Just Went Outside...

Felt like my lungs were going to collapse

The Wild Blue Yonder

Last night we packed in the car and headed west to the Battle Creek Air Show and Balloon Festival.

At first things looked pretty dismal, since the balloons had been grounded due to wind.  And it was blazing hot in the shadeless air field.  And there were more than a comfortable number of toothless people milling about.

In truth, Mr F was about to pay for this brilliant idea...

But do you see what I see?

Yes, the Amish were all over the place.

So we waited it out for the night time air shows.

We let the kids ride the one ride I didn't think could kill them.

 Then the evening air show started up.  I have to say, I was surprised at how spectacular it was.  I didn't go into this, thinking I'd be too impressed by the planes.  We were there for the balloons.

While we were waiting for the night time Balloon Illume, we got ourselves situated near a large group of partying Amish teens (they really know how to throw back the Mountain Dew) and split this year's funnel cake.  It's taken me a long time to learn, but 1/4 of a funnel cake really is enough.  If only this were true for pans of brownies (it's not).

After a bit the balloons got into formation and they started to fill them up for the illumination.  It's hard to capture the full effect, but it was pretty awe inspiring to see so many in one place, so close together.

Just watching them blow them up was pretty fun.  

But as it got darker they started to light them up for the show.  There were about 30 balloons there and it was pretty amazing to see them lit up.  

We wish we could have seen them all fly, but watching them twinkle made the 2 hour drive worth it.  Maybe even waiting for 3 hours in the heat. Maybe. We'll definitely go back next year... with chairs and an umbrella like all the cool kids had.