2012 Cross-Country Road Trip Part III--Hot Air Ballooning!

One of the biggest highlights of our visit with Jeremy's parents in Albuquerque was the 4 bigger boys' first hot air balloon ride. They were sooo excited!

Not only did they get to ride, but they also got to crew. This means they helped set up the balloon, and then helped take it apart and put it away when we were done. Here they are helping with the tarp that the basket lies on while the balloon is being inflated.

Joanna watching from her stroller

Here Granddaddy is showing Joshua and Jonathan how to hold the cables so the neck of the envelope (what the actual balloon is called) will stay open so the air from the fan can blow in. I was manning the fan. (And the camera! Multi-tasking again, lol!)

Jordan

Jonathan

Joshua

Jonathan is working hard!

All set up and ready to go! Just had to snap a quick pic before the camera lady jumped in the basket.

Joey, being a good big brother, covered Josiah's ears as we were taking off. The noise from the burners can be pretty loud!

Our shadow on the ground...cool, huh?

Aerial view of the field where we set up. There was another balloon setting up there as well, they were just a little bit behind us. You can barely see our van, and the truck pulling the bright yellow balloon trailer.

Little houses! I commented to Jeremy's dad that this would be a great way to get new landscaping ideas. :)

Jordan

Jonathan



After flying for 45 minutes or so, we landed so that Jordan and I could get out and let Jeremy and Joseph have a turn.

The boys "flapping their wings" to help get the balloon off the ground. Silly boys!

There they go! That's Joshua waving and Jeremy taking pictures with his iPhone.

Uh oh! Looks like they're landing on top of that house!











Look at Joey's face! That's the look of a boy having FUN!



Everybody helped take the balloon apart and put it all away.



The boys kept having to flop down on the bag that holds the envelope to squish everything down so there would be enough room.



I think they liked that job!



Helping Uncle Mike (Jeremy's uncle) take the burners off the top of the basket



Josh and Jon helping Granddaddy get the last of the envelope into the bag







The boys learning to tie the knot that holds the bag closed







Joshua



After everything was packed into the trailer, the boys got to participate in the fun little activity Granddaddy always does with his 1st-time crew helpers. He tells them a story about ballooning history (sorry, I don't remember the story!) and then they have a contest to see who can down a cup of sparkling cider first...without using their hands!



Ready...


Go!



And Jonathan wins!!



Joey came in second! :)

The boys all had a fabulous time both flying and helping. Now we really have to get out to Albuquerque for Balloon Fiesta. That's what Jordan is asking to do for his birthday, which is around the same time. Grandmommy and Granddaddy, can we come visit again in October, please? :)

Boys' Room Repair and Makeover -- Step One!

While we were on our trip, we had a pipe burst in the big boys' bedroom. This is, of course, not a fun thing to deal with, especially from 2000 miles away! Thankfully our neighbors who were feeding our chickens noticed the garage ceiling leaking and knew how to patch the leak, or we more than likely would have come home to a completely destroyed house!

The one bright spot in all this, at least for me, is that the room has to be repainted and the flooring replaced. I wanted to do both of those things anyway, but I probably wouldn't have gotten to the painting for awhile, and we probably wouldn't have bothered with the expense of replacing the flooring, which was a boring but perfectly decent Berber carpet.

The room was repainted this past week. The best part? It was painted by professional painters, NOT me! :) The room is full of narrow trim and funky angles--I was NOT looking forward to trying to paint it myself!

I can't believe it, but I don't have any "before" pictures of the room in it's original state. And I didn't think to pull out the camera until the painting was already underway. So here are the "sort-of before" pictures:



They had painted the ceiling by this point. It used to be red as well. This was a very dark room, in spite of having 2 dormers and a large window at one end. You can see how much trim there is to paint around!



From the window end of the room looking back toward the door. Please excuse all the mixed up bed parts laying about! The 3 boys who usually sleep in this room are bunking with Joanna right now...2 in the queen-sized guest bed and 1 on a mattress on the floor. It's a big party every night at bedtime, I tell ya!



The back corner


And now the after pictures:



This looks lighter than it is...it has darkened some now that it is dry. It's a light denim blue, and the ceiling is called Sea Salt, I think. We left the trim a glossy white.



Isn't this just so much nicer than that dark, dark red? I love it!



The second dormer window. This one has a built-in computer desk, the same color as the upper cabinets around the window. The desk had to come out to remove the carpet and dry everything out. It will go back when the floor is done. The other dormer has a built-in toy box under the window.



And here's the back corner and the big window.

I'm thrilled with how well it has turned out so far. It took the painters less than 6 hours to finish it. It would have taken me weeks! We're going to put in laminate flooring ourselves to keep costs down. We have experience with that, so hopefully it won't take too long! I already have a long list of things I plan on doing to decorate this room once the flooring is done. I can't wait to get started!! Let's just say there will be a lot of sewing and crafting in my future! Yay!

Snow Day!

Yesterday I made the comment that we hadn't had any snow to speak of, at least not enough to stick on the ground and play in. Well, I obviously spoke too soon. By yesterday afternoon, we had gone from nothing on the ground to this:



Jonathan and Jordan finally getting to use the snow brick makers they got for Christmas

I'm reminded of the old adage that if you wash your car, it is likely to rain. You don't suppose there's any correlation here, do you? Haha!

It snowed hard most of the afternoon. Since the boys had already finished most of their school work, we took the afternoon off so they could play in it. Home schoolers should get snow days, too, right?!



Someone opened the front door on the chicken coop. Silly birds will NOT touch the snow, so they took turns crowding into the 6-inch strip left snowless by the overhang of the roof.



Joey shoveling the driveway. For fun. :)

Joshua even shoveled the front sidewalk without being asked!!!

Of course, he did come to me later and ask if he could be paid for it! That's my little opportunist! Yes, he did get the "you live here too so you can help out for free" response. I figure stuff like that fits under the umbrella of stuff they do to earn their allowance anyway.

Sadly for the boys, the snow was short-lived. It's all melted now, and we're back to our boring old dead grass. They're already looking forward to the next snow day!