Hot air balloons in Ottawa

There are many great things about living in Ottawa, not the least of which that Ken and I both have jobs, but the hot air balloons that we so frequently see are certainly among the best. While it’s not uncommon to see some in the mornings or evenings (6:00 am/pm liftoffs seem popular), Labour Day weekend is the best. This year, there were nearly 80 balloons scheduled to be at the Gatineau Balloon Festival. Reid and I went with Melissa and Peter et al for a picnic at Rockcliffe park and to see the balloons. You have to pay to get into the festival but the balloons launch and immediately drift across the river and over Ottawa. Since I’m cheap and prefer not to have to drive or contend with the crowds, it works for me. 

Our adventure started with me needing to fit myself into the middle of the backseat of the minivan between Sarah and Stephen’s car seats. With some wiggling I accomplished the first challenge but was almost stumped by how to get the seat belt buckled when my arm didn’t seem to bend at the necessary angle to get my hand between my body and Stephen’s seat. The kids, Peter and I had a good laugh and the trip started off on the right note. (I never appreciated the challenge I give to people who sit next to Reid on the passenger side of our car. I sit behind Ken because I’m short but the buckle-trouble hadn’t occurred to me.)

We picked Melissa up and the mall where she’d been left to buy KFC and then headed for the park. Reid was very quiet in the van. She finds the noise and commotion of the kids and Melissa and me a bit overwhelming at first. Soon enough, she joins in the commotion. Peter is usually pretty quiet and maybe they silently exchange messages.

At the park, friends of Melissa’s from the ‘burbs parked just after us and so we ate all together. KFC isn’t tempting when it’s sort of cold. Not hot enough to be hot and not cold enough that the fat has congealed enough to pull off. The setting was nice and the kids happy.

Reid was left of the big kids game of tag but played catch with me until they started to play soccer. Ben was standing relatively near us (but farther away than I thought Reid would venture on her own) and Reid boldly walked over to him. He’s still one of her favourite people, certainly her favourite of Melissa’s kids, despite the effort Sarah makes to be nice. Shortly after Reid got to Ben, he turned and walked toward where Melissa and I were standing with Reid at his heels and I said, “Ben is coming to say Reid is bugging him.” Ben said something like, “I’m goalie and Reid is distracting me and she might get hurt by the ball.” He’s a wise boy, Benjamin, who knows to mention Reid’s well-being.

Soon enough it was time to buy ice cream - we’d pretty much given up on the balloons lifting off because it was windy - and on our way to the dairy bar we saw our first balloons. Reid got a rainbow sherbet cone (just like Sarah and Ben) but she was lucky enough to get such a small scoop that it stayed in the cone. Not so Ben who ignored his mom’s directions on how to lick it and ended up with a ball of ice cream on the floor by the time Melissa was paying. Reid got sooo messy eating her treat! She kept working on it long after the others had finished theirs. I finally got the last soggy bit of cone from her when we were ready to leave what seemed like an hour later.

The balloons were pretty cool. There was a red brick house, a teddy bear, a pirate in a barrel and then a bunch of “regular” ones in a rainbow of colours, even rainbow balloons. We saw thirty or so in total. Reid looked at them some but they were all pretty far away. I think in the past they’ve flown more directly over the park.

By this time, it was getting dark and the bugs were getting aggressive and so we headed for home.

On Saturday morning at 7:00 am, Reid and I went to the Aviation Museum where they had made arrangements for 10 balloons to launch. Unfortunately, it was too windy and so we went out for breakfast extra-early. Btw this might be the only time this year that you see me write “Reid and I went to the Aviation Museum” - it’s not my favourite museum. There are too many “machines” for me to focus. I am too fast going through to go with Ken but since it’s been at least five years, I’m do for a visit. Maybe in January ;+)

Saturday and Sunday were too rainy and windy for any balloons to lift off but on Monday night after supper we were playing in the backyard when we noticed balloons. We saw two or three at a time, probably to a total of twenty or more.  They were so low we could hear them lighting the fire. Reid and I went chasing one that we thought was going to land in the vacant lot near Old Navy. Unfortunately for us none landed in the vacant lot and we didn’t have time before bed to go to the golf course where I’m pretty sure they were actually landing. Maybe next year they’ll be able to launch on Saturday or Sunday night and we’ll be able to chase one to a landing site.

Maybe one of you will come to visit and see them land with us.

This entry was posted on September 7, 2006 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Mama, Ben, Melissa and Peter, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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