It’s Balloon Fiesta season!! I love, love, LOVE fall and all the fun there is to do here!
Nonnie surprised the boys and flew into town to visit! 🙂 Papa O was driving, so he got here that afternoon. I told the kids we’d accidentally left a suitcase at the airport after our visit to see Nama, so we had to go get it and the entire way there, Nathan kept saying, “But I counted and we had them all!” Ha! He was SO shocked to see Nonnie!
We went to the Balloon Fiesta that night for the Balloon Glow!
This was little miss Eisley’s first Balloon Fiesta and she LOVED it. Girl after her mama’s heart. 😉
All of us!! It was beautiful weather which means it was completely PACKED. The crowds never used to bother me but with three small kids, they start to get to me after a bit.
I think by this point, the excitement over Nonnie and Papa O being here and the crowd and everything else had made the boys both reach levels of exhaustion that they rarely reach, so even Nathan was getting freaked out by the loud propane tanks with the balloons. Parker pretty much started out upset by them. 😉 Eisley though LOVED it. She loved the warmth, she loved the balloons, she loved the sights. She was just a happy girl.
We decided to just skip the fireworks and head home so we could get the kids in bed at a decent time since morale was quickly plummeting. 😉 It ended up being a really good decision, even though I was sad to skip the fireworks!
The next morning, Jon and I got up early, saw the balloons were taking off, so we got the kids up and dressed and we took Nonnie and Papa O to do our favorite Balloon Fiesta activity – our Helping Balloon Fiesta Day, like the kids call it. 😉 We found the BEST park this year! They got to help put three balloons away and we had the most beautiful view!
Nathan got thrown on top of the Yoda balloon to help pack it down into the bag. Ha! He thought it was hilarious.
Looking at balloons with Dad. Love this picture!
The pilots and crews are always SO kind but this particular pilot went way above and beyond! He gave them cards, he answered all of Nathan’s 283 questions about how the balloons work and he even dug out little foam airplane guys for the boys to have. They were so excited. He was so sweet.
Afterward, we were all starving so Nonnie and Papa O treated us all to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. So sweet! We had the best time and Little Miss got to try pumpkin pancakes for the first time. She was quite the fan. 😉
We love Nonnie and Papa O so much!! So thankful they got to come stay with us! They always spoil us rotten and we all cried the whole way home from the the airport. 🙁 Can’t wait to see them at Christmas time!