Balloon Fest 2009

We had another busy weekend. Keith always seems to be busy. Poor guy. He is still trying to get the camper in order. I really hope it is ready soon. I would love to use it this summer. He is doing an outstanding job on it. I can't wait to see the finished product!
While Keith worked on the camper, the girls and I went to a birthday party for cousin Kristian on Sunday. His actual birthday is the 4th of July but yesterday was a great day for celebrating! We had a beautiful, yet windy, day at Clover Beach in Linden. I can't believe he is 3! I can't believe Lauren will be 3 and my baby will be 2! Time is flying!
Saturday, evening we heading down to the Balloon Fest in Howell. I love the Howell area and it was a beautiful setting to watch all those hot air balloons. We got there just in time to watch them all launching and then we found a fantastic place to enjoy the picnic we brought. We did a little browsing of all the arts and crafts being careful to stay away from the carnival and then found a great place to watch the balloon glow. It is against the law to fly a balloon after dusk but many of the balloons gathered on the launch field to fire up/light up their balloons for a spectacular display. We danced, people watched and had a blast! The last event of the night was the sky divers! They had adorned their jumpsuits with glow sticks so that we could see them. It was pretty cool. The girls were unbelievably tired. We didn't get home until 11:30 p.m. I have never done that to them before but they did alright! We will definitely be going back next year!

sky diver
balloon glow
Daddy and Lauren
Daddy and Lilly
balloon glow
The girls dancing and dancing.
Mama and the girls. I should mention that Lauren was very appropriately dressed. Her shirt has hot air balloons on it!
Lauren danced everywhere. Here she is dancing on top of the stroller.
Still rockin!
more balloons
balloons

A not so great pic of Keith doing what he does best. This beautiful new camaro was on display from Champion Auto. The Champion Auto guys were there but I'm pretty sure Keith knew more about the car then they did. Here Keith is explaining the car to a small crowd. He can't help himself. He is so good!

Someone drove their new camaro to the event. I took this picture for you, Mom.
Daddy and his girls
Aren't they cute? They had so much fun running around the school while Keith and I ate.


Our picnic was just outside one of the schools. We were pretty much all alone. It was a nice place to get away from the crowd. The girls ate a little and then ran and ran and ran.
An old firetruck that was left over from the car show earlier.
A balloon from earlier in the evening.

This was one of my favorite balloons.

People went nuts over this one.
It was really a beautiful display. I didn't capture it well. It was so much better in person.

Some other pictures from home.

Lauren sporting her little pigtail!
The most adorable picture of Grammy and Lilly.

Toledo Zoo Pictures

June 14 th - we went to the Toledo Zoo with friends and family for a fun day of sun, animals and screaming! Lauren didn't like the zoo. She was okay until we went to the aquarium and then all hell broke loose! I think because it was dark and loud, it frightened her. She did enjoy having a "big sister" for the day since our dear friend Lisa came with her three girls: Callie and Isabella (7 in July) and Lucy (2 in July). Callie and Lauren held hands frequently throughout the zoo. It was too cute.
Also, every now and then we would pass Keith's cousin Nicole, her husband Kris and their kids Kristian (3 in July) and Morgan (1 1/2). We wish would could have spent more time with them especially since they organized the event but keeping so many people together is really difficult. Luckily, we will see them tomorrow at Kristian's beach birthday party. (His real birthday is the 4th of July.)

Just starting out in the fairly empty parking lot.
The nice gate at the entrance to the zoo.
Lauren wouldn't pose with the bear statues but wanted to sit on this rock in front because the kids before us did that.
Lilly and Daddy did some posing for me. Those bears were extrememly hot.
A scultpture that Lauren and I liked.
giraffe
Lisa and Lauren looking at the giraffes.
Lilly and Daddy checking out the same giraffes.
Eagles. I was shocked how little their enclosure was. In fact, a lot of the enclosures seemed quite small.
Our sweet Goddaughter, Callie and her "little sister" for the day, Lauren.

The girls checking out the tiger hide.

Waiting patiently for lunch.
Isabella, Callie, Lilly and Lauren
Bella, Callie and Lauren getting tired of waiting.
More waiting for lunch.
The Toledo Zoo is rough. Look at this roving biker gang. Yikes!
In the aquarium

These jellyfish were sooo cool. I wish I had a tank full of them in my house. They are captivating.
Lauren looking into a large tank.
The grounds of the Toledo Zoo were so beautiful.
These were the only pretty butterflies that were ready to be seen at the zoo on this particular day.
Look how close we got to the apes.
This was the class clown.
Large and in charge. He was really acting for us too.
This baby gibbon was the cutest thing there! He was so funny to watch. He didn't have much control over those long arms and legs.
Elephant
Keith looked at this wall and jokingly exclaimed, "They've got people in this zoo, too?"
Aggressive ducks
rhino
The white lions were really hard to see so Keith lifted the big girls up so they could see.
Lauren and Callie
An example of a don't:
Callie and Bella
Our girls ready to go.

Lucy - sticky Lucy
Bella