Full of Hot Air. . . Really!

At 4:00 am, Thursday the 3rd, Spencer woke up and ate "breakfast." :) He was asleep by 4:30 and I took a little nap until the alarm went off at 5:00 am. Hot Air Balloon day!! Every 3rd, 4th, and 5th of July in Provo at 6:30 am, they have a hot air balloon, um, thing where dozens of hot air balloons fly around the city. I had never seen the balloons take off and I had always thought anyone who went was crazy. I thought I had a great view as I'd watch them from afar long after they'd taken off. I had always slept in while the rest of my family or friends spazzily woke up before the crack uh dawn to watch the balloons take off, chuckling to myself and thinking they were fools, fools I tell you, FOOLS! Boy, was I wrong.

Anyway, I threw my hair into a ponytail and gathered up all our things. Gary and I carried four sleepy boys into the van in their jammies at 5:50 and we were off! We never tell them what we're going to do until we're actually doing it to avoid any potential disappointment, and as a result, whining. Luckily, we got to tell them what we were doing, and they were very excited and we looked like amazing parents!

We got to Provo at 6:20! We parked a block away, threw the kids' clothes on, got the babies in the stroller and ran to the Provo High School field. We made it!

Houston, we have lift off!
And for all you Superman fans out there, you know that word is pronounced "Hooston."

We could feel the heat from the fire as they filled up the balloons. Unfortunately, it was very loud and we couldn't hear Ben screaming in fear, helplessly strapped in the front seat of the stroller until they stopped blowing the fire. Oops!

Here is Ben trying to climb me. He has gone as far as he can go and now must resign himself to the fact that the balloons are very close and very loud and very hot and that I simply am not tall enough to make it all go away. He did get used to it and loved it. He still says, "Fie-oo! Balloons! Hot!" to us out of nowhere.

The strawberry flew just a few feet above our heads. So cool!

They're all agog! Simply agog!

How do you like my hat? I think it's a bit ostentatious.

So cute!

Gary had to go to work at 7:00, so I was left alone with the boys. Luckily, I had Jenn and Josh and another helper - Smokey the Bear, of course!

Only YOU can prevent forest fires!
If I were Smokey, I would be torn. It seems like such a contradiction to have the anti-fire symbol of the universe advocating devices that are powered solely by. . .FIRE!! Sorry, I shouldn't yell that word. It makes Smokey nervous.

Anyway, that was the beginning of our super fun 4th of July weekend. If you're ever in town around the 4th of July and you've never seen the balloons, don't sleep in! It is so fun! And no, I'm not full of hot air.
PS- Sorry about the dumb joke. Gary's not here to proofread for me. :)