Storm Troopers and Santa Claus

As anyone in New Mexico knows, the first two weekends in October are Balloon Fiesta time. The kids and I had off school yesterday, so Dave took off work and we headed out to the Special Shapes Rodeo. We got there really early, hoping to avoid the crowds for the shuttles. We had plenty of time to enjoy the amazing cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and soak in the atmosphere (which mostly consisted of Garrett asking if he could buy a glow in the dark sword and Paige whining because we got up so early).
It turned out to be a beautiful day for the balloons, and a 7:00 am on the dot, the first balloon rose into the air with lots of cheers. We happened to notice a black balloon being unrolled, and Dave said "I wonder if that's the Darth Vader balloon I heard about." So we went over to investigate, and found a line of Storm Troopers and a Bounty Hunter guarding the balloon. Garrett was beside himself with joy! We stayed to watch the whole process as the balloon got inflated. When it finally took off, Garrett got to have his picture taken with a storm trooper. That almost made him forget about the glow in the dark sword!
As we left the Darth Vader balloon site, we ran into another familiar figure...Santa Claus! He was walking around the field handing out candy to the kids. That was the highlight of Paige's day! I suppose even Santa needs a break now and then!
We stayed to watch the rest of the balloons take off, and then headed home for a lazy day on the couch. Paige fell asleep in the morning, and then took a 3 1/2 hour afternoon nap! Mom even got some snooze time! All in all, a successful day!

Balloon Fiesta