balloon fiesta! - inflating a balloon

Last year, we went down to Albuquerque, NM and stayed with my aunt and uncle for Albuquerque's annual Balloon Fiesta, and had so much fun that we went again this year!

This year, we decided to go down the field for the mass ascension of balloons into the air. (We skipped it last year because you have to get up so early - we got up at 4:15AM to make it there!!)

It was really dark, so hopefully you can see the pictures well enough.

 They bring the baskets and balloons to the field, here is a basket in a truck.

 They lay the balloons out flat on the field, with the baskets at the open end.

 Then they start to fan air into the balloon, to get it inflated.

 Members of the balloon's crew turn the balloon, pulling out more fabric to make sure the whole thing gets air in it.

The balloons are fully inflated, laying on the ground before they heat the air inside them to stand them up.

Stay tuned - many more pictures to come!!