way behind

So, I know that I have been way behind on blogging! I was trying so hard to get a few posted a week, but life caught up with me!!

We are currently in the Illinois/Indiana area, visiting family and friends. It's both fun and hectic, since we are driving all over the place to try to see everyone.

We've already visited my older sister in Indianapolis, which was a blast. My younger sister was also able to join us, so all three of us got to hang out for awhile, which hardly ever happens!

I'll try to get a couple of my most recent projects blogged about while I'm on the road and will keep you posted on how the trip is going!

balloon fiesta! - individual balloons

Here are some of my favorite balloons from the fiesta.

 HEARTS

 ELVIS

 WHEN PIGS FLY

 CLOCK

PEANUT THE ELEPHANT

balloon fiesta! - mass ascension

Here they are - mass ascension pictures!! There are a lot of them!!

 A line of balloons inflating

balloon fiesta! - dawn patrol

The dawn patrol this year was about seven balloons!

Here they are, lined up.

And here they are, in the sky twinkling!

balloon fiesta! - morning glow

At the Balloon Fiesta, they have a few different events that are fun to go to.

Mass Ascension - when all the balloons go up in the morning

Dawn patrol/Morning glow - 5-10 balloons inflate and light up, then launch before all the other balloons

Evening glow - the balloons all inflate on the field, and glow in the dark night

We went down to the field in time for the dawn patrol/morning glow. Here are a couple of my best 'glow' pictures!

balloon fiesta! - inflating a balloon

Last year, we went down to Albuquerque, NM and stayed with my aunt and uncle for Albuquerque's annual Balloon Fiesta, and had so much fun that we went again this year!

This year, we decided to go down the field for the mass ascension of balloons into the air. (We skipped it last year because you have to get up so early - we got up at 4:15AM to make it there!!)

It was really dark, so hopefully you can see the pictures well enough.

 They bring the baskets and balloons to the field, here is a basket in a truck.

 They lay the balloons out flat on the field, with the baskets at the open end.

 Then they start to fan air into the balloon, to get it inflated.

 Members of the balloon's crew turn the balloon, pulling out more fabric to make sure the whole thing gets air in it.

The balloons are fully inflated, laying on the ground before they heat the air inside them to stand them up.

Stay tuned - many more pictures to come!!