Rituals

Growing up, there are certain rituals or traditions that always stick with you.  One of these, for me, was going to see hot air balloons rise above the valley in the wee hours of the morning every summer with my dad.  When I was younger, it was called the Boise River Festival (it wasn't just the balloons, it was also a fair, parade on the river, and one of the best fireworks shows in the country).  Well, gone are the days of ALL the fun stuff, but they did bring back the hot air balloons and renamed it, Spirit of Boise Balloon Festival.

This morning, my dad continued the tradition with Braison and Lilian.  Waking up at the crack of dawn, always with the promise that we could go back to bed later, heading out to the park with the lawn chairs to watch the magic.

You get to watch the whole process from the park; unloading the balloons, laying them out just right, attaching the basket, blowing them up, and finally taking off.

I am so glad the kids are able to enjoy this, I bet Grandpa is pretty glad he gets to enjoy it with them too.

Dog Days of Summer

Today marked the last day of summer vacation.  We celebrated by hanging out with Grandpa.  First we went to lunch at Messengers, then we decided to go to the Warhawk Museum.   What kind of museum is closed on Mondays??  Apparently, that one.  So, instead we wound up at Jabbers.

Playing a little Foosball 

Braison put on a puppet show

Building a hotel

Thanks for hanging out with us Grandpa, we sure do love you!

On another, completely unrelated note, our chickens are now laying "regular" sized eggs!  After a few half sized ones, we are happy to say that we can now have eggs for breakfast!

Braison checked the nesting box at least 10 times today, all of their hard work is finally paying off!

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!

It is so hard to believe that is has already been a whole year since we celebrated my dad's 50th birthday.  When I told Ron that we were going to a BBQ for my dad's birthday, he said, "Already?! It can't be his birthday AGAIN!"  I guess time does fly when you are having fun (or getting older in a hurry!) :o)
My dad and Sue had a BBQ at their house this weekend to mark the big day.  It was great weather (not great enough to eat outside, but at least nice enough to cook outside), and my dad made a wonderful steak/rib dinner for everyone.  Some of his friends came out to celebrate as well.  The kids decided that grandpa should have a hammer cake (anyone who knows my dad can understand why). 

Sad, I didn't even think about it until after we left, that we didn't get a photo of the kids with him.  I will have to remember to get one next time we are all together.  We are so fortunate to have such an awesome dad/grandpa who we love so very much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!