Autumn in New Mexico

Those of you who live or have lived in New Mexico will know that Fall is the season to come for a visit. Seriously, there are lots of reasons that it seems to be everyone's favorite time of year here. First of all, there's the fantastic weather. Yep, I just donned my first light jacket yesterday for a walk with the dog. Call it an Indian Summer, unseasonable warmth, or just plain nice...the weather is great! (We are not talking Phoenix warmth, mind you, but 80's is still good) Secondly, the green chile. There is nothing to compare it to that I can think of, but you know fall is here when you catch the smell of roasting green chile wafting from the parking lots of every grocery store and farmer's market in town. Ahhhh, that smell, so good. And the green chile itself is delectable too (we have our annual 30 pounds in freezer baggies just begging to be used). I have definitely been converted to this New Mexico culinary treasure since my move here some 9 years ago, and I don't think I could live without it now! Thirdly, the Balloon Fiesta. I remember growing up in Utah, and seeing an occasional hot air balloon, and just staring in awe. That is an almost daily occurrence here, and especially on the west side of town where we live. It is a very cool thing. Now, multiply that by several hundred (or more), and you have the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. It is held the first couple of weekends in October every year, is 15 minutes from our house, and is quite a sight to behold. Balloons literally dot the sky, and the 'special shapes' balloons make it even more spectacular. Looking to the sky, you'll see Darth Vader, Smokey the Bear, a Russian Doll, the Old Lady who Lived in the Shoe, a Dragon, ....I could go on and on. If you've never seen it, put it on your list of things to see because its the biggest in the world and if you like hot air balloons, its a definite must see (and really, who doesn't like them??) Anyways, I am starting to sound like an advertiser for the fiesta, but my whole point in all this rambling was simply that fall is a nice time to live in the Duke city.

Last year we tried to get Asher to take notice of the big balloons all around him, but all he could do was watch the cars and people passing by. What did we expect? He wasn't even a year old. So, this year our hopes were fulfilled. We drove around on Saturday morning to give him a glimpse at all those balloons, and he absolutely loved it. He was running towards balloons going down near us, and pointing to all the ones in the sky yelling "b-loon, b-loon!" Too cute. He was really mad at us when we put him back in the car. That was his first taste for this year, and this coming weekend we will go down to the Park to give him the full experience. It's so much more fun showing these things to your kids, isn't it? We just loooove it!

This last one was just a pic still on my camera that I had to add on.
He brought this hat home from a b-day party and played with it for
several days afterward. He won't wear a hat for me though- I guess it
just has to be his idea.