Make A Wish Balloon Glow

If you check our calendar of events off to the sidebar, you've probably noticed that today there were a couple fun free events taking place.

The Wonderscope Museum and Fall Festival would have been too much in one day for both. So we decided on the festival. But then, as we were heading there (we made a quick stop at a friend's to look at some furniture they want gone) we decided not to go since a) Rowan needed a nap, b) Seth forgot his cell phone and c) I forgot the camera.

But, our friends told us about the Make A Wish Balloon Glow this evening!
And since Breck likes hot air balloons from way off in the distance, so I thought he just might like them up close!
Not to mention it benefits a great organization!

To begin with, this place was a pain to get to - the road it's on turns out to not be a through street for as far as we needed, so we took an alternate route that took about 10 inutes more than it should have.

It cost $5 per family to get in and when we first got there I was thinking that it was going to be totally lame, since none of the balloons had even been laid out yet and there weren't many tents or things to do.

But, they had a bouncy slide and a bouncy house, so we headed to those first.
Breck took his sweet time climbing to the top - mainly because he's small and the "ladder" was tough for him to climb.


and so Rowan and I waited


and waited


and then Breck slid down!



Next he went to the bouncy house!
(poor Rowan was too small to be able to do anything, but thank goodness she's also too young to understand that she missed out!)

See the girl sitting down?
See the sly smile on Breck's face?

He basically beat her up.
Jumped on her, pulled her hair and I think he may have hit her.
Poor girl never even saw it coming.

And that was the end to Breck's jumping time.

He had to apologize to the crying little girl he was so mean to...so he told her he was sorry, gave her a hug and even a kiss on the cheek.
It was kinda cute - some strangers watching even said so.


Then one of the balloons was inflated!
We've never seen one up close and in person, so that was pretty neat.
Although, I think they did that to keep people from leaving, because the rest of the balloons weren't even out yet.





Next we went and Breck played a few games:

make-shift pinball


and ufo target practice


he got a prize each time he played a game - a yo-yo, happy face eraser, and a pair of stick on earrings (not sure why they didn't have a boy toy available...but we'll use them in a collage.)


While Breck played games, Rowan watched and chewed on her shirt sleeve



Red Robin had a "stand" and was the only vendor to choose from, so that's what we ate for dinner.

Then Breck made a bracelet and slide down the bouncy slide once more.
At this point, the balloons still had not been inflated, so we headed out.

But, for some reason, Seth kind of hesitated.
And we let the kids play and dance (there was also a band playing most of the time) in the street/parking lot.


And I'm glad he did!
Because not long after us deciding to leave, the balloons began to rise!


Breck did not want Daddy to clap, despite the smile on his face



We were really close to the balloons - so close we could feel the hot heat each time the blowers turned on! (I have no idea what they are really called)
It felt good, as it was getting chilly and we didn't bring jackets.


I am soooo glad we stayed and lingered a bit longer!
Because we'd have missed out on this:











The balloons were situated in a circle and people could walk through the middle.
We walked around and through.

And the kids wanted to stop at the lego table just outside one of the kid tents.



We let them play for a little while and then it really was time to go home.


As we were walking back to the car, I noticed the cool reflection of the balloons in one of the shopping windows...and even managed to get a picture of myself with Rowan.


This event goes until 9pm, when the balloons are lit and glow, hence the name of the event, and they reflect in a pond very close to the field. (I saw pics from last year) Had I been prepared, I'd have loved to stay and get shots of that...maybe next year.