Vernal Holly Days

The day after Thanksgiving we celebrated in Vernal.  Jeremy was working at Vernal Holly Days so our whole family made the trip.  It is often very cold while Jeremy is there, but this time the weather was warm- the warmest Jeremy's ever experienced for Vernal Holly Days he told me.
We still dressed warmly in case it got cold.  That meant that when we went indoors to the bounce houses, I got to hold a lot of gear besides shoes- hats, scarves, gloves, etc.

There were a lot of activities at the event. 

 
Plenty during the day and plenty after the sun went down.

They had their parade of lights.  One float was from Dinosaur National Monument which we went to in August.

We also got to watch fire dancers.

And ride on a camel.

And close the balloon line for Jeremy.  Jr. Jr. loved getting to wear the "line closed" vest.

There was definite silliness going on

including dancing

and shadow puppets lip syncing to the holiday music that was playing.

 
On the way home, Jeremy and I switched off driving a couple times.  By the time we got to Heber, Jeremy had been driving but I was still not capable of driving at all so Jeremy stopped at Walmart to wake himself up by walking around and getting something to help him stay awake the last leg of the journey.
The kids and I slept in the van.  When Jeremy got back to the van, he showed me what else he bought- a couple movies that were still on Black Friday sale.  $4 each.  And he didn't have to deal with crowds.  Ha Ha.  That's how we do things.

We made it home really late and really tired.

Luckily the next day was Saturday so we were able to sleep in.  Phew.
It was a long day.

What We Did at a BBQ

We went to the annual juggling BBQ again this year.  So much fun as usual.  There was food, there was juggling, a bit of balloon twisting, and there was definitely good company.

Of course the kids enjoyed the bounce house again.

Nichole and Jr. both tried some contact juggling.  Nichole's been after us all Summer to teach her how to do contact juggling.  This was the opportunity.

 It was a good BBQ.

Science Fiction Day 2016

January 2 is Science Fiction Day.  I've been wanting to work on my balloon weaving skills so I thought this would be a good day for it.
I made a balloon dalek that Jr. Jr. could wear and chase the other kids calling out, "Exterminate!  Exterminate!"

Jeremy gave me some tips and ideas but I did all the balloon twisting myself.  It was a simple enough shape so it really was a good one for me to build by myself.  Usually Jeremy helps me when I hit tricky parts by doing the twisting on those parts, but I did it myself this time.  Yay.  My own sculpture.

I'm Thankful For...

so many things.  I don't have time to list many so here are just a few:

My husband, the turkey.

My son, the Indian.

My daughter, the tinkerer.

My son, the helper.

And Thanksgiving dinner with lots and lots of food (not all pictured here).

Wednesday

Wednesday was an up and down day.
Tired kids = cranky kids.  Tired mom = cranky mom.  Cranky kids + cranky mom = we'll try again tomorrow.
There were some good points, too.
The kids woke up in a good mood.  They were being cute.  Jr. made a helmet out of a balloon he found lying around.

Jr. Jr. was my big helper with dishes.

I mentioned he was tired so he did end up taking a nap but wasn't very happy when I had to get him up to pick up the kids from school.  Poor little guy.

Jr. Jr. performed in the first grade talent show today so he got a lot of practice last night twisting balloons.  He ended up twisting a snake for his talent.

Happy Almost New Year

It's been a great year.  Busy.  But good.  Today was one of those busy but good days, too.  The kids and I found time for me to play and work at the same time.  I had Chex Mix in the oven to stir every 15 minutes.  I was putting contact paper on a poster of balloon animals for a show tonight.  The kids and I were playing Sorry!  Yeah, sometimes I can be a multi-tasker.
Hope your busy days (and years) are also good.
Happy end of 2012!

Let Me Tell You About My Day

I'm tired.
We got the kids up early this morning because we drove Jeremy to Thanksgiving Point to do balloon