Hot Air Balloons & Grapes: Weekend Fun

Over the weekend there was a hot air balloon festival nearby.  Every year they have an event called "night glow" at which the balloons remain tethered on the field and use their burners to "glow" along with music!  As you might imagine, it takes place later in the evening so it will be plenty dark to enjoy.  We woke the kids up about 1.5 hours after they were in bed, put them in the van in their jammies (we told Asa ahead of time we would be doing this, so he was VERY excited when we woke him but also was mixed up with when we leave to see family early in the morning and leave the kids' pjs on til our first stop. He thought we were going on a "balloon vacation."), and headed to the field.  We got there just after it started, so we got to park for free!  Woo hoo!  It was a pretty breezy night, so some of the handlers were struggling with their balloons, and I can't honestly say the balloons were lit with much rhyme or reason to the music (Ha!), but Asa was mesmerized and AR giggled the whole time we were there. :)  Our favorites were the clown balloon and piggy balloon. :)

We also went to a vineyard to peruse an art show.  Nothing caught our eye amongst the art, but we enjoyed looking around.  It was boiling hot, so it wasn't the most pleasant day to walk around. :)  We made the most of it anyway.  The grounds of the vineyard were beautiful with a lake and sweeping trees like willows and some lily pads and flowers.  We spotted a few fish in the lake and stopped along an edge of the vineyard to show Asa the vines and grapes.  And of course we took some pictures. :)