Albuquerque

In September we were sad that the boys had to go to school on Labor Day.  But in October we were glad because we got to take Columbus Day off instead.  So, we decided to get away on our 3 day weekend.  Mimi was kind enough to watch Ben for us the for the weekend, so we took Matt and headed W bound on the 40 to the ABQ.  It was a lot of fun!  It actually snowed on us on the way there!  We did the Balloon Fiesta, the Zoo, and the airshow featuring the Thunderbirds.  Here are some pics...

Mass ascention on a day that was less than ideal conditions, so not many special shapes went up.  :(

Matt's chilly perch

Aren't they just darling!  Married for 36 years!

I describe it as "ethereal" to see so many balloons gently floating in the sky. 

You MUST go sometime if you've never been!

They landed this one on the median of the access ramp for I-25.  No traffic jams caused I'm sure....haha!

Matt and Daddy

Howdy folks!  Such a good looking crowd.

ABQ Zoo - What a great pic!

"Those birds only have 1 leg!" Matt said.  Sleepy flamingos.

Capybara.  Don't you just want to take him home?  He's so cute!

Matt and the barrel of monkeys - too funny!

Sleepy polar bears too.....

Matt kissing this seal that came right up to him.

Giraffe exhibit - who has the shortest neck?

Chow time for the zebras.

Enoying every bite of those $8 chicken strips @ the airshow! (But admission was free, so that makes up the difference, right?)

When you forget your hat, just grab a burger boat and you're set!

B-2 Spirit (also called a Stealth Bomber) - AWESOME!

Kirtland Air Force Base airstrip - beautiful setting

Why don't these people look worried that the 5 year old is in the helicopter?

Firing missiles as fast as he can!

Thunderbird is taxiing down the runway..

I told Matt it would be loud.....

And he didn't believe me.......

But now he does!

Wow!  That's incredible!  Not something you see with commercial airliners.....

This either!  That is CLOSE!

Rebel

Love those navy blue Thunderbirds!

"Off we go into the wild blue yonder".... it fits!

Oh, and Matt's favorite part of the whole vacation was that he got to go swimming at the hotel!!!!!  HAHAHA!

Gardening

So I'm finally blogging about my garden....sorry if I've told you about it 25,000 times already.....

Here is where we started.  Tiny little plot, previously overgrown with English ivy. (Thought: are anglophobics afraid of English ivy?)

First we planted the Jalepeno plants (Matt is taking the picture....haha)

Then things started to grow...

Growing....

Watermelon...

Okra in the middle

And suddenly (or after a few months....) it began taking over the yard!

Here's how the jalepenos start....beautiful little white flower

Then the little bloom falls off and cutie pepper appears.

And when they get big enough, you pull them off and make hot sauce out of them....or jalapeno cornbread.....or pickled jalapenos.....or......

In the next spot, we had green beans.  See the pretty little bean blossom?

Then the blossom falls off and little bitty beans start growing.....

Then the beans get big, and you pick em, cook em, and eat em!  David doesn't like green beans, but he has eaten the ones from our garden.  He says they are the best he's ever had!

Next to the beans are the cantaloupes.  See the tiny little baby in the middle?

And when they start looking like this, you start getting excited about eating them.....

Continuing in alphabetical order (excluding the jalapenos, that's how I planted my stuff....I know.....totally not garden-y, and completely dorky!) - Okra.  They start in a little flurry of tiny okra blossoms....

And get a little bigger every day....

And one day they look almost ready, and the next day they are more than ready!  You pretty much have to pick okra every other day.  Otherwise the okra get too big and too hard to eat; and the plants decide they are done producing.

Next we have our pumpkins.  They produce big beautiful flowers.

And then a little bulb forms under the girl flower.....

And gets bigger....

And bigger....

 

 

Until it becomes a big funky shaped pumpkin!

Watermelon baby comes last...alphabetically anyway

Isn't it the most darling-ist thing you've ever seen?!?

Look at that gorgeous watermelon.  Sorry I didn't take a picture when I picked it and ate it.  It was DELICIOUS!!!