Balloon Festival

the first balloon to launch...everyone cheered!
enjoying a makeshift picnic with PB&Js and apple slices

all the other balloons prepare for flight

the polka dot balloon was a Sophia favorite

these two balloons crashed in mid air!

It didn't seem to phase anyone, so maybe it's normal!?

the angelic little Leo sat and watched

heading off for a more personal inspection of the remaining balloons

Our friends Don, Shelly, Russ and Beth joined us for a picnic too!

Shelly and Beth enjoying the scenery

the "balloon glow" is held at sunset

I tried to snap one more pic as we were heading out, but it's hard to coordinate pictures with all the pilots and their fire!

We weren't the only ones with the idea to head out to the balloon festival this Friday night! It was the first year for the festival in Overland Park and it was a hit, to say the least! Sort of last minute, I decided to take the kids and go see the balloon launch, scheduled for 5:30 pm on Friday. Long story short....TONS of traffic and TONS of people meant the launch was delayed an hour and we got to see it all and then some! The balloon glow was pretty cool, although it probably would have been more impressive had we been able to stay longer, but it was getting too late as it was. Plus, we had to walk a mile (literally) to the car and fight traffic once again. I do think it was worth it...I mean without sounding completely cheesy, it was a pretty spectacular sight to see all those balloons launch. Sophia was so excited and we had fun guessing which balloon would be next to set sail. She was also very brave considering she is terrified of loud noises and was able to handle the blowers going off. I think we'd be happy to return next year, and I'm pretty sure the organizers learned a lot about what to do and what not to do this time around! ;)