Balloons and tunes and the tethered ride

This year for the balloons and tunes festival, Amara decided she wanted to take a balloon ride.  The girls are (of course) too small for a real ride, but the festival is a great place to go up 30-50 ft. in the air, look around, and take it all in.

We waited, and WAITED, for close to an hour--but I hoped the girls would last--Cora seemed really excited too.  Slowly but surely, they inflated and tethered the balloons and finally it was our turn.

We took off across the infield to the balloon at the back, we were given instructions about how to get in and out, about the ropes, etc. and before we knew it, we were in and going up!  The sound was LOUD and the fire was hot on our backs. Cora was a bit scared, but Amara did a great job making her feel ok.  As soon as it all started, we were up and at the top of our tether!

It was a bit like being up on the top of a ferris wheel, but higher.  We hovered up there for a few seconds, bobbed up and down, and then just like that, the ride was over.

It was a bit like being up on the top of a ferris wheel, but higher.  We hovered up there for a few seconds, bobbed up and down, and then just like that, the ride was over.

We headed to the bounce houses for some other activities, grabbed a slice of pizza, then headed out to follow some balloons on the way home.

The wind actually wasn't cooperating (too windy) so not many of them took off, but they sure were beautiful and we had a great time at the event!