More Krauses, just what you wanted

I said I'd do a little Krause family history, so here it goes.

Clark is the youngest of 3 kids. Katy is the oldest and Bernie is the middle. I think Katy is about 7 years older than Clark, and Bernie about 3. They had a pretty great childhood, from what I've been told. They grew up mostly in Fresno, CA, but also had a cabin in Yosemite where they spent all their summers. They did a lot of hiking, fishing, camping, swimming in the river, and that kind of stuff. Clark was actually a wrangler and guided horseback backcountry treks into the wilds of Yosemite during the summer for several years during high school and college. As I type that, I am amazed he and I have anything at all to talk about. He was very outdoorsy from a very early age.

Clark's parents were a little older than the norm when they had their kids. I think his dad was 40 when Clark came along. Bill was an amazing man. So sweet, so accepting, so in tune with nature. He passed away about a year and a half ago from prostate cancer. It was very difficult for all the family, Clark especially. He always had a special relationship with his dad, and they talked on the phone several times a week for as long as I've known him. Bill never knew his dad, I think he was out of the picture before Bill was even born, and his mom was a raging alcoholic. I think he had a total of 10 stepdads, and was in and out of foster care quite a lot. He served in the military during WWII as a fighter pilot, and made a living for a time after that as a boxer. It's amazing that he got through his childhood in tact, and miraculous that he came through it the gentle, caring man that he was.

Pat grew up in Minnesota in a fairly poor farming family. She doesn't hesitate to tell anyone that she considered her childhood mostly miserable. Her mom was pretty judgmental and overbearing, but she doesn't talk much about her dad. She was the kind of kid who chose to sit inside and sulk because they didn't have smooth sidewalks she could rollerskate on at the farm, instead of going out and finding something else to do. She learned early to be negative, and I don't think anyone ever tried to turn that around for her until she met Bill. She moved out of her family's house at 16, only to realize she was still miserable even without her mother around. She and Bill met while working seasonal jobs in Yellowstone, thus beginning the family's long relationship with the national parks and nature. Bill ended up teaching school, and selling real estate during the summer. Pat stayed home when the kids were small, and worked for awhile for the IRS. After they retired, they moved to the Yosemite cabin full time.

Now that Bill is gone, Pat can't stay by herself at the cabin year-round. The winters are hard, and their little town inside the park mostly vacates when the snow comes. She's 79 now, but even if she were younger it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Last winter, we were in the middle of moving, and she split her time between her two other kids. Katy lives in Sacramento, and both her and her husband have high stress, high power, full time jobs. They also have 3 daughters. Two teens and one preteen. The oldest and the youngest both struggle with pretty serious ADHD, among other things, which can be challenging for anyone, and especially so for an aging grandmother. Bernie lives with his sweet wife Heather in Houston. Bernie and Heather got married 2 weeks exactly before Clark and I did, and don't have any kids. I think Pat liked it there, but her timing was bad last year. Pat also has a harder time in a city that size, particularly when she's on her own a lot. She doesn't like to drive, and I think she ended up feeling a little isolated.

I get the feeling that she wants to be around her grandkids, and that puts her here. She wants to be around my kids, but doesn't seem to be interested in any babysitting, or caretaking of them. Which is fine. She is 79 after all, and I don't expect her to do anything more than what she wants to do. That's been the biggest stress for her kids in trying to help her figure out her living situation, she doesn't seem to know what she wants. I can't blame her, she hasn't had to be totally in charge of herself in over 60 years, it must be difficult. She wants to be independent, but then gets stressed out by it. For example, when she came to visit, she insisted on renting a car and driving herself from the airport to her hotel. Then, she got lost, but wouldn't call me. She ended up being lost for a couple hours, driving around the city, and then didn't want to get back in her car the whole time she was here.

She's gone back and forth tons of times on what her plan is for this winter. I think she procrastinated her way out of the housing situation Clark had found for her, since we don't have a guest room, and I don't think she'd want to live with us anyways. Right now, she's going to stay at the cabin for as long as she can, then go to Sacramento for a couple weeks, then go to Houston. It's a challenge for me to have her here, as I've talked about in previous posts, but of course I will do what I can for her. She is my husband's mother after all. I could have it a lot worse, as far as inlaws go. She doesn't try to meddle or tell me what to do. And the negativity has improved since the last time we saw her last spring. I think Bill was her balance. He was able to diffuse her negativity in a very subtle way. Now that she doesn't have that, she's not as able to reign it in. I mostly try to ignore it, with varying degrees of success. I did lose it once, and had to tell her to stop when she was criticizing something Madeline had really wanted to watch on tv (some disney made for tv type thing). She just wouldn't let it go, and it truly just wasn't that bad. I guess that's what you get when you marry an older man. Especially an older man who's the youngest child of parents who had their kids a little later. You get to deal with caring for his aging parent.

