Lantern Festival!

For the first time, the Latern Festival came to Albuquerque and Brad and I knew this was an experience we had to have! It was a long event, like 4pm to 8pm so we decided to leave Olivia home with a babysitter and just take the two older ones who wouldn't mind the cold and could appreciate it a little more. We missed her, but it was the right call for sure.  And it was definitely an experience I am so grateful I was able to share with Bentley and Eden. It was truly magical and we all loved it. We also shared our fire pit with a few of our friends and their kids (Jacksons and Suttons) so it was such a blast to hang out with them too.

When we first arrived, there was live music, dancing, food trucks, and people were setting up their "camps" around the different fire pits.

We also came upon this Unicorn Princess which was unique for sure. The kids thought she was pretty cool.

Our lantern kits came with sharpie markers so the kids had lots of fun decorating all of our lanterns.

Before long, they came around and lit all the fires and the s'mores fun began. Brad was multitasking well with the handful of children all trying to roast their marshmallows.

When I look at this picture, it's so sad that Olive is missing, but at the time I was definitely glad she wasn't there freezing and stirring up trouble!

Once our s'mores were done, we were starting to get really anxious to do our lanterns. It seemed like it took forever to get dark and to get the "OK" to start lighting them. The kids were having a blast playing with friends, and we were able to socialize too with our friends which was really fun. Once the countdown began though, little lanterns starting glowing everywhere and within a matter of minutes, the sky began to glow. The pictures just don't even do it justice. It was seriously, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!

Once they were lit, we had to hold on to them for a bit until they filled enough with hot air and then they would kind of tug and we could let go and they would float away.

The picture is dark, but I love Eden's expression. She was truly amazed and there's no way we could have wiped that grin off her face. And Bentley, we couldn't ever get a picture of him. He was spinning in circles, with his arms raised in the air saying, "Best Night Ever!"  We were all so amazed. It was gorgeous.

Now, with all those good things said, unfortunately the night was a little tainted when it was time to go and we were literally trapped in the parking lot for at least an hour. The logistics of the parking lots and the fact that there was only one road out was definitely a nightmare, but I would say it was still 100% worth it. The night was magical, and these are the types of experiences I love sharing with my family and hope they will remember them too.