Full of Hot Air!

We headed to ABQ this past week for the 40th Annual Balloon Fiesta. Every year they have hot air balloons from all over the country come for a week or so. We took Caleb to the Balloon Glow one evening. They come and set up their balloons and then once it's dark out and all the balloons are inflated they have a count down and all the balloons fire up their....fire thing to make the balloons glow all at once. It's so pretty! The fire things are pretty loud and Caleb was a little scared at first, he got used to it though and I think he liked the Balloon Glow best. 

Setting up their balloon

This is the balloon all set up and "glowing"!

Some pilots couldn't hear the countdown so not every balloon is glowing. This is the jist of it though

You can walk around and be right next to the balloons. As you can see it's pretty crowded.

A couple days later we went to the Dawn Patrol in the morning where the balloons actually take flight and come back and land. There were over 300 balloons that morning. You could sit there all day and watch them fly around but Caleb wasn't having it. After a couple of hours he was more interested in the Police Horses than the balloons.

Chris, Me, Caleb and Grandma Salas

Balloons taking off

Balloons coming back

Other than the Balloon Fiesta we ate A LOT of good Mexican food, went to the zoo and got to see a couple of good friends. It was definitely a successfull trip and can't wait to take both kids next time...in a few years that is!

Time flies....when you're having fun!



It's been forever since I've posted a blog. I will not get into the details of why I haven't moved off the couch for the past 9 weeks because I might not stop, and now is not the time for a pity party. We had visitors every weekend for a month, a couple of months ago, so I'll start with that first. My Dad spent the weekend with us, so we took him to the Harley Davidson Museum in WI. I love Milwaukee and will jump on any chance to go and plus my Dad is a pretty big Harley fan. Caleb loves anything with wheels so it sounded like a good idea. I got to "test drive" a bike myself which was pretty cool. Not to worry it was set on a track so I didn't actually move anywhere. It was a lot of fun and I think we all enjoyed it.

Pap and Caleb on the Harley

 My cousin Jacoby got to come up to the windy city for the firt time. My Aunt and cousins brought him so he wouldn't be bored with just me and Caleb. We did the tourist thing around the city, water taxi, Michigan Ave., Hancock Observatory and the Bean. It was a beautiful day, perfect for shopping and strolling around. I tried to embarass him as much as I could by stopping and making him take pictures with everything. Oh, and Chris even went with us, which is a pretty big deal because he hates downtown. It was fun and he didn't want to leave so that's always a good sign. Plus Caleb loves the company and cried when everyone left. :(

Hancock Observatory

Catherine and Emmit came over one afternoon to make sushi for lunch. The poor lady was craving some sushi and she gave me a kit for my bridal shower so we finally did it. It was pretty fun and the sushi was really good. Mine were HUGE and I wasn't sure how to size them down. Catherine had to show me up with a nice presentation. We made Caleb and Emmit peanut butter and jelly sushi rolls for their lunch. They were so cute. Just a pb&j sandwich rolled up and cut like a sushi roll. We couldn't leave em out!

 Our masterpieces!

 Emmit and Caleb eating their rolls with chopsticks!

Mom came up for her birthday! I was sick with a stomach bug while she was here but being the wonderful daughter that I am I sucked it up and took her to the Botanic Garden. It was a hot miserable day but that place is so beautiful! Caleb ended up getting his head stuck in between these rails in the picture below and we weren't sure how we were going to get him out of there. We thought of butter, but darn the luck we were fresh out. Contimplated removing an ear but all we had was a fingernail file, so we just twisted, tugged and pulled while he screamed and people stared. He might have an ear that sticks out permanently now but we got him out of there. Then mom and I went to lunch, saw a sign for an astrologer and got our palms read just for fun. I'm not gonna tell you what happened when we walked through those doors...all I know is one of us peed on the couch from laughing so hard, got locked in a closet and found prescription drugs. Happy Birthday Mom!

Caleb, me and Mom (pre-head stuck scenario)

Here and There

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. We've just been layin low and running around town. Nothing too exciting. For the Fourth of July we went to see our friend Mackenzie play some holiday music at Grant Park. She played with the Chicago Orchestra, we took a blanket and lunch, and had a blast. We weren't to sure how Caleb was going to do because he didn't want to just sit there. Once the music started though he was all ears. He even danced a couple times. Never know, we might have a future band member on our hands.

 Staying occupied with some ice cream

 There's Mackenzie on the right in the white shirt :)

A couple weekends ago we were sick of hanging around the house and took of to Wisconsin. We headed into Milwaukee and went to Summerfest for the day. It's a classier, more kid friendly version of Lallopalooza. They had great food, good music and a kid area. Caleb got to play at the playground, had balloon animals made for him and then run around in the big fountain. They also had music for kids which he loved. The band let him beat their drums. It was a fun day and Milwaukee is a pretty cool little place. 

 A lady warned us she's bad at taking pictures, she tends to cut people out. Point taken!

 Our little hippie baby, no shoes, needs a hair cut and banging on the bongos!

 He refused to run through the water

 So this is what he ended up doing, sending out the vibe!

I love taking pictures of Caleb in the bathtub. If you saw his photo album you would think most of his life was spent in the tub. Chris's back was hurting so he jumped in and turned the jets on. Caleb wouldn't let him go alone so he jumped in too.

