couple new cabanas for shade.

Standing near the metal lion sculpture.....no where near the actual lions.

And the cutest animal of the trip. He was so cute!!

Look at that cute baby face.

Family Movie Night

Josh and Keegan decided we needed a family movie night. So we headed off to Wal-mart to search their $5 movie bin. We ended up with Scooby-Do and the Wiches Ghost. A favorite of Keegans. Along with brownies and popcorn we were set. So we moved the coffee table out of the way, gathered pillows and blanket and settled down.

I finally figured out the timer on our camera. It's only been 2 yrs.

Super Hero Keegan

Keegan decided that he needed some super hero accessories. So he opted for a head lamp and goggles.

Posing for just a second. I think it's hilarious that the goggles are sucking one eye and one is being pulled and is kind of squinty.

The super hero needed a computer break.

Aquarium

Last week we visited some of our favorite places in Albuquerque. We started with the aquarium.

One year older, same picture spot.

The Jelly fish

In front of the big tank. Lots of good things to see, including our favorite puffer fish.

Up close of our friend the puffer

And of course the albino sea turtle, I think he is actually my favorite.

Keegans Crazy Faces

So here are some of the faces I got while trying to get some pictures today.

The only semi-normal one in the bunch

When I tell him to give me his "Zombie Face" he refuses to do it as "scary" as he normally does.

I tell him to smile and I get "squinty eyes"

And this, I believe is the one that means "ENOUGH PICTURES MOM"

Age 32, day 2

Since Josh didn't work today, we celebrated his birthday by going up the tram. We did the samething last year and really had a good time, so we went again.

Here is the ski resort on the backside of the mountain. There were some deer running back and forth but would only come out right AFTER I took a photo. But I swear, they were there.

Keegan and his muscles. We took his pic on this same rock last year.

Cute red chair on the lift.

View of the valley on the other side of the Mtn.

Josh and Keegan resting and enjoying the view.

After the fun ride up the tram, the nice cool air (55 degrees), and the ride down, we headed for a birthday lunch at.....were else??? Sadies.

Hope Josh had a fun day after his birthday.

Happy Birthday Josh!!

Josh turned 32 today. We would have had something fun planned but his work planned otherwise. He worked today, on his birthday, for the first time ever. Because of this Keegan and I tried our best to make his evening the best.

He came home to Beef Burgandy ready to eat.

German chocolate cake, ready to be cut.

And a card written by his 4 year old.

And after all the feasting, Josh was able to play x-box with all his friends.

Siesta in Old Town

Today we went to Old Town. We've been there before, obviously. But it's got some really fun shops. There is a Christmas Store that has great ornaments and also some really yummy stuff too. And then there are always the normal touristy shops.

Here's my cute little man taking a siesta in his sombrero.

Ok, so maybe no siesta was involved. But he's still cute right.
And no trip to Old Town is complete without a trip to The Candy Lady. It's a super yummy candy and chocolate shop.

My little helper

I decided to make cookies the other night. Keegan wanted to help, we decided on Snickerdoodles. I found out very quickly that even if it is necessary to make cookies, he still doesn't like getting his hands messy. I tried to get him to help me mix with his hands but, it quickly turned into him NEEDING to wash his hands. He did however love sneaking tastes of the dough.

Here his is snacking on the finished product.