slumber parties and hot air balloons

i got a phone call from my sister, mistie the yesterday about 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon. she called to see if she and her family could stay the night at our house. YES!!! they are adding onto their house and yesterday the workers were lacquering the wood. the fumes were pretty bad, so we had an impromptu slumber party. no problem, throw an few extra pieces of chicken on the grill and some hamburgers and hot dogs for the kids and we are set. it was fun hanging out with them. my kids had a great time playing with their cousins and going to sleep at - get ready for this - 10 p.m.!!!! crazy, but they had lots of fun!

oh i almost forgot. one of my nieces has to wear head gear at night. my son thought it was pretty neat. if you look around his neck in the picture below, you will see that he made one to wear himself. he let me take a picture of him, but he made me promise to not post it on the computer. i'm honoring that.

this morning i got up bright and early, and i mean bright and early - 5:30 a.m. (that's almost like bfs time!). my mom and papa bill were going on a hot air balloon ride. my mom thought my kids would like to see the hot air balloon being filled and lift off. plus, she wanted me to take some pictures. i got up at 5:30 a.m. and asked my kids if they wanted to go. ummm.... the answer was "no!" i prepared to go myself, but then my sister came out with her two boys and said she would go too. why not, she had been awake for a while. you know - the whole not sleeping in your own bed and having your three smaller children sleeping in a strange room with you thing. it can get your every time!

so at 6:15 a.m. we left the house to go by my sister's house to grab some shoes. we had to meet my mom at a local fast food restaurant at 6:30 a.m. the balloon people met them at the restaurant and then they drove about 10 minutes to the lift off spot. after some quazi-directions, we arrived while they were still filling up the balloon. two other hot air balloons had already taken off. the sun was coming up as we got there. it was very pretty.

i was surprised my mom was only wearing this light weight jacket. she is always cold. however, the balloon operator told her it would be very warm. every time they would put more air into the balloon, a big flame would ignite. i suppose it kept her warm enough.

all smiles before lift-off!

they went right over our heads.

papa bill waving from the balloon.

the ride was about 45-1 hour long. they had a great time. it was very pretty, and i got to see a sunrise. i can't tell you how long it's been since i've seen one - oh wait since bfs!

the rest of the day..... filled with nothing but relaxation!