Balloon Fest in Wine Country

Last weekend my neighbor, whose husband is also deployed, and I got all our kids up and out of bed and were out the door and down the street at 7:10 a.m. on a Saturday after a late Friday night to see the balloon launch out in wine country! It was a little painful at first, but TOTALLY worth it! It was something on my list of things that I really wanted to do, so we called it a date, and made almost an entire day out of it... sort of! Just we ended up spending a lot of time with each other that day! Totally fun!
After the launch I took the kids and waited in a long line to get Lexi and Braeden signed up for soccer this fall. Then we came home, did some yard work, and got ready for our friend's baptism. I was the pianist... with help from ALL 3 of my lovely children...sigh! And it was wonderful. I'm so thankful that my kids were able to go and see him get baptized, listen to the talks and music about following the Savior, and making good decisions. I was stressed because Ella was just having a small cow... okay, not small. But it was so nice. Braeden hadn't sat down for very long, so when he did around the end he totally fell asleep in his chair... and then I carried him to the car when it was time to go... and he slept in the car for a LONG time! I couldn't even get him to stand up so I could carry him in the house... AT ALL!!!! He was one tired little boy! We had to miss the BBQ that followed the baptism because of it, but that's okay, I guess. Stuff happens, and he obviously really needed a nap!
So, my neighbor and I decided to trade off with kids and go to the grocery store by OURSELVES! I took all the kids first, then she took her turn! It was wonderful! I didn't forget ANYTHING!!!! Yay! That's a rarity! Even when I have a list and have looked over it several times to make sure I have everything... shopping with ELLA is so crazy that I almost always forget something in plain sight on my LIST!! Then she fixed dinner and the kids played their hearts out, and just at the last possible moment, we decided to throw them all in the shower really fast and see if we could make it out to Lake Skinner for the Balloon GLOW... Well, we made it, but with some confusion, and no help from the police that were ushering people around, we weren't even able to get in the parking lot to see it up close and personal! So, a huffy me, drove back into town, with all 5 kids asleep now in the back and decided that Vicky and I deserved a treat, so we simply went to McD's for a hot fudge sundae. We then sat in the driveway and talked for a little while, and called it a VERY LONG, but WORTH the FUN day! Thank goodness for good friends and good neighbors! Especially ones who are both!