2012 Statesville Balloon Festival

With a gorgeous Carolina weekend facing us we took off on Saturday morning to the annual Balloon Festival held at the Statesville Airport in NC. The Carolina Balloon Festival is a great experience for young and old alike. We picked Sammy and Hailey up about noon time and headed for Statesville. Sammy’s first words were “do I get to ride in a tethered balloon?” So of course we added that to our agenda for the day. We found a spot in the field and settled in to be there a while. We brought some of their Gramma’s house toys and games to help keep them occupied. We filled in the time with trips to the Jump N Plays, lots of unhealthy (and expensive) food and for Sammy a ride on the Zipline (see the video). Then as the balloons filled the sky around 5pm, Grampa and Sammy waited patiently beside the tethered balloon. After a long wait, until all the other balloons had cleared the field, they inflated the ReMax Balloon and Sammy and Grampa headed up… Well their ride got cut a little short as the wind came up and the pilot had to drop the balloon quickly and get the kids off (Sammy and one other). Mike they kept on for added weight. After about a half hour of weight on the balloon (including Mike’s hanging on and now can feel muscles he forgot he had) to keep it from tipping the winds died down and they offered to let Sammy, Grampa and the little boy go back up … Well Sammy decided she didn’t want to go a second time so Hailey jumping with excitement after first turning down her opportunity was helped into the Balloon along with Grampa and the other little boy and off they went. Hailey’s expression when she came off was AWESOME!.. We headed back to our house in time for bed and a long night’s sleep. The next morning was just some playtime and Grampa’s Cheesy Eggs! Then back home with stories to tell about their adventures on Saturday.

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