Clark is on the road AGAIN tonight. The shit has hit the fan at his work, and he's had to pick up another trip next week to Washington DC. He'll be back a day before I leave for Seattle. I know I'm being cryptic about the work thing, but I'm trying to follow the commandment of Dooce, and not go into the details in a public forum. If you're interested (and haven't heard about it already), I'm more than willing to fill you in via email, I could use the vent, and the support.

I'm still here

I know I've been blogslacking again. I've been reading a lot, but can't seem to get inspired to write anything.

My parents were here from Thursday afternoon until Sunday morning. It was a good visit, and they both seemed happier than I've seen them in awhile, which was very nice. We went to the zoo, and the new balloon museum, and waited much longer than I'd planned for a fancy dinner out at El Pinto.

Sunday I was depressed. Really depressed. Much more depressed than I've been in quite awhile. After my parents hit the road, I went upstairs, sat down on the couch, turned on the Sunday afternoon movies, and didn't do a damn thing the rest of the day. And not in a good, I'm relaxing after a long couple weeks way. In a, I didn't even feed the kids lunch, and then they had cold pizza for dinner, and I didn't eat all day, way. I wish I could pinpoint exactly what was going on with me, but as usual, it was a combination of a lot of things, exhaustion being only one of them. I'm feeling a little better today, but I kindof scared myself yesterday. Especially the not being able to care for my children part. They don't deserve that, and it cannot be allowed to continue. I feel better today, but if I start having more days like that I will definitely need to get on some meds.

Clark left yesterday for Vegas for a couple days. He's been on the road so much lately, but assures me that they have decided to lay off for the holidays. I hope he's right about that. There have been some other issues with his job that I won't go into here, because I wouldn't want to get him in trouble (not that I think anyone from his work would ever read this, but you never know). It's making me really miss the simplicity of our life in Cedar. I know this is an opportunity for both of us, but it's FUCKING HARD. A lot of the issues we've faced since moving here have been things that I totally anticipated, and that he didn't. Now we're getting into the stuff that neither of us anticipated. It is bringing us closer, since we are communicating about it, which if you know us at all, you know is HUGE, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Enough with the downer. I've been trying to turn this day around, and will not be sucked back into the abyss by dwelling on it.

We haven't officially started on the halloween costumes yet, but they have decided on what they want to be, and I have some ideas about how to put them together. Madeline is going to be a garden fairy with a yellow outfit. I don't know where she came up with the yellow, and am hoping I don't have to search too much for a yellow sweatsuit or dress or something. She already has fairy wings. They're getting a little old and worn out, but they'll work if I can't find anything else. The rest should be pretty easy to throw together from the flower department at the craft store. Zach is going to be a pirate. He has dark pants and Madeline has an old red and white striped turtleneck we'll use. We need to find a sword and a hat, maybe a vest, or a parrot or something, then we'll draw a patch on with black eyeliner. He's working on his "aarrgh!" and it's coming along pretty well. I'm slacking on halloween compared to years past, but they don't seem stressed, so I won't stress either.

The weekend after halloween I'm off to Seattle. I'm going to see Stine's show and hang out for a couple days. I had been planning to see another friend of mine while I was there, which I was really excited about, but his plans have changed, which is a major bummer. However, I can't be too sad, because Ly and Stine are more than enough friend quota for me. I wish I had a little more time to spend, but oh well. She's in tech week this week and opens Friday? Thursday? I know she's more stressed than she'd anticipated, and I wish I could be there for her more.

Tomorrow I'll try to get a post up about the Krauses, since I said I would. Right now though, the kids want dinner.

Boo to you too

One of my all time favorite halloween pictures. I call her sadbunny.

OK, my turn

I was trying to decide if I should write a brief history of the Krause family and my role in it, or bitch and moan about how I never see my husband any more, but instead, I think I'll do this. Much easier. I do intend to fill in some of the Krause fam blanks, but I'm still a little raw from the recent visit of the Krause matriarch, so it'll have to wait. Fair warning, I may plagarize a bunch of this from missuzj, cause apparently we're a lot alike in some of these areas.

