Up, up, and away

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we ventured over to Point Mallard for the Alabama Hot Air Balloon Jubilee.  The weather was beautiful - although five degrees less would have been my ideal, the snow cones were refreshing, and the balloons were pretty awesome. 

What was not awesome were people spooning on a nearby towel, laid out on the grass.  And it wasn't teenagers either.  I'm talking, grown adults, amidst what was clearly a multi-generational family reunion of sorts.  Mom and Dad just a kissin' and snuggling away while Gramps drank his ice tea in a lounge chair a mere five inches away. 

But back to pleasant images :)

The face painting line was slightly torturous, but Jack loved his snake.

Random snapshots from hanging out together:

Can you tell he's pouting big time here?  :)

Family shot...Ugh, I hate having to have other people take a picture.

At the 5:30 launch, some balloons set off on their own journey while most of the balloons set up for tethered rides.  (Which of course the kids said they wanted to do, but with lines a mile deep, and at least ten minutes for each up and down, we didn't have like 100 minutes to kill waiting around :)

So, the kids found other ways to pass the time:

Lucy pushed Connor around and around in circles (and into an elderly lady who nearly fell out of her chair as a result - MORTIFIED)...

Jack found some dog friends to play with,

and Connor played Superman in the stroller.

There was a band that Connor took a liking to, so we showed the crowd our moves :)

Definitely worth doing, but next year we'll rope some other families into going with us so the kids have some friends to run around with and we'll time it so that we can stay for the evening part when the balloons all light up.  That was going to be around 9pm, and after arriving at 2:30, the kids were over the event by 7pm.