Festival for Fire-Fueled Floaters

Last year, we thoroughly enjoyed our first ever Ogden Valley Hot Air Balloon Festival (first ever any sort of hot air balloon festival for Cal and me), and were looking forward to this summer to have a repeat experience.  I had been scanning the website and waiting for updated info to come in.  At one point it looked like it would be returning to the valley, but not to Eden Park, so I was a little bummed.  But then I saw some signs posted around town and an update to the website and an ad in the paper and, hoorah! it was coming back to the park!  We were counting down the days.

We had a great time watching them launch each morning (well, minus Sunday when I slept in and Gregg got the kids fed before church instead).  We loved to see and hear them right above our house for the rest of the morning and to watch them touch down in random fields around our neighbors' houses.  (We heard from some ward friends about how they got to help put the balloon away when one landed near their house and a kid in our primary class even got a ride in one when it landed in his backyard!)  On Friday evening, Cal enjoyed the bounce house before heading home in a temper tantrum (because she didn't get more time in the bounce house and/or a snow cone).  (It's really hard being a three-year-old.) So we didn't get to see the balloon glow that evening.  But then again, nobody did, it turns out.  The wind was pretty strong that evening so they didn't even fill up balloons.  Instead they just blasted their fire flames from the baskets into the night sky.  (I found out about it from instagram and my friend who was there.)

Friday

Saturday

bonus video!

fill 'er up

Gotta bundle up on those chilly launch mornings!

bonus video!

up up and away

Luckily, Saturday evening proved to have perfect conditions.  We had a fun Elwood gathering at our house that evening with my parents, Ky (and her boyfriend), Megan, my grandparents, and my aunt Nikie and her kids (and dog Scout).  We had a yummy dinner of BBQ chicken sandwiches plus Grandma's mac salad, fruit salad, coleslaw, homemade rootbeer and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake and S'mores bars for dessert.  Whew!  We were stuffed.  Then we all trekked to the park to see the booths and watch the balloon glow.  Even Cal and Sam stayed up for it.  Our favorite balloon, the owl (new from last year), was there in all its technicolor.  Sam crawled all over the grass.  And Cal soaked in the attention of her doting aunties and second-cousins-once-removed.  Perfection!

bonus video!

making rootbeer

A better late than never b-day present for my
baby sis.

bonus video!

glow

  

I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing hot air balloons.  Long live the balloon festival!