10 years ago: Clark and I had just got engaged. We were engaged before Becca and Eric, but they beat us to the altar by several months. Clark and I had been living together for a few months, with the agreement that we were headed towards marriage, because I didn't want to end up cohabitating with someone who then might not want that kind of commitment. My cousin got married in early fall, with all the mormon rigamarole attached, and we were summoned to northern utah for the event. I told Clark I wasn't going without at least a ring on my finger, so I got one.

5 years ago: We were getting ready for halloween with our beautiful 1 year old. She was so fun at that age. All big blue eyes, long curly eyelashes, and giggles. She dressed up like a bunny, and was about the cutest thing EVER.

1 year ago: Clark had just got done with his first round of interviews at Albuquerque Economic Development. He was getting more excited about moving, and I was getting more terrified. We were getting ready to head into one of the toughest times in our marriage, the big move.

5 snacks: Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (it's a real good thing it's hard to find around here, or I'd be in trouble), caramel Hershey's kisses, cheese puffs from Whole Foods, ginger thins, and I know it's not really a snack, but I'm totally into Vitamin Water lately, Power-C flavor.

5 songs I know all the words to: Becca just should have put 'all songs' on hers, cause she's totally a song lyrics rain man. Dusty Springfield, Son of a Preacher Man; Prince, Darling Niki; Marianne Faithful, Sex with Strangers; Ani DiFranco, Evolve; Nina Simone, Put a little sugar in my bowl

5 things I could do with $100 million: college for the kids, get my girls (and myself) out of debt, big vacation with all the peeps I love, get a PhD and not have to worry about what job I'd get with it after, serious shoe shopping with Katester

5 things I would never wear: why is this one so hard? I'm totally going to steal from Becca on this. garments, stirrup pants, shiny nylon track suit, belly baring shirts (farewell days of the flat stomach), the hideous green lame dress I wore to some school dance in high school, seriously, it was hideous.

5 favorite tv shows: Good Eats, NYPD Blue (even if it is no more, sad), Property Ladder, Moving Up, Divine Design, Days of our Lives (what can I say, my mom got me started early on that one)

5 biggest joys: little boy smooches from Zach, big squeezes from Madeline, time to read in a clean and quiet house, chilling and listening to new music with Ly and Stine, any time I get to spend with Sophie and her mommy.

5 favorite toys: this one is hard too. lets just call it 5 favorite ways to waste time: blogging, bejeweled 2 (thanks stine), reading Tamora Pierce (over and over), talking on the phone, watching tv. Geez, I sound like I'm about 15, yikes.

That was fun, thanks Lonna. Stine? Ly? wanna do it?

Good one, Stine

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Hanging In

Just had a minute, but thought I'd report that we're hanging in there with the MIL. I'm feeling a little more tired than usual, and craving my own space, since even though she's sleeping at the hotel, her waking hours are spent with me. I realized that with family, just because you didn't ask for it, doesn't mean you don't have to do it, and she IS family. I just wish we had a little more in common, or were a little more relaxed with each other. But, who knows, that may yet happen. If I'm this mentally and emotionally wiped out after 3 days though, it may be a serious challenge to look at this as a seasonal situation for her. There is much discussion to be had on that subject with the honey. Just when I thought I'd be getting my life back, it looks like there's going to be another person to take care of, and even if it is marginal care, it is falling to me. Maybe I should feel flattered. I'll try that.

Not Good

So, I'm starting the day in a crappy mood. Not Good. I need a serious attitude adjustment. I don't know exactly why I'm in a crappy mood, but it certainly isn't going to be helpful in dealing with my MIL all day. Just to clarify, in case I wasn't clear, as some of the comments indicated, she's not staying in my house (thank god), and this time around she's only here for a week, so I guess I can't complain too much. Her attitude actually seems much improved from last time she came to visit, so that's good. We went to the grocery store yesterday morning with Zach in tow, and then sat around the kitchen and talked. All. Day. Long. I'm not used to quite THAT much grown up interaction. I'm used to being able to do what I want with my days, aside from caring for little Z. Today, I think we'll need to get out of the house. I don't want to impose my schedule on her, and I feel like I need to take care of her to a certain degree, in terms of preparing meals and such. I don't know, it just seems like I'm ending up taking much more responsibility for her and her needs than I signed up for. Maybe that's what happens when you marry an older man, whose parents had their kids later in life, you end up taking care of your aging mother in law at 31.

