4 Jul 2012

We woke up WAAAAAY to early on a holiday to see the balloon launch. I say this every year we've done this. It's way too early. But it was fun to go.
Before the balloons launched, they raised a flag and the crowd sang the national anthem. I tried to imagine what it must have been like all those years ago, sending rockets over to the enemy and in their light seeing that our flag was still standing, that it had made it through the night. How grateful I am to live in this great country. How grateful I am for all the thousands men and women who fight for the freedoms we enjoy today and for the countless sacrifices made so we can still wave this beautiful flag.

 The was quite a crowd, as usual, and lots of balloons. It's amazing to watch the process from beginning to in-flight.

 Watching the sun come up is always a beautiful sight.

Of course the BEST balloon of all! This is the tallest balloon in the world. It gets inflated, but not flown.

After the balloon launch, we had breakfast and then just sorta hung out. We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to have cake and ice cream for Grandma's birthday. Then we went to Aunt Karen's for Carterville (not) On Fire! You may remember me posting about this fun party before. This year was a little bit different. Because we are so dry and have SO many fires burning in our state, there is a ban on any fireworks on Carterville Road. We chose to obey these guidelines. So we had fun dancing...

 

watching this year's "entertainment" from the "Belch Boys." (Stadium on Fire hosted the Beach Boys.)

Carterville On Fire moved their fireworks show out to Saratoga and we decided to enjoy fireworks with your neighborhood.

The fireworks didn't phase Maggie one bit.

All in all, we had a great fun filled, jam packed day and it was awesome!

Carterville On Fire

Carterville On Fire is brought to you mostly by Mister's Aunt and cousin. (For those of you who don't live near, I'll fill you in a little bit. Every year, a local university hosts a concert and a grand firework show. It's called Stadium Of Fire. This year the concert was put on by David Archuleta and Brad Paisley. Oh and Carterville is the name of the road that Mister's aunt lives on.)

It starts out with a water party.

Followed by a barbecue. It's a "bring your own meat and a side dish to share" thing.

We've never lacked in food.
There's blankets laid out to sit on and a few chairs for those who aren't able - or don't want - to sit on the ground.



My cute kids! I made the girls' jumpers.

Lewlew's hair Sunday for church. For Carterville on Fire, this is how I did Noodle's hair.

Noodle's hair Sunday for church. For Carterville on Fire, this is how I did Lewlew's hair.

After eating and visiting, the "program" began.

I know this isn't a great picture, but our family - most of them - are major pyro's! They HAVE to jump through the fountain fireworks. The ones who do it, can't not do it. It's like a reaction they can't control and it's contagious. It used to be just the one generation, but sadly, they've passed it on to their children. I fear it will never stop.

The lighting...

Jumping through the fountains...

And then there's the program. This is the infamous "cousin" I spoke of earlier.

The year we were graced with David Enchilada! What a performance he gave!

We also enjoyed Rad Daisley! He can really put on a show!

He even added a little something extra!

Outstanding job!! What talented young men :)

Of course there was dancing which included the audience!

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the group dancing!

And who doesn't like Sparklers! (Actually Lewlew doesn't like to hold them, just watch them!)

Even the adults enjoyed the sparklers (and beverages!)

When it got dark, we put glow sticks in Noodle's hair. So she had a glow in the dark star on her head! It was cuter than this picture!

And more dancing in between fire works.

It was an incredible night. We had such a great time. All of the hard work didn't go unnoticed. We really appreciate all that was done by so many to make this night great year after year. We can't wait for Carterville on Fire next year!

Balloon Launch - Again

This morning we got up bright and early to go to the Balloon Launch with Mister's family. Except it wasn't very bright when we got up. We trudged down to the location all the while, I'm counting down the minutes until I can have a nap! For some reason I wasn't as awake as I was on Saturday. But the kids were!

Lewlew on Papa's lap taking pictures.

Noodle taking her share of pictures.


And of course Buddy making good use of his camera.


Mister did get this picture of Buddy and his cousin and someone from Star Wars.



He also took this one.



Because of the weather, the balloons didn't get to launch. But they were all supposed to inflate. About 5 of them were inflated with 3 or 4 in the process, when a gust of wind came up and blew the inflated balloons over. It was hectic for a few moments while the pit crews of the inflated balloons ran around yelling, "Get back! Get back!" as the balloons came crashing down. After that, they rolled up the balloons and put them away. So we went out for breakfast.

Then we came home, had a nap and went over to Mister's mom's. It's her birthday today. There isn't a better holiday to have a birthday on than on the 4th of July. She opened presents. Then Lewlew and I came home to get some stuff for "Carterville On Fire." Mister took Noodle with him to Carterville on Fire and Buddy stayed to ride down with his cousins.

More on Carterville on Fire in another post.

Balloon Launch

On Saturday morning we got up at early thirty to see the annual balloon launch. We've done this several times and it really is worth getting up so early, but getting up is hard.

First, they unpack the balloons and stretch them out.

Then they turn on a loud fan to fill it with air.

The balloon starts to fill out.

Then they turn on the propane, the heat.

The balloon traps the heat and it starts to rise.

Then it's fully inflated awaiting the perfect moment to add more heat to be able to take off.

Here's the "lead" balloon. It's always the first one off. The others fall as soon as possible.

This is the Coke balloon. It's the tallest balloon in the world.

And of course Smokey the Bear.

The pink Piggy Bank is a show favorite.

This year they had Darth Vader. He was pretty cool. Around him, they had Storm Troopers to add to the effect. When this guy sat up the theme song played.

We all had a great time. There have been times when it was pretty chilly - this was not one of those times. The balloons were delayed a short while because of a Life Flight helicopter. So when they finally were able to launch, it was warmer than expected. They weren't able to stay up for long. When we left, there were several that were already landing. It was just too warm to stay up. But it still, was really neat to watch. And of course the kids loved every minute.

Then we came home and took a nap. That was great. Later that night, Mister, Bestie, Bestie's nephews and I sat on our roof and watched some fireworks. It was beautiful night. There was a nice warm breeze. It was great!