Midwest Balloon Fest

And here's yet another catch up post! A few weeks back, I picked the kids up and met Heath at his work to head over the Great Midwest Balloon Festival at the Great Mall in Olathe. It started a few years back as a free event about a mile from Julie's house. That year we went to their house, grilled and watched the balloons from their back yard. Since then, it's gotten a little bigger. We haven't been able to go the past couple of years, so I put it on the calendar and we made an effort to go this year. I'm so glad we did! I've never stood under a balloon glow, and it was definitely one of the cooler things I've experienced. The kids didn't care for that part of it because it was pretty loud, but they did enjoy seeing the balloons set up. There were a few shape balloons, which was fun to see.

Before the balloon festivities began, there were lots of things for the kids to do. The KC Symphony had some instruments set up for kids to play with. I tried to show Madelyn how to correctly hold the violin and bow, but I think she has a few years.

Brody had a blast trying out the horns. He says he wants to play one when he gets older!

We had corn dogs for the 2nd night that week...

There were paratroopers that dropped from a plane onto the balloon field. The kids got a kick out of that!

We paid $8 for a wrist band so that Brody could play on some of the inflatables. Madelyn had no interest, so we walked around and did some of the other free activities! Watercolors...

Face painting...

Bubbles...

And then the real fun began!

As great as it was, we decided that next year, we'll get there a little bit before the scheduled balloon glow, park and stand outside the fence to watch. There were a lot of people who got the memo and did exactly that. It wasn't the cheapest event to attend, but I'm glad we did it this time!