I did get out to my meditation class last night, which was awesome, yet again. I want to do this every day. I was so in the zone. (Sorry, Ly, for being so spacey on the phone, I would have liked to chat, but I was sleepy, and a little too relaxed for intelligent conversation, if you catch my drift.) I am giving up my usual yoga class tonight, for no good reason than I feel bad being gone 2 nights in a row while Pat is here.

I also noticed yesterday that I missed a pill. Yeah, those pills. I started my new pack Sunday, then forgot Monday and took 2 last night, Tuesday. I think I should still be covered, but I gotta say, I am SOOO paranoid about accidental pregnancy at this stage in the game, I feel like putting things on hold for a month (or, I guess, obtaining a backup method). What do you think, girls, still covered? or freak out for a month?

OK, I better go feed the kid, and try to grab a shower before Pat gets here.

This is the dawn patrol glow. The pic is from the balloon fiesta site. Wish we could have been there for this one, but we did see it from a distance 

In case anyone's curious, this is what we ended up with for the desk downstairs. Clark picked it, and I like it lots. 

Loong Weekend

This weekend felt like it was never going to end. Which is kindof a good thing, I guess. Madeline didn't have school on Friday, but it was a crazy busy day anyways. She had her first dentist appointment at 9am. I got totally lost trying to find the place and didn't end up getting there until 9:30, which of course meant we didn't see the doc until 10. I was worried about Madeline's gums where she had lost her tooth, they looked like they were receding and really red. Apparently, that's totally normal, and they're looking better every day. She also had a look at Zach, which I thought was really nice, since he didn't have an appointment, and told me to go home and throw away his binkie immediately. I know he's a little old for the binkie, but just never had the heart to throw it away. I guess it's messing with the alignment of his teeth, creating a little hole in the front when he closes his jaw. Why don't pediatricians tell us these things? Our regular doc has seen him tons of times with "the B" (as he calls it) and never said anything.

My plan had been to go out for some late breakfast after the dentist. By the time we got done there we were all starving. We headed over to Perennials, cause I was craving their Santa Monica Waffle (yum). When we pulled in, both the kids started whining that they didn't want to eat there. I'm ashamed to admit, I threw a little kid fit right back at them. Told them I was tired of the constant whining, and nothing I plan for them ever being good enough, and that they could just forget going out to breakfast, that we'd go home and have cereal. Then I got half way home, and decided that I didn't want to punish myself for them being whiny. So, I pulled the car over and we had a serious chat. I don't know if any of it actually sunk in, but they promised not to whine and complain, and I promised to stop being mad, and we all decided to give the restaurant a shot. Unfortunately, they were out of waffles :(. Then, they lost our order. So, it ended up taking them almost 40 minutes to bring us our food. The kids were really good about it, bless their hearts, and didn't whine much at all.

After breakfast/lunch (since it was 11:30 by the time we got our food), we had only a few minutes to cruise back to the house so I could gather up my home decorating file and head over to the cabinet place to firm up plans for the downstairs office. Let me tell ya, taking a meeting with the cabinet designer with 2 crazy kids in tow is not my favorite activity ever. It was hard to concentrate, and I was definitely getting irritated with the chasing and screaming. The guy was totally cool, since he has a couple kids of his own the same age as ours, but it was still a pain.

That night we tried to get over to the Balloon Fiesta Park for the "Glowdeo", but we got a late start and the traffic was insane, so we turned around and decided to get ice cream and watch the fireworks from afar instead. It was fun.

Saturday morning we decided to drag ourselves out of bed and go witness the mass ascension close up. I thought we had got an early enough start, but we ended up seeing about half of it from the car on our way into the parking lot. It was still cool to see it from even that distance. We got down to the field for the last wave. It was SO COOL. You actually get to go down on the field right next to the balloons and watch them inflate and take off. They were everywhere. We also got to see a bit of the dawn patrol show while we were driving, before the sun came up. That was spectacular. The glimpse I caught last week was nothing compared to seeing them up in the sky, glowing in the darkness. I think I got some good pics, we'll have to see.

