Hot Air Balloons

Flashback to Memorial Day weekend...  There's a big hot air balloon festival in the town next to us.  It goes on all weekend, and, weather permitting, they launch balloons in the morning and evening all weekend long.  And the weather this year was just gorgeous.

Our first spotting was on Saturday morning, driving down the highway on our way to the zoo.  (Rest assured, I was in the passenger seat when I took this.)

When we got back from the zoo later on Saturday, I wasn't feeling well, so Greg took the girls to dinner and then they found a parking lot to sit in to watch for balloons.  I think they're tailgating.  

On Sunday evening, we were a little more prepared.  We packed a picnic, and sat outside in a grassy area along the main road.  We had lots of company, but still plenty of room to spread out.  There were some people on one side of us who were already there when we got there.  Of course, when we got out of the car, we realized they had a dog... and the girls are mostly terrified of dogs.  He was on a leash, though, so we were doing fine.  And then?  People showed up later on the other side of us.

With a cat.

A freaking cat.

Who takes their cat on a picnic?

Seriously, who *does* that?

And the cat's not on a leash, so our most exciting moment of the evening was when a dog got loose (not the one next to us), and comes tearing down the grass in hot pursuit of the cat, and the owner's running after it, screaming.

Anyhow, we had to wait a while to actually see some balloons, but once they started lifting off, the girls quickly lost count of all of them.

And, of course, I didn't think of the bigger lens until after we got there.  Ah, well, next year.

When we first got there, they were watching two boys throwing a football.  All of a sudden, Emma says "Let's be observers.  Shhh, observers are quiet."

I think I'm going to have to quote her in the future.

Memorial Day Weekend, part 2

When Greg and I were in Charleston, we found these ice pop molds that come out shaped like ice cream cones.  The nice part is that the cone catches all the drips.

On Sunday morning, we went to IHOP.  Yes, again.

 We managed to catch the end of the hot air balloons on Saturday night, and the girls seemed to get a kick out of it.  So, on Sunday, we actually made plans to try to catch them again.  We packed a picnic, and got out to our picnic spot early.  Pulled out the chairs and the sandwiches.  Started to eat.  And then the ants started biting.  I think Greg and I got bit first.  And then the girls started screaming.  The bites really did sting.

We took their shoes off and told them to put their feet on the cooler to keep them off the ground until we finished eating.

Even that didn't keep all of the ants away.  It was bad.  A true picnic fail.  Eventually, they just wanted to sit in the car until the balloons came.  And I joined them.  Greg cleaned everything up - the lone male in a family of bug haters.  (There was a fly in the van on Tuesday morning, and after the ant incident, the girls were crying until we got it out.)

About 20 minutes after we moved to the car, someone came by and told us that the balloon launch had been cancelled.

In hindsight, it's a funny story...

Memorial Day Weekend, part 1

We had a full weekend, but without anything major.  Just lots of little things that made the weekend feel like we were going all weekend.

We picked the girls up on Friday, and headed down town for some live music.  Of course, I underestimated how many people would be down there.  On the way in, we ran into a parade, and couldn't get to any of the parking garages.  We sat in traffic and drove in circles.  Once we got parked, we were all hungry.  Greg, Becca, and Julie watched some music, and apparently caught another short parade while Emma and I waited in line to order pizza and get a table.

Coincidentally enough, I found these four-leaf clover necklace and bracelet (and a crown and a wand) left over from a work meeting in the car a week or so ago.  That morning, they were playing with them, and brought them in the car with us to daycare, and put them back on after school.  The concert was a kickoff for the Celtic games/festival in town for Memorial Day weekend.  It was a bagpipe and drum band.

After pizza and two trips to the bathroom each, we made it back out for the last 15 minutes or so of the band.  The girls LOVED it.  They pretty much had to be on our shoulders to see, which actually worked out because Julie wanted to be on the ground dancing.

Julie dancing.  I don't think I have a picture of her that night that isn't blurry.

Our favorite pizza place, where they knew us and knew the girls, and where our favorite waitress Rose gave us her phone number in case we ever needed a babysitter, closed.  We were devastated.  It doesn't quite make up for it, but a Dunkin Donuts opened up in our little town.  It may not be pizza, but it does have a drive thru.

Fueled on a medium iced coffee with skim milk and 2 splenda (the girls know this order), we went on a marathon trip to Costco.  Julie's in the back.  We had to start packing sippy cups to go to Costco because I used to be able to buy the girls off (read: occupy their hands) with a free cup of water.  But recently they changed the free cup size and there isn't a lid for it anymore.  And I'm not about to push that cart around with three open cups of water.

 We got some new pajamas that Becca and Emma insisted on carrying.  In fact, Emma has been trying to wear those monkey pajamas ever since we got them.  They're checking out a giant cat pillow here.  

 Greg took the girls out to play in the yard that afternoon, and I took a much needed sanity break to the craft store.  I have my mind set on making some dresses for the girls, so I was trying to do some investigating.  Plus, I just needed a sanity break.

There was also a hot air balloon festival all weekend long.  After dinner on Saturday, we saw some of the balloons lifting off, so we followed them for a bit and found a parking spot where a bunch of other people were watching balloons.  I only had my phone, so the pictures aren't the best, but you'll just have to trust me that those are hot air balloons.

We decided that it would be most appropriate for us to wear our winter cat boots with our sundresses.

And then we started picking flowers instead of watching balloons.