Fanning's Foibles: October fun, complete with pictures

We've had a fun and busy last couple of weeks. The first weekend in October we went to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Will stayed with my parents for the weekend (thanks mom and dad!) while we went and enjoyed great live music for three days. We have some dear friends, Jen and Shawn, that live near Zilker Park where the festival takes place so we ended up crashing at their pad for the weekend. Some of my favorites from the weekend included (to name just a few) Kings of Leon, Them Crooked Vultures (featuring Dave Grohl on drums and John Paul Jones on bass), Flogging Molly, Ghostland Observatory, Dead Weather, and Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam rocked the house, by the way. They played all their old hits along with some new, and Eddie Vedder couldn't have been more "cool" and endearing to the audience. I guess his early 90's angst has faded and has been replaced with a more hippy vibe (and I'm sure the bottle of red wine he consumed on stage had something to do with that, too). We survived the insane rain and mud that ensued the last two days of the festival (seriously, I'm talking mud-up-to-the-knees, reminiscent of Woodstock (or so I hear) kind of mud. Ick.) The only downside to the weekend was that on the last night when we returned to the spot where we parked our bikes (we rode them down from Jen and Shawn's house each day), we discovered our bikes had been stolen. Six of us locked our bikes together and four were gone. I'm pretty sure I saw my bike a week later being hawked for 50 bucks on Craig's List, but how can I prove that? Irritating to say the least...

Last weekend we flew to Albuquerque to visit my college roommate, Stephanie, and her husband and two kids. They've lived there for almost six years now, so I figured it was time to make the trip. And, the world famous hot air balloon festival, known as Balloon Fiesta, was happening that weekend so we got to take the kids and watch the early morning ascension of hundreds of balloons. It was pretty amazing, especially since they allow spectators to stand in the middle of the field amongst the balloons so you get an up close view of the balloons inflating and taking off. We also got to take the world's longest tram (no joke--I thought my friends made that up, but it's true) up to the top of one of the Sandia Mountains that surround Albuquerque. It was a chilly 26 degrees at the top, but the views were great. We also got to visit the Albuquerque Zoo which was one of the nicest zoos I've been to aside from San Diego and Fort Worth. Stephanie and her husband Chris have two kids, ages 7 and 4, and they were so sweet, well-behaved, and kind to Will. I can only hope my child ends up as nice as theirs! But the best part of the weekend? The fact that Albuquerque, being the arid climate it is, had no humidity whatsoever. As someone with semi-frizzy hair, this was a glorious state of affairs. I actually had good hair for once. A girl could get used to that...

Good times with great friends. So very lucky, indeed. Here are a few pics from our New Mexico trip:

Mass ascension of the standard balloons