My Aunt and her family go camping a lot and they ended up this way. We met up with them at the Indiana Dunes State Park or National Forest I'm not sure which one. Anyways, it's a really nice beach, the same as here but clean, nice people and no bacteria alerts. We spent the day there and it was so HOT. The water was cool and the sand was "hot as blazes" according to Laiken. Caleb played in the sand, splashed in the water and pooped on Laiken. Played some interesting games of "Would You Rather" with Trevor, people watched and just relaxed. It's always nice to get to see family without packing up your life and driving for 5 hours.

 This is the gold gazebo we were supposed to look for amongst 50 other gold gazebos out there :)

We finally got to use Caleb's pop-up cabana and he loved it!

We've got a few visitors coming these next weekends ahead, a race to run with my sister and a wedding to attend so I'm sure we will have more frequent posts in the future. It was nice to relax and stay close to home this past month. 

The Salas family meets Myrtle Beach, SC

I had to do a seperate blog from the wedding for our vacation because there were so many pictures to choose from. Guess that's what happens when your baby is so cute right? ;) So, after the wedding Chris, Caleb and myself took off to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Chris had never been to the ocean on the East Coast and my family vacationed there most of my childhood. So why not start ours there? Caleb did awesome on the 11 hour car ride there, and also on the way back. Well, as good as you can expect from a 16 month old I guess. I had to sit in the back with him most of the time because Chris won't let me drive, but that's another story entirely. The weather was perfect the entire time we were there. We basically just hung out at the beach or one of the nine pools our hotel offered. Once Caleb got used to the ocean I think he prefered it there so he could play in the sand as well. If you dug a hole for him to sit in he would literally just sit there in it. He's a weird one! He met a few friends at the kiddie pool and they shared their trucks with each other. We all took naps at naptime. Chris took us to an awesome Seafood place! We hit up the Aquarium one day to give us a break from the Sun. All in all it was much needed family time and relaxation before we came back to reality. Now we need a vacation from the wedding and vacation!

Boys! Rolling around in the sand

Not sure what he was doing here I just love this picture!

His little truck entourage, Ethan and Landon!

Just sittin' in his hole watchin the people go by

I think he was pooping here ;)

He would chase the water in and let it chase him out

The shark tanks, I love this wacky picture

Caleb checking out the fish!

Rinsing the sand off his feet

Good bye beach!

From Ms. to Mrs. !!

Well....we FINALLY got married! On June 11th, with our family and close friends, we sealed the deal at the winery in Seymour, IN.  Luckily the rain held off so we were able to have our ceremony outside at this gorgeous venue. Just like everyone said, things will go wrong, and they did. If you asked me what they were I couldn't tell you though, ok other than I forgot to get a cake knife and we cut our cake with a black plastic knife. That's it though :) We danced, caught up with old friends, made new ones and drank merrily. From what I've heard and the pictures I've seen I believe everyone else had a good time as well. So THANK YOU to all that joined us and for those that couldn't but sent there well wishes thank you as well! Now that it's over I don't know what to do with all my stress free time!

Pronouncing us Mr. and Mrs. Salas!

Awesome sign my brother made us, can't wait to have a yard to put it in!

Chris and his crew, these guys are SO much fun

My pretty ladies, a couple of em crying already I believe even though I strictly said NO CRYING!

Both of us thinking "Great, what have I done?" I'm kidding!!  :)

Rainy Days!

The weather has been coldy and rainy these past few days. We've tried to make the best of it and get out and do anything we can think of to keep entertained. Plus Chris worked from home so we HAD to get out of the house. We went to the Khol's Childrens Museum with our friends Marla and Hana. It was a really cool little place. The kids loved it and got absolutely soaked in their Waterworks exhibit, and it was nap time by this point. Hana kept us entertained on the way home by singing "Wildthing", and "It's My Party & I"ll Cry If I Want To".  Caleb got a pop-up cabana for the beach and to take on vacation that he uses as a tent and a place to store all of his cars. After the big storm yesterday morning we went outside to play in the puddles. Emmit handed down his rainboots that fit Caleb just right, it was the perfect time to try them out. I had to show him how to stomp around in the puddles and he looked at me like "You're really going to let me do this Mom?"

His cabana, only Oso is allowed in there

Purell Anyone?

Let me start off by first saying DO NOT buy tickets to the Animal Expo! What we thought was going to be an educational experience with hands-on exposure to exotic animals turned out to be "Hey if you own a reptile bring it to the mall for everyone to see! We'll throw out some plastic chairs to sit in and charge you for it." Caleb did enjoy it and some of the animals were cool (that they took out of plastic tupperware that they were stored in) so that's all that matters. Definitely wasn't worth the drive or the shower that I had to take. 

Caleb wating patiently

Caleb and I petting....I'm not sure what it was. Looked like a chipmunk.

He was IN LOVE with this prarie dog!

A monkey, wearing a diaper, on a leash. Enough said.

A gigantic yellow snake. We did not trust the "handlers" of the reptiles which is why Chris has a death grip on Caleb's arm.

This guy has a GF with a matching smaller iguana she carried on her shoulder. True Love

Tortuga ride, poor thing was terrified!

They had an abundance of hand sanitizer, which was thoughtful. Amy, he has his pacifier in so he doesn't put unknown obejcts or his hands in his mouth. I'm sure you were wondering! Hopefully we have something more exciting in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!