Casey & Becky Visit

 In mid-October, two of our friends from Montana, Casey and Becky, flew out for a visit. These friends had recently gotten married and had come to Texas for their honeymoon. Jaden and Cody helped us prepare the guest bedroom for their arrival. :)

On Friday while the kids were in school, the four of us spent some time shopping around in downtown Tomball.

That night, we attended a Tomball High School football game-- a first-time experience for all of us.

We were very impressed with the size of this fairly new stadium.

Between the cheerleaders, pep bands, flag girls, a Daddy/daughter dance group, and of course, the two football teams, there was a lot happening throughout the game! We were definitely entertained and enjoyed seeing Tomball win.

On Saturday, we journeyed outside of town a bit for the Texas Renaissance Festival. We were amazed that this festival was spread across so many acres of land. We did a LOT of walking! Overall, our family decided that the festival wasn't really our cup of tea, but we did enjoy seeing some unique shows-- a fire eater,

this guy brandishing a fire whip,

and some circus-type acrobats.

Most impressive was the watching the knights battle in the arena. Before this show started, some of our group tried out this medival activity-- capturing a suspended ring with a lance while on horseback.

Adley succeeded in knocking the ring off the post but didn't actually capture it.

Casey also gave the activity a try but came up a tad short.

Cody was our successful knight in shining armor!

Depending on where we sat in the arena, we were put in groups to cheer on a particular knight. Our knight was from France.

Each of the four knights came out in style and proceeded to compete in several events in the arena.

What a unique experience!

Toward the end of their stay, Jason and I gifted Becky and Casey with a 2-night stay at the Kemah Boardwalk. We figured they'd appreciate a bit of honeymoon time on their own during their week-long vacation. They seemed to enjoy doing some of the rides, eating seafood, and doing some shopping at this little boardwalk community. On the day I picked them up from Kemah, we stopped by the Mercer Botanic Gardens on the way home. Many of the plants were no longer in season, but the grounds were still very pretty. It was a very pleasant day to walk around outside, at least!

We were honored that Becky and Casey chose to spend part of their honeymoon with us here in Texas! It was good to catch up with them both and to congratulate them in person on their new life together as husband and wife.

Balloon Fiesta - Part 2

The morning Balloon Fiesta event that we attended was specifically focused on the Special Shapes balloons. The kids were especially interested in seeing the wide variety of special shapes. I remember as a kid, this being my favorite part of the Balloon Fiesta as well. Here are some close-up pictures of some of the many special shapes:

 

Sometimes, a couple balloons pair together thematically, so they always inflate and lift off together. Some examples included this cowboy and armadillo,

and this alien and UFO.

Grammy, with the maiden name of Sylvester, especially enjoyed this balloon. We thought the feather hanging out of Sylvester's mouth was an especially creative touch.

Some special shapes were even around when I was a kid. Some of the old "classics" were this high-top sneaker and the Arabelle cow balloon at the top of the next photo.

Seeing so many of these special shapes lift off together is so entertaining. We thought this view of the guy with the telescope starting down at the astronaut was amusing. What a fantastic event this was!

Unfortunately, not all of the events were quite as smooth. On our first day in Albuquerque, we tried attending an evening balloon glow. At this event, all of the balloons remain tethered to the ground but ignite their burners, creating a cool flickering, glowing effect all across the field. We were excited to see this unique event! Our family rode this Park N Ride bus to the balloon field that night. 

As the evening progressed, however, the winds became increasingly stronger, and the balloon glow was canceled. What a bummer! All we got to show for our efforts that evening was this family photo by the Albuquerque sign.

Another evening, we tried watching the balloon glow from a lookout point several miles away. We had a decent view for a while, but then a huge rainstorm fell upon us out of nowhere. At least we weren't on the field that night! Not surprisingly, we packed up quickly and started to drive off. Before leaving, however, we noticed that the balloon field still set off their evening fireworks. We enjoyed watching this display from the comfort of our warm, dry vehicles!

On our last morning in Albuquerque, we went to another lookout point to view the Fiesta's final mass ascension. The weather was good for this event, thankfully, but there weren't nearly as many balloons that took off. We had a decent view of the balloons but especially enjoyed our Albuquerque breakfast-- donuts and breakfast burritos.

Seeing the Albuquerque sunrise over the Sandia Mountains was beautiful, as always!

Lots of other people had the same lookout idea as we did!

Our Albuquerque visit was primarily taken up with balloon events, but we did squeeze in a few other experiences--- visiting the Explora Science Museum,

driving by my old childhood home and playing at a nearby playground where I spent many hours as a kid,

having a yummy picnic lunch,

and catching up with some Albuquerque friends, including Dan and Sharon Thorpe,

and Auntie Tyler.

We also spent a fair amount of downtime in the hotel rooms playing games with cousins. It was so nice to be able to experience this vacation together!

Great memories in Albuquerque!