Balloon Fest and Cars 2

Ever since last year I have wanted to return to the Balloon Fest that is held near the Fourth of July in Provo. Last year when I took the boys to see them, they inflated the hot air balloons but did not launch any of them due to high winds. So I wanted to see some balloons actually FLY this year.

When I told Joe about my plans, he asked his parents if they wanted to go to. They were up for it, so we all went to see the balloons. That means we got up early and headed for Provo.

We did not make it in time to see the balloons as they were being inflated this morning, but we did make it just in time to see the first balloons take off.

They had some of the same balloons that were there last year. The boys love the piggy bank balloon! We also saw the Smokey The Bear balloon again along with many other colorful balloons.

I love the way the colorful silk of the balloons look when they are illuminated by the sun. Here is an especially cool shot that I captured as the balloons took off.

This year they had a fun new balloon that we were looking forward to seeing: the Darth Vader balloon! How cool is this balloon?

 

As you can see, there were quite a few spectators, but we had no problem moving around the field to watch the balloons. They were absolutely gorgeous! I also love this shot of the balloons as they started to ascend.

It was fun to see the different balloons all flying at different levels. The other amazing thing was how the wind would change depending on how high the balloons were. Some balloons would be going one direction, while another balloon that was just above them went in a completely different direction!

As part of the Balloon fest they have two competitions. One was a jousting competition where the balloons try to pop smaller target balloons, and the other was the "Hound and Hare" competition where the balloons try to chase a "hare" balloon and drop a bean bag on the target the hare puts down.

There was also a target on the field, but the winds were so calm that many of the balloons had a hard time making it back to the field. We only saw two balloons that managed to throw a beanbag at the target in the center of the field they launched from.

I thought the hot air balloons were spectacular! Joe and I both took pictures because I was packing Amelia around in the moby wrap, which made picture-taking interesting. Between Joe and I we took nearly 300 photos of the balloons! I had a hard time narrowing down my favorite shots for this post!

We got to see one of my favorite balloons from last year as it was inflated. The Coca-Cola balloon! Here is a picture of Grandma and the boys as they watch the Coke balloon.

We were a little disappointed that the Coke balloon never lifted off the ground. However the announcer did say that the shaped balloons were harder to pilot than the regular round ones.

Here are two of the balloons that made it back over the field. I got lots of great shots of these two balloons, and I love how colorful they are in the blue sky.

The two balloons got so close that their envelopes actually touched. The announcer called it an "envelope kiss".

As I said, they did not send the Coca-Cola balloon into the air. But they did something else that was really fun! First they set the balloon down to deflate it.

Then they invited the kids to help them deflate the balloon by rolling down the length of it! The Coke balloon is the tallest hot air balloon in the world, so the boys were rolling for quite a while!

They thought it was SO much fun! They got to be part of the Coca-Cola balloon crew and Jacob said it was one of his favorite parts of the balloon festival.

My favorite part was just seeing all the balloons flying! They were so gorgeous and I would love to take a ride in a hot air balloon someday.

How fun would it be to float up there in the sky with the clouds?

I thought the hot air balloons looked pretty cool from below. Here is a picture of my two favorite balloons. They were the ones that hung around the field the longest, which is why I have so many great shots of them.

I also loved this yellow-flowered balloon that we saw directly above us. It was fun and girly!

After seeing the hot air balloons, we were off to the movies! The boys have been very excited to get to see Cars 2 in the theater. We went with Grandma and Grandpa Devereaux, and everyone went including little Amelia.

I was afraid that I would have to leave the theater with Amelia, but she did great! I fed her during the previews and she even took a little nap during the movie. What a good girl!

Here is a picture of the kids by the poster for Cars 2 in front of the theater.

We all thought the movie was great! The boys loved it, and I am sure that we will end up buying it when it comes out on DVD. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Devereaux for a fun day at the movies!