Light As Air

Today we took the boys to the Hot Air Balloon Festival and Flying Circus in Bealeton, about 30 minutes away. We only caught the tail end of the flight show, which was amazing, but we got to see the planes taking people up in them for rides, and some were doing some aerobatics. I was amazed by the logisticas of it all because there were at least 10 planes taking people up and they were constantly taking off and landing on this tiny little runway. The kids were ecstatic to see them fly right over our heads and were eager to spot the brightly colored planes in the distance. The balloons were supposed to startt aking off at 5 pm, but due to the wind we had to wait a loooong time, and they weren't sure if any would be able to fly at all. Finally at about quarter to 7, the winds died down and two balloons started inflating in the field. They were truly magestic, and once they were up, they took people on tethered rides, probably up about 200 feet and then right back down. Cameron really wanted to go up, but neither Jeremy or I are too keen on heights, so in the end we all were just content to watch. They set off some other balloons from a golf course a couple of miles away and they were supposed to land in the field by us, but none of them made it that far due to the weather. I think Jeremy's favorite part was just watching the old planes, and I could see the hunger in his eyes as he snapped picture after picture. Despite his fear of heights, he would have loved to be up in one of them, looping around the skies. They only have this festival once a year, and it was such a neat thing to watch we will be sure to mark it on our calendars for next year. Maybe, just maybe we will have worked up enough courage by then to go up in one of the balloons with the kids. Then again, maybe not...