Just Desserts

Balloons and rain just don't mix.  We tried to go to the evening glow display of the hot air balloons, but it got rained out 3 nights in a row - so we did the only rightful thing to do.... go shopping at goodwill, get desserts from olive garden (for the adults..pumpkin cheesecake for the ladies and chocolate mousse and chocolate stratus cake for the boys) and baskin robbins ice cream cake for the kids.  Do we don't let a little rain ruin our night....heck no!  We improvise!  We stayed up late playing games, being silly, eating yummy desserts and staying as dry as possible!  The Nielsen Family was great company as we laughed, played and ran in the rain!  Always and adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

As we traveled home, we decided to have a fun picnic....well, this time the WIND and RAIN caught us, but that didn't stop us!  The Nielsens quickly created a cooking space in their car and whipped up some tasty PB and Honey sandwiches in their van;  while the kids started eating in the Ward car.  Within minutes of everyone starting to eat, we had a small break in the weather, so we took the picnic outside into a small clearing where the trees made a good wind barrier...but again that was a small break and we eventually had to RUN for it back to the cars as everyone got drenched!  Luckily everyone was laughing in the end...what a sight we must have been!  Memories!

 

Sandia Peak

 

One of the main attractions in Albuquerque is the Sandia Peak Tramway.  One of the longest gondola rides in the US.  And boy did the line show it....a 2 1/2 hour long wait.  Luckily, there was an option to go eat at the restaurant while you wait - OK!  Sign me up!  We jumped on that opportunity immediately.  We had such an enjoyable "wait" that we nearly missed our "flight" up...we were running through the terminal showing out tickets and begging the workers through the window to let us get on.  Which they did that ...whew!  We were packed in that little car like sardines!  Spare no space!  The boys were nervous on the ride up - they were white knuckled and held on tightly to Clay all the way up.  The girls on the other hand, were loving it - hands on the windows leaning against the door...no fear there!  The view was breathtakingly beautiful.  When we got to the top, the terrain was completely different on the other side of the hill.  It went from rocky and desert landscape to green, lush, trees, forest, and fall colors everywhere.  We had fun hiking around, exploring and just enjoying the beauty of nature.  On the ride down - we got front row seats!  Not as "front row" as some people....we saw a girl who was standing on the roof.  What is she doing up there?  Surely she isn't going to ride down on the top?  That's crazy, sure enough..the tram started it's decent and she was on top.... talk about CRAZY!  There is no way Laura would do that...ok, maybe if they were on The Amazing Race and 1 million dollars was at stake..maybe then, maybe but definitely not by choice.  Clay and Julee on the other hand said they would do it in a heart beat, no problem....what? Are you nuts?  I guess some people are!  Wow....  On the ride down the mountain, the boys enjoyed it more.  They were more relaxed and Detric even fell asleep on Clay's head! I guess that is as relaxed as ya get.

 

 

I Spy...

As the morning progressed, balloons of all shapes, sizes and characters started popping up!  It became a fun game of I SPY and who can name what that balloon is first (and trust me...some of those balloons are hard to identify until they are all blown up!)  There were balloons from princess carriages to Darth Vador to dinosaurs coming out of eggs to octopus!  They were popping up so fast, we just had to stand back and stand still and enjoy the fun sight of the sky!  Which is your favorite?