Balloon Festival

For our "resolution" this year…I told Mike I wanted to do more with our very limited time together as a family.  I told him I wanted to find fun things to do together that would not only be fun to do together, but would help Blip learn and build memories as a family.  Maybe along the way we'd find some new things to make into a new tradition or two.  I want to spend more time outdoors, go camping, exercise as a family, hike, explore, etc.  Mike said that all sounded great, so we agreed to make a more focused effort at this goal throughout the year.

My sweet husband followed through and came up with our first new adventure - the Carefree Balloon Festival.  I had never been to a balloon festival, and I think the hot air balloons are amazing…and so does Blip.  He loves to look at them as they descend. They land just northwest of us around the time we pull in the driveway from work/daycare they are just over the house.  The balloons look beautiful in the sky, and he yells out, "balloon! Balloon!"

So we loaded up and headed to see the balloons.  We ended up getting a free parking spot, and we got in for free!!  That was the best part.  There were several food trucks, but the lines were ridiculously long, and we actually for the first time ever ate for free at home before leaving.  Don't faint.  It hasn't happened again since.  Mike did buy Blip some kettle corn and we shared a hot chocolate.

They started filling the balloons so they were all up just after the sunset.  That's also when the temperature dropped to below freezing…at least for Arizona.  We had to move closer to the balloons for warmth and so we could get a better view.

We had such a good time!!  We ended up leaving after I couldn't handle the cold anymore…and after they lit all the balloons.  They were so pretty all lit up and glowing in the dark.