After we got home, Clark took a nap while I wrangled the kids upstairs, then he went to the gym. When he got home it was time to clean house for a few hours (my mother inlaw is coming today), then we headed back over to the balloon park for the final glow of the fiesta. We got there early this time, so we got good parking, and had some time to cruise the booths and buy some hotdogs before the show began. We were lucky to get a good seat on the field, right next to a very pretty green and orange and yellow smaller-sized balloon that was just going up. For the glow, they don't launch, they just stay on the ground, but unfortunately it was a tad windy for the big balloons. They did one 'all glow', where the audience counts down and then all the balloons fire at once, before about half of them went down in a gust of wind. The ones that stayed up did some twinkle glows, where they all fire on and off to create a twinkling effect, and a few more all glows, it was beautiful. The guy we were sitting by stayed up the longest, and really put on quite a show. The fireworks were amazing, much more impressive from close range, and we all had a great time.

Yesterday was cold and rainy, and we pretty much lazed around the house. Clark took the kids out to McDonalds to play in the playland for awhile since they were getting a little stir-crazy, so I got a couple hours home by myself. Aah, silence. You forget, when there are kids in the house all the time, how nice it is to just be able to be home in the quiet. I got some presents wrapped for Soph (I know, officially the latest birthday presents ever, but I will get them sent this week I promise!!), and got to eat lunch and read my book in blessed quiet.

My mother in law flies in at 2pm today. The house still isn't as clean as I'd like it to be, and the laundry still needs folded. I need to shower, fold laundry, and do some last minute straightening before she gets here, but I did schedule a lunch date with my honey. The next few weeks are going to be pretty insane, and I wanted to have some time with him before the insanity begins. I'm nervous about spending this much time with his mother. I'm also nervous about how he reacts to her being around. We are trying to keep the lines of communication open, since we both tend to shut down under stress, so hopefully that will help. After Pat leaves, my parents will be here the next weekend, and the weekend after that one of Clark's oldest friends may be visiting. The weekend after THAT, is my trip to Seattle. Whew.

I probably won't be blogging much while Pat is here, but I may surprise myself, who knows. I just have no idea what I'm going to do with her during the day while Clark is at work. Not to mention I have no idea what to cook for her. She doesn't have many dietary issues, but she does tend to have a very sensitive stomach when she travels, so I'm trying to think of quick and easy meal ideas that won't challenge her digestive system too much. Any ideas?

Girl Power! Aren't they sweet? 

Later Tater

Madeline was late to school today. We overslept. I peeled my eyes open after sleeping like a log and it was 9:00am. School starts at 9:00am. Madeline woke up right after I did, and immediately started panicking and trying to tell me what to do. She wanted to put on shorts, when it was obviously dark and cloudy outside, wanted to leave in the little pigtails she'd been sporting from yesterday, and wanted to wear sandals on a PE day, all in the hopes of saving time. Then she was pissed at me when I made her put on pants, and socks, and wanted to redo the tired hairdo. Her teacher must think I'm some kind of loser. I had to take her her lunch yesterday after forgetting to put it in her backpack, and we forgot to return her 'spelling contract' homework today. I have a little bit of an excuse on the homework thing, since it usually isn't due until Friday, but they're off tomorrow for 'Fall Recess' (?), so it was due a day early. I'm trying to decide whether I should take the homework over and turn it in today, or just pretend it doesn't exist.

Zach was up FIVE times between 3 am and 5 am last night. He kept saying he needed to poop, and then didn't poop when we took him to the toilet. I finally said, you can poop in the morning, you're not getting out of your bed any more. This was the second night in a row he's been getting up saying he needs to poop, and I don't really get it. Hopefully it doesn't become a habit. We've been used to sleeping all night, and don't enjoy the every half hour wakeup call he's been giving us. Other than that, he's been a real champ lately. No accidents in over 2 weeks I think. Knock on wood. It must be time to find a preschool. From what I've been able to see, it looks like our options are daycare/preschool facilities, and private christian preschool. Obviously, we won't be going for the christian option, although from what I hear, they are good programs, and I'm not really thrilled with the daycare/preschool thing. Madeline went to a really small preschool ran by a mom with preschool age kids when we were in Utah, and I'd prefer something like that for Zach. It was casual, and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun together. So, we'll see.

Even though we did oversleep, I was glad for the sleep last night. The two nights previous I had been having bad nightmares and sleeplessness. Not too sure what triggered that, and I was dreading a repeat last night, but luckily, I slept well. I'm one of those people who REALLY needs her sleep. Especially as I get older, I just can't handle sleepless nights. I get depressed and over-emotional when I don't get enough sleep. Speaking of depression though, I think I'm ready to say that the St. John's Wort is officially working. I was a tad pms-y this time around, but nothing like the debilitating depression I'd been dealing with the last few months. YAY!

