Balloon Festivities

Our favorite and most colorful weekend of the year came around again August 17th through 19th.  We enjoyed the early morning launches, the evening glows, and the time spent with family who came to enjoy the balloons with us.  One thing we especially loved this year was the chance we got to watch the balloons (all of them) bounce around our neighborhood so much.  Other years, it seems the winds send the balloons out over the reservoir, which is a lovely picture, but then we don't get to see them after they leave the park.  But this year, they hovered around "the loop" and we got to watch them bopping over our house and landing in our neighbors' fields.  What a show!  The magic of these giant, bright, cheerful balloons in a bright blue sky just never fades.  Long live the balloon festival!

Friday morning:

A new balloon!  Always a fun thing to spot.
And this one was music themed, which was super
fun.  And funny - because while the music elements
were definitely present, you can tell that whoever
designed it was certainly NOT a musician -
open half notes tied to eighth notes, weird key signature
markings, dots on eighth notes, upside down eighth notes
... it made me chuckle anyway.

See what I mean?

That yellow-on-top-and-black-on-bottom one is new, too.
We had quite a few balloons this year - I think Saturday morning
had 19, which was the most I can remember counting in my years
as a festival attendee.

The owl one is always a fave.

We hurried home because we could see they were all drifting
that way.  (This is the fires station roof.)

Another new one - love it!

They just kept coming!

Breakfast and coloring with a view.

The sketching of balloons she could see was all
her idea.

Didn't she do a great job?!

Friday afternoon/evening:

We interrupt this series of balloon photos to show
you a cake - a lemon zucchini bundt cake - which
I baked to eat for dessert with the family folks
who came to watch balloons with us this weekend.

Almost bundt perfection.  (And then it got glaze!)

We wandered around the booths and got shaved
ice while we waited for a potential evening launch,
which never came because it was too windy.

Those black spots are weather balloons gaguing
the wind speed and telling the ballooners that it
was too windy to go up.  They didn't even fill up
balloons for the glow that evening, either, instead
just doing the "candlesticking" with the baskets
and flames.  We didn't watch that, but my parents
and Ky, Michael and Mugs went over for a bit
while we got the kids to bed.

Saturday morning:

These patriotic ones were new for Saturday morning (they weren't
there on Friday morning) - and Sam especially loved them because
they were red, white and blue.

They all headed north again.

Saturday afternoon/evening:

The kids got helium filled balloons from our dentist's booth
earlier in the day with Grandpa and Grandma Elwood (while
Gregg and I were cleaning the church), but due to an unfortunate
and dramatic accident a few hours later, both were lost/popped
within seconds of each other.  When we went back to the park
later with Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard, we stopped at the
booth again to get replacements.

Cake time on the deck, while we wait for the glow.

Glow time!  (The wind cooperated this evening, so we made sure
to check it out for a few minutes.)

Funny Sammy selfie series: ready, set, go!

Sunday morning:

We were all pretty tired Sunday morning (and Gregg had early
meetings at the church), so instead of wandering back to the park
for the last launch, we just enjoyed them from our front and back
decks as they bopped along towards our house one last time.

I really can't get over this view from our back
yard!

Callie's-eye view.

Blue on blue.

Another from Cal.

This made me think of music notes on a power
line staff.

I really thought this one was going to crash into
our trees!

Balloons and a barn.

#kimmaskitchenviews