Up Up and Away

We had a family outing last weekend and all went to the Plano Balloon Festival. Mike nor I had ever been. I was excited, Mike was his usual. Olivia and Thomas had no idea what to expect.

We decided to ride the train to the shuttle and avoid parking lot nightmares. Olivia really likes the train and we don't ride it enough. Actually, this past year we haven't had a lot of family outings, so all in all this was a thrill on many levels.

We got to the festival just as they were blowing up balloons for launch. We joined some friends on the hill and started our picnic dinner while we watched.

It really was quite impressive if you ask me. Massive balloons of all shapes and sizes leaving land and traveling quite fast through the sky right over our heads.

If you ask Thomas I think he will say he was much more impressed with the dinner we packed since he woofed down food for almost the entire time we were there with hardly a glance at the display in front of him.

If you ask Olivia she will probably tell you more about the baby cricket she found in the grass that she caught in her own hands and then played with most of the time we were there, glancing up only when we pointed things out or wanted to take her picture. Together with my friend Ladonna, she named the cricket George. Luckily she did not grow too attached and releasing him back into the wild was easy enough.

After all the balloons had lifted off we gave her the choice of going to the kids play zone or heading back on the train. She chose the train.

What does it take to impress a kid these days? Apparently a miniature cricket and a $2 DART train ride are enough.