A lazy Sunday with a BIG surprise

This actually happened to us like almost two months ago. But the photos were stuck on my phone and I couldn't get them off until now. Sorry they are grainy. 99% of the time I am known as the girl who always has my camera (just in case) but this time I didn't have it. I was just running to the store to grab coffee and donuts on a lazy Sunday morning. Me and the kids were still in our jammies. Ella asked if she could throw on her Cinderella dress, princess crown and shoes. I said sure and off we went!

While driving there we saw a Hot Air Balloon in the sky (no surprise- we see this all the time in the skies out here). We snapped a photo anyway since it was so close...



We went to the store of our morning breakfast goodies and more importantly Mommy's caffeine fix and as we were driving back we saw that this balloon had landed. But it had a partner with it and it was landing in an empty field. So I asked Ella if she wanted to pull over and watch it land. She was so excited. We pulled down the street and parked the car to watch. After the balloon landed we were sitting in the car and the guy manning the balloon yelled that we could get a closer look if we wanted. I wasn't sure just how close he meant, so we got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk to snap some photos.




Then the guy yells over at me that we can come even closer. Right UP TO THE BALLOON if we wanted. We were like seriously? I had never seen a hot air balloon up close before. We walked over and suddenly were SO SMALL next to it. It was so big and intimidating. Ella was thrilled! But she got a little scared whenever he had to pull the rope and the fire filled the balloon with hot air. The wooshing sound was loud, the fire was a little scary and it was HOT. 212 degrees is the temperature of the air that fills a balloon usually. Holy cow. She looked at me and was like Mommy I don't want to go in there. (which is funny cause I was looking into taking her up in one but I have to wait till she is a LOT older- I was told). We got to touch the basket (which is a lot taller than I expected) and we watched as they prepared to deflate it. They let Ella pose for a few photos before they took it down. Here are the photos we took (she is standing like 150 ft in front of the balloon at least cause we couldn't fit her and the balloon in the frame).



My FAVORITE one:



Then we watched it deflate...



What a cool and unexpected thrill for a little girl (and a big girl) to have on a lazy Sunday morning! Ella even got a cool souvenir photo card with photos facts and info about the balloon on it. She looks at it all the time. :)