Soccer season officially started yesterday. Alex is on the Blue Legged Lions…don’t ask…the kids all came up with the name…He loves his team and they’ve been playing together for the last three years and this is the first year with referees…so now, at last, we can “boo” someone…Sports Mom Etiquette prevented me from boo-ing the opponents who had what must’ve been three 12 year olds playing on an Under 9 team…okay, we lost 7-1…so I had to come up with a Mom Excuse…and Bigger Opponents is always a good one.
Here are the other four Dawn Patrol balloons…they go all over for these races and one even went to Dubai last year. Our favorite part? When the balloons flickered their lights to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”…and Belly held up her hands to join them.
The kids and Ken in front of the Aurora as its readying for take-off to join the Mass Ascension.
I cannot even begin to capture the sights and sounds of a gazillion balloons over the spectators heads…it’s simply beautiful…and so totally worth it to get up at 4:15 am…and y’all know me the Night Owl…yes, there was Starbucks in a thermos for this mama!
And the buzzing part…I took this picture for our Brave Daddy Ken…who survived 4 yellow jacket stings and stayed to make sure we all had fun…to note, he had no swelling…just pain at the sting site…thank goodness the yellow jacket stung him and not the kids…but he was being a good Dad…throwing away trash when OUCH! one decided to stay with him…I managed to crush the thing, still wiggling, with my big ol‘ Croc shoe…you think after four stings of all that sports blood, the thing would have rolled over and died…must’ve been a New Orleans Hornets fan…
In her soccer debut, our rookie, Kata…was in her element (she’s no. 5…like Chanel’s perfume and kicking the pink ball in the pic below)…bending it like Beckham, for sure…hollering at Coach Daddy and loving every minute of it…especially the snack and drink treats at the end of the game…she announced that she thinks she’d like cheerleading better.
And then today…it was time for the Great Reno Balloon Race. This year my friend from ADP-land, April, came along with her Dad’s balloon – The Aurora Australis (pictured below). And we actually made it to Dawn Patrol. What a sight it was…a bare sliver of a reddish moon and the balloons rising silently above our heads. Even Bella stayed awake.
Here are the other four Dawn Patrol balloons…they go all over for these races and one even went to Dubai last year. Our favorite part? When the balloons flickered their lights to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”…and Belly held up her hands to join them. 
The Eagle rises first to the National Anthem…and we even had a fly over courtesy of our local air bases…it’s always an inspiring sight.
The kids and Ken in front of the Aurora as its readying for take-off to join the Mass Ascension. 
I cannot even begin to capture the sights and sounds of a gazillion balloons over the spectators heads…it’s simply beautiful…and so totally worth it to get up at 4:15 am…and y’all know me the Night Owl…yes, there was Starbucks in a thermos for this mama!“Mama, youk…balloooooons!” was about all Bella could muster…
Fast friends…April’s son, Ryan and Alex became fast friends as Ryan taught Alex all he knows about hot air balloon-ing…and our resident scientist, Alex, immediately caught on to the physics of the sport.
And the buzzing part…I took this picture for our Brave Daddy Ken…who survived 4 yellow jacket stings and stayed to make sure we all had fun…to note, he had no swelling…just pain at the sting site…thank goodness the yellow jacket stung him and not the kids…but he was being a good Dad…throwing away trash when OUCH! one decided to stay with him…I managed to crush the thing, still wiggling, with my big ol‘ Croc shoe…you think after four stings of all that sports blood, the thing would have rolled over and died…must’ve been a New Orleans Hornets fan…
The strawberry balloon was a huge hit with the girls…as were the cow, octopus and frog.
Sorry, for the loooong post…as you can imagine I took even more pics…and for those of you who want to join in the fun…there’s always next year! I know we’ll be there…and then we may even make it for the Glow Show (which preceeds Dawn Patrol) and is supposed to be super fun!
Sorry, for the loooong post…as you can imagine I took even more pics…and for those of you who want to join in the fun…there’s always next year! I know we’ll be there…and then we may even make it for the Glow Show (which preceeds Dawn Patrol) and is supposed to be super fun!Thanks April, my friend, for sharing your Dad’s balloon with us! We’re still buzzing about it (ouch…that one’s for Ken!)!
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A fangirl mom-of-three trying to balance her love of family, books, baking and nail polish while spending most of her hours waiting for the kids in the pull-through lane at school.
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every year, we plan on going to Reno for the balloon races, and we never make it. we’ve been to the air races, and Hot August Nights, so maybe someday…but we always go and stay at the SILs casa. totally fun.
This was our second year…incredible photo opportunities everywhere…you would love it especially because you scrap! And we went to Hot August nights for the first time this year…again, awesome and fun…so I would encourage you to come on over!!