September 2, 2007 by Barbara.

Since our hot air balloon watching picnic on Friday night didn’t include watching any hot air balloons, Reid and I went hunting for balloons on Saturday morning. I’d intended to go back to the same park but by the time I’d given Reid a bath and gathered some food for breakfast, there were lots of hot air balloons up in the sky already. Often they land at the golf course near our house but the wind was blowing them from their Gatineau launch site to the west end of Ottawa. We drove in that general direction, spotting new ones at they came out from behind buildings and trees.

There were many in the usual shape in various colour schemes. Of course, Reid prefered the ones that had lots of yellow on them. We also saw a peanut man, a birthday cake and a bear’s head with bees on his nose and the back of his head. Or at least I definitely saw them all. I’m only confident that Reid saw the Honey bear’s head. With her sitting in the back seat on the passenger’s side, it’s hard to know what it is possible for her to see, let alone pick out of the sky while we’re driving. We definitely didn’t see the Jesus head and shoulders with 4.5 metre tall kids surrounding him. I’m not sure what I think of the concept but I definitely would have looked if I’d had the chance.

After about an hour of balloon hunting, we were seeing many balloon chase vehicles but none that looked like they were moments from springing into action. It was time to go get Ken to go on our mini-vacation and so we headed for home. Last year we saw hot air balloons on Friday night but not Saturday morning. Next year maybe our luck will be reversed or maybe we’ll see them both days.

One of these times, I’d love to see a balloon land. I wonder what it’s like when they touch down. Do they bounce? Do the people throw sand bags out all at once or does the balloon descend simply because they give it less hot air?

In fact, at some point, I’m even thinking of paying the admission fee at the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival / Festival de montgolfieres de Gatineau to see the hot air balloons take off. When we watch from Rockcliffe Park, we see them as they first lift off and float over. I bet we are able to see the balloons for a longer  period of time than the people at the festival. But we don’t see the balloons fill with hot air from nothing. It would be perfect to read *The Grumpalump* and then see the hot air balloons inflate. The program of events for this year’s festival mentioned a sort of sound and light show with people triggering the flames in their balloons in time with music. There is a midway and live entertainment as well. We’d go for the balloons but who knows what all we would do?

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September 2, 2007 by Barbara.

Melissa and her kids picked Reid and me up Friday night and we all went to Rockcliffe Park - it’s the one with the Scouts’ Dairy Bar  -to watch the hot air balloons at the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival / Festival montgolfieres de Gatineau. The cloudy sky was trying very hard to rain as we got into the van but since we’d skipped the beach the night before, and we had to feed the kids one way or the other, we went to our lookout anyway. No one can remember when we left to watch the hot air balloons last year but I bet it was about the same time. There were only three cars on the side of the road when we arrived at the park, instead of the dozens from last year. I guess most people weren’t as optimistic as we were.

We got a prime picnic/hot air balloon watching spot and ate our supper. The kids played with the Phlat ball, which is a ball that collapses to make a Frisbee sort of thing, picked at each other as kids do and bugged their moms, too. We stretched out bathroom trips by going in shifts. Sarah was kind enough to help Reid, who would have kicked me out of the stall but humoured Sarah. Afterwards, Melissa tookthe kids to buy ice cream cones while I watched our stuff - and the sky with increasing desperation. Reid came back with her single scoop of vanilla, announced she had to go back to the bathroom and handed me her cone. “It’s not mines. It’s yours,” she said. “Au contraire,” thought I. I would have chosen mint chocolate, or cherry cheesecake or even strawberry. I only buy vanilla for home but at a dairy bar … Surprisingly enough, I took only a couple of licks before pitching the cone. I didn’t want it and so I shouldn’t eat it. And I didn’t.

Once the ice cream cones were gone, Melissa and I agreed that the skies weren’t going to clear in time for the hot air ballons to launch. The kids kept pointing to tiny breaks in the clouds where the blue sky peeked through but it was getting dark too fast.  The kids - even Reid - played a game that seemed to be a sort of cross between hide-and-seek and tag. Reid and Stephen were on a team for a while. He carried her around on his back. She smiled so big I thought her face might break.  It was a bit nerve-wracking, though, trying to keep track of kids who were trying to stay out of sight of each other. It’s hard to know how long a rope to give them, to let them be active and independent and trusted and how to keep them safe.

Reid and I got home at bed time. She had time to tell Ken a couple stories and have him read a couple, too. The picnic was good. The company was good. We’ll hope for hot air balloon sightings next year.

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