Amanda's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 4/9/07 -------------------- 3/12/07 2/16/07 1/5/07 11/29/06 11/13/06 10/27/06 10/11/06 9/19/06 8/13/06 7/30/06 7/19/06 7/15/06 7/4/06 6/26/06 6/21/06 6/19/06 -------------------- Amanda's Introduction

Balloons

September 19, 2006

My son loves balloons.  He's got a storybook version of LaMorisse's The Red Balloon that he makes us read over and over again, and if there's a balloon tied to anything in a public place, he tries to swipe it.  When we go shopping, I make sure we stop at the florist section first so he can have a 99 cent balloon (in any color he fancies) so that I can make the rest of the shopping trip in peace.  He loves going to the mall-- they give kids free balloons at the customer service desk!  There's always a dying balloon floating around the house, and he's very quick to scream at the cats if they even look at the balloon string playfully.  Two weeks ago there was an exhibit of Andy Warhol's "Silver Clouds" at the Museum Of Contmporary Religious Art (MOCRA) in town, and I took him.  We've been avoiding "ART", as he's wont to climb and touch anything he sees, and I don't have money to pay for a ruined Monet...  But "Silver Clouds" is a room filled with giant silver mylar helium balloons and fans, so the balloons float up and down, and visitors can play with them!  Cai loved pushing the balloons up (and chasing them), although we had to leave when he got TOO excited and started kicking them.

So I got to do something last week I'd been looking forward to since I found out I was pregnant about this time three years ago.  In my city we have a huge hot-air balloon race every fall that launches from the large central park.  When I was a child my mother would drive around the city after the balloons so that we could see them all, although we never went to a launch (it's REALLY crowded).  It's one of my favorite childhood memories, and one of the reasons I love living in our city.  Even if I've not paid attention to city events, I know that the world is functioning as it should when I notice the bright bits of balloons against the clear fall sky on my drive to work or school every year.  Now that Cai's getting older, I've been trying to do more of the neat stuff for kids that he wouldn't have appreciated before, especially because there's only a small window that children find those things fun.  I've been having the time of my life getting to enjoy the innocent wonders of childhood again, and I thrill to watch his eyes widen at something he didn't know was in the world. 

Well, the night before the balloon race the balloons are all inflated in a central field in the park at night.  It's called the Balloon Glow, and families bring picnic food and blankets and watch the balloons inflate and glow with the jets.  My husband and I decided to take Cai.  There was more traffic than we expected, and we ended up parking a long way away from the hilltop where everyone sits to watch.  Cai took off like a madman and ran almost all the way there. I hadn't realized he had that much energy!  My husband tried to convince me to just picnic where Cai was running in circles, but I figured that as long as he was into running, he could save us the energy pushing the stroller up and down the hills, so on we went.  Ben and I had a bit of a spat, as we were both tired and crabby from a long week (and my husband is not one for organized events, either), and I was despairing of ever enjoying the balloons when we arrived.  As soon as the balloons started rising from the grass and the crowd started cheering, I forgot my spat with Ben and my exhaustion.  Cai stared in wonder at the giant pink Energizer Bunny balloon.  He kept stammering, "Balloon, sky, pink, big balloon!"  Ben lifted Cai onto his shoulders so that he could see all of the two dozen or so balloons spread out on the field.  After it got dark, a horn would blow every 15 minutes and all of the balloons would fire at the same time-- a field of giant candles. 

He loved it.  I loved it.  Right before we left, I walked him down the hill to see the balloons up close.  One loud firing of the jet fuel and he wanted to go back up the hill, thank you very much.  But I felt like a kid again looking up into the balloons from next to the basket.  Having him gives me permission to enjoy life. 

And on the long way back to the car we saw lots of "helcoptrrrs" (from local TV stations)-- Cai's next favorite thing.  A perfect night.