We've decided to go with a local cabinet company for the remodel downstairs. My buddy Vic is just too busy, and won't have the time to do the project. I'm kindof bummed about that, but I think we are getting a good price (even though it's about 2 times what Vic was going to charge), and I'm confident that the work will be high quality. I need to finalize the design today and make some decisions on materials. Stress. The shelving and drawers will be off-white, and I need to decide what kind of countertop to put on the desktop and possibly the shelves above the desk. I'd been looking at a slate-type finish, similar to the one we had in our kitchen in Utah, which I loved, but I'm not sure how it will work as a desktop. I guess I could play it safe and go for an all-neutral color scheme, but I've been trying to take more chances in decorating this house. I wish there was someone here to hold my hand and give me their opinion. My mom and sisters were always the bomb at that kind of stuff. Maybe I can get clever and post some samples so that you guys can give me some opinions. Not terribly likely, but I can try.

I did have a nice visit with Vic after my meditation class Tuesday. He was telling me that he just got an email from Rebecca Soon (sp?) who was looking for Russ Benton, who apparently is working in Las Vegas at the Excalibur (I think he's Merlin?). I know that has absolutely no meaning for anyone who wasn't in the theater dept. at SUU in the early 90's, but for those of you who were (Ly and Stine), I thought it was funny.

Meditation class Tuesday night was AWESOME. I was a little worried that the 'monkey mind' would be insurmountable and that I'd spend the whole hour laying around thinking about all the crap that we think about when our bodies hold still for a minute, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself completely in the zone by about 20 minutes in. My teacher Kim kicks ass. There was a thunder storm rolling through the area during class, which you might think would disrupt the meditative state, but I found it heightened the energy, and the sense of suspended reality quite nicely. The scheduling thing is a little difficult, because my usual yoga classes are Monday and Wednesday, and me going to class two days in a row totally throws off Clark's workout schedule, but you know what? He can deal. It's only for another 4 weeks anyways. It's not like I haven't put up with his insane schedule for the last 10 years. I love him, but he sure has the tendency to put his needs first. Now, it's my turn. :)

Big Girl Smile 

Balloon Fiesta from my bedroom window 

Balloons and Big Girls

OK, about the pictures, hey, I tried. I used the quick capture on my webcam, so the resolution is not so great, and the picture of the balloon festival does it absolutely no justice, but I had to give it a shot. Must. Get. Digital. Camera. SOON. I have some other shots from the balloon fiesta on my regular camera, so we'll have to see if those come out better. But, of course, that will require getting them developed, and in some form of digital media, so don't hold your breath.

Madeline lost her first tooth during the first mass ascension of our first balloon fiesta on the first of October. She thought that was VERY cool, even going so far as to say it was the best day of her life. The tooth fairy made a late night run to the grocery store to get $5, because apparently, a quarter just doesn't cut it for these modern kids. Doesn't she look cute with her one-tooth-less smile? She's growing up so fast, I can hardly keep up these days.

So far, the Balloon Fiesta has been breathtaking, and we haven't even made our way over to the Fiesta Park yet. I got up pretty early (for a minute) on Saturday and caught a look at the dawn patrol. They send up a few balloons at dawn to check conditions and it was so stunning to see the morning glow on the west horizon in the background, and the sun just barely hitting the tops of the balloons. Then, there's the mass ascension. Wow. That's all I can say is Wow. We got really lucky Saturday, as the wind was headed in our direction and they literally were floating over the house, and landing in the fields around our neighborhood. We've decided to go see it all up close and personal next weekend, which will involve dragging our asses out of bed at an ungodly hour, but I think it will be really worth it. If it was this great from the house, I can't even imagine how beautiful it will be at ground zero. We also really need to find a day to go see the glow in the evening. They don't take off, but they fire them up so they glow in the dark. We saw those few at Madeline's school last week, but I want to see the big show.

OK, I've decided, I need to figure out how to post some of the pics on the official fiesta site. They are stunning. Especially since it looks like some of them were taken from the air. Lucky ducks. I want to go up, up and away BAD. So does Zach, which I find kindof funny. Every time I open up the windows here in the bedroom, he's digging out the binoculars and picking out his favorites. Pretty impressive for a 3 year old.

Ah HA, now that's more like it.

pretty pretty pretty