Balloon Fiesta Part Deux

Second weekend of Balloon Fiesta and the morning weather was great! My friend from high school came into town with her two cute kids this past weekend. As soon as they walked in the door all the kids were running around chasing and playing together. We met up with them in Phoenix last time we were there and invited them to come. Her husband Mitch was unable to make it though (too bad Mitch- you missed out). I can't believe we didn't get any shots of them though while they were here. The weekend went by way too fast!

Jason here. USA Today listed the the Balloon Fiesta as one of the "10 great places to find true Americana."
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2009-08-20-americana_N.htm

It is always a good time and we are getting better and better at it each year. We take our double stroller, this time stocked with piles of homemade breakfast burritos, tons of blankets, hot chocolate in thermos bottles and anything else a good bag lady would take to something like this.

After being stuck in China, Vader made it back for the second weekend of the fiesta. We stood under him while he was being inflated. Danica's little boy was so excited- he wants to be Darth Vader for Halloween. I tried to take him to get a snapshot with a storm trooper but he would have nothing to do with it- he just wanted a closer look.
Allie did not want to get near the Vader with the blue racing stripe at first- she knows evil when she sees it I guess. I told her he is not evil, just a bit misguided and she managed to give him a hug for a snapshot. The fluffy winter storm trooper with diving gear or whatever it was did not seem to be so intimidating to her.
This guy thought he could take on a storm trooper and the two battled for a bit. Too bad my little Luke was cranky- he could have taken him. He needed a breakfast burrito to get the force flowing that early and cheered up later. Both weekends we have hung out for quite a while after the balloons launched. The kids woke up and were happier and we threw a frizbee and football around. A friend from work and Danica's kids all joined in and we wound up playing for an hour or so.
Carter P.: We saw Alan Madsen and said hi. It was fun to meet Didi (sp?) and their kids and introduce ours.

We went back yesterday evening for the Glowdeo, but it was canceled due to high winds. There was a great fireworks show that saved the evening. The five kids played in the dark for quite a while afterward and managed not to get creamed by all the golf carts going by.

It must have been a fun weekend, here is what I found this afternoon when I came home from church.
Mama Bear and her three cubs.