Let's Go Fly...

Remnants of the hurricane reached central Illinois bringing with it a lot of rain -- so not much picture-worthy to photograph today!  I thought instead I might post some photos from last weekend's excursion to the Hot Air Balloon festival in Lincoln!  After a week on the farm, the kids in particular enjoyed getting out and seeing something fun and unusual!

[editor's note:  For those of you who signed up to our blog for ministry updates, I apologize that this post and some others in the queue are more family-oriented.  As we work out the best way to communicate to those of you interested in Albania-ministry progress, we have decided to develop an alternative blog so this site can maintain its original purposes which were: 1.) to serve as our family's online journal and 2.) keep grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins/dear friends updated on the kids growth and development.  As soon as that site is up and ready to go, we'll let you know and give you the option of switching your subscription over to that.]

When we arrived, the winds were quite strong and prevented the planned balloon launches, so instead we enjoyed some amazingly large and unusually designed kites!  Of course, there was the usual assortment of 'fair food.'  Lemon shake-up, anyone?

Reni was tickled by a particular kite...

This was it (below).  And no, the irony was not lost on us. :-)

Here are some of the others!

Can I just say what a beautiful daughter we have?  And doesn't Nathan look dashing in my spare sunglasses?

 Then we spotted the bungee jump.  I honestly didn't think she'd have the courage to do it.  And it was more money than we would usually spend on an amusement park ride, but it appeared to suit her particular desire to jump, jump, and fly... so we indulged her.  Nonna and PaPa, enjoy the pics below!  You (along with the tooth fairy) helped pay for this!

A little girl in heaven...

One can't miss french fries with vinegar when you're at a fair or festival with Gjyshe... Reni was a fan, enjoying every last drop.  Yes, it was dry and dusty so his face (all over, actually) is smudgy.  Waiting for the balloons to launch... yeah or nay?

Finally, around 8PM the balloonists agreed the winds had died enough to fill up their balloons for the dusk balloon 'glow.'

Attendees were encouraged to get close and observe the set up!

We all found it fascinating!

Thanks, Gigi and Gjyshe, for the fun diversion!  What a great memory!

P.S.  First there was Twitter for the thoughts and news between the blog posts.  Now I've found Instagram.  Yes, another thing added to the sidebar to add to your blog viewing enjoyment.