Five Tips for the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival with Kids

The Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque was definitely one of our trickier trips. Matt wasn’t able to take time off during the week of the festival. So we had to get creative on how we would do the New Mexico trip.

This reminded me of our first Christmas we were married. I had to work at the hospital Christmas Day. We were living in Utah at the time. Matt flew from Salt Lake City to Long Beach on Christmas morning (after I left for work) and then flew back on the same day and he arrived home before I got home from work. He got to spend Christmas Day with his family. Christmas night we were able to have our own little Christmas and I didn’t even realize he was gone. That was nice that the flights worked out where he could fly to California and back in the same day.

Anyways, so back to our Albuquerque trip. The kids and I drove to Albuquerque on a Friday October 11th. Matt went to work on Friday and then caught a flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque that night. He was supposed to get in at 11pm and then we were going to have to wake up at 3:45am the next day to see the Hot Air Balloons take off. He was then going to drive back with us to Phoenix on Sunday. My kids travel pretty well. Here are some tips on how to make the festival more enjoyable.

Hike King Creek Falls, South Carolina

Hike King Creek Falls

Hike King Creek Falls

We did a pleasant hike to King Creek Falls in South Carolina. We went in March and it was perfect. The weather was cool and we wore jacket’s. The best part of this time of year to hike is there are no mosquitoes. We want our kids to be comfortable in nature so we try to walk and hike with them regularly. Hiking and being outside is something we want to be part of our family culture. They love it. This was just a 1/2 mile hike (one way) but it had some climbing over branches and some muddy spots to make it a little thrilling. My parent’s went with us and I’m always grateful to have extra help with my kids on any adventure.

Hike with kids in the Grand Canyon

hike grand canyon in december

Family of six hikes in the Grand Canyon

We wanted to hike in the Grand Canyon before we moved from Arizona. If my kids said they lived in Arizona I wanted them to also say that they have been to the Grand Canyon. So, with less than a month before we moved we squeezed in another quick trip.

When did we go to the Grand Canyon?

We went to the Grand Canyon in December 2019. It’s a little risky to go in December because it could snow and the trails could be icy. We had really pleasant hiking weather.  It was a little brisk at the start of our hike but with a little exercise and we all took our jacket’s off. We had lots of layers so everyone was warm enough. It snowed a day after we left. I don’t think we would have enjoyed the Grand Canyon as much had it been snowing. This would be not only because of the temperature but hiking in ice could be quite dangerous. We were very lucky to have had such beautiful hiking weather. Our trip was so good especially compared to camping in the Grand Canyon in June.