Our Almost Hot Air Balloon Ride

Awhile ago we started a list of things we wanted the kids to experience. (I wittily named it the Kids Experience List.) One of the things on the list was a hot air balloon ride. Hubby and I had never been on one and we thought the kids would get a kick out of it. However, we thought they might still be too young to take a full ride. I don't think Higgins could see over the top without climbing on the bucket, which probably isn't a good idea when you are 2,000 feet above the ground.

I saw that there was a Hot Air Balloon Festival less than an hour away and decided to go. The festival offered tethered balloon rides for $10 a person, but it was only offered early in the morning and later in the evening. We set our alarms and got up super early to head over. The closer we got to the location, the more hot air balloons we could see in the air. There were so many different colors and patterns! We didn't tell the boys where we were going, so it was great to hear how excited they were to see all the balloons.

We finally pulled in the parking lot and watched the balloons come in. We got in line for the tethered balloon ride and watched as people in front of us climbed in and out of the basket and went up 40 or so feet. When we were the second ones in line, the wind started picking up and the operators had problems keeping the basket on the ground. They tightened the tethers, but the wind was pushing the balloon all over the place and they couldn't get the basket to land long enough to get the current passengers out. Hubby even went to help grab hold of the basket to keep it on the ground so the people could get out. They shut down the ride for safety and we didn't get our chance.

We were disappointed at first, but went to sit and eat the breakfast that they were serving and watch the balloons. It didn't work out the way I had planned, but we still had a neat experience. After all, we got to eat breakfast outside and watch hot air balloons. None of us had ever seen so many hot air balloons in one place before. Maybe we will get our chance to ride next year!


DM TIP: You can check out HotAirBalloon.com to see if there are any festivals near you. Wiki also has a list of some of the festivals.

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• Wheelies, Noise, and a Flying Tire: Monster Trucks My kids love cars and trucks and we decided to take them to a monster truck show. I have my tips and learnings if you want to go to Monster Truck Show.
• Arg, Riverboat Pirates We took a riverboat ride and it was pirate themed!
• Life Experience Gifts I made this list for Christmas, but it has lots of ideas of things to experience with your kids.

Have you ever been on a hot air balloon ride? What was it like?