Random August Happenings

She asked for her Kiwi Crate pinball machine. It's fun!

One of the extra activities from this Kiwi Crate was instructions on how to make a wall marble maze from toilet paper rolls and painter's tape. So much fun!

Amelia's imagination takes off when she has a willing follower. She decided they needed to sell pretend ice cream. (Her ice cream stand was on the chaise.)

She made the sign all by herself.

Patrick and I ran out for a lunch date one day while the kids met a new babysitter. We opted for a deli that we used to frequent when we lived closer to his work. The deli doesn't have room for a carseat or stroller, so we opted to eat standing by the picturesque river and mill.

Breakfast date with Amelia

Deck lunch

Followed by some playdough

Helping Mommy fold laundry during naptime

This never ends well. But it is so much fun.

There is a reason we call him our 'monkey'

On another impromptu date (we haven't quite found a sitter that can handle all 3 at this point). Trying a new Greek restaurant.

Sometimes I stop and realize that these moments are what I will miss about this stage - the chaos and noise and laughter.

Funny story - earlier this particular morning, I walked in on the kids acting out 'Abraham and Isaac' on the laundry basket. Austin had ran downstairs, telling me that he needed a play knife. Then I followed him back up the stairs to see him hand it to Amelia and lie down on top of the laundry basket. She was getting ready to 'sacrifice' him. I had to remind her that the Bible story includes God telling Abraham to STOP. We had a good conversation about God's provision through Jesus. But it was comical nonetheless.

I hope they always look at each other this way.

10th Anniversary Flight

We had been tossing around ideas for the last year of what we wanted to do to celebrate our 10th anniversary on August 11.  We knew that with an infant around, we wouldn't be doing any traveling. Additionally, the 4-H fair occurred on our anniversary and we enjoy devoting those days to fair fun. So some months ago, we decided to take a hot air balloon flight.

Before moving to this part of the country, I had heard of hot air balloon festivals, and even had friends who had gone to them. But around here, on any given summer/autumn evening, you can see a few hot air balloons flying high in the sky. It's a decent industry, and Patrick got a great recommendation from a work colleague. Scheduling was difficult, as we hadn't left all 3 kids with anyone non-family yet, and Colleen is still in a serious mom-attachment phase. We had the flight scheduled and then cancelled due to weather. They had a last-minute cancellation and asked if we could take the slot. I was very stressed to find childcare with such little time. However, God brought a friend to mind who I hadn't seen in over a year, but I would completely trust with all three kids. She was available and in the area. So off we went!

Our pilot, Kevin, is probably the most experienced pilot in this region. He's been the trainer for all the certified pilots in the area and flew planes for the Air Force and commercially before he retired. He had two other members in his crew - Lori and John. They worked together like clockwork, and it was amazing to see them set the balloon up and take it down so efficiently. They all had cameras to take photos of the flight from different perspectives at different times so we could have those memories too. 

Apparently, they size up their clients immediately and determine whether or not the clients would be willing to participate. They pulled a basket, the burners and a large bag containing the balloon envelope out of a trailer. After connecting the three, they asked us to help hold the balloon while a fan started blowing it up. While it slowly expanded, Kevin got everything in its place. It reminded me of ship's rigging.

It was amazing to watch it go from this small ball of fabric to the huge balloon on its side.

And we're off!

Initially Kevin took us straight up to a few thousand feet. Once he realized he had a couple of engineers on board, he explained some more of the technical aspects of balloon flights. There was very little wind that evening. On the flights where he knows the balloon won't go far, he calls his buddy who has a small plane with a smoke machine. Montana Joe flies around the balloon and makes a few smoke circles for excitement. It was pretty neat to have him fly under and around us.

We picked up a little wind and continued on a bit. Kevin originally planned for us to land in this field, belonging to Rutgers. But a new security guy came out and told him that we couldn't land. (It was pretty neat to watch a conversation between a man on the ground and us in the air!) So while floating over the property (since Kevin can't control the direction or how fast we go), he pointed out this pond.  He has such sensitive control over the altitude of the balloon, that he skimmed the surface of the pond, just enough to fill the basket with an inch or so of water, and then we popped back up again. 

Wet basket afterwards

Throughout the flight, Lori and John were in the 'chase truck' with the trailer attached, following us and keeping radio contact. Since we weren't going that fast or that far, they ended up parked for most of it.

I was impressed that when they decide to land in a yard or open area near a building, Lori goes and knocks to try to get permission first. There was no one home near this field, and Kevin landed the balloon just feet from the road.

Then they started deflating the balloon and had us help.

That's it - just the basket, burner and balloon.

My two favorite moments of the flight:

First - after we had reached the maximum altitude, Kevin started descending and grabbed a handful of dried leaves from the basket floor. He threw them out of the basket; since we were descending faster than the leaves were falling, they continued to float in the air while we dropped below. It was surreal.

Second - Kevin had the balloon skim the top of a patch of trees. He noted that we can fly high in the sky and even climb up to the tops of trees, but that most people won't get to touch the very top leaves of fully grown trees. So we ran our hands over the treetops, pulling a few to remember it by.

When we returned home (after a Chick-fil-a dinner - being budget conscious, of course :) ), Amy had all the kids in bed. She also shared with me this photo of treating the big kids to the ice cream truck when it had come by.

We are so grateful to have had the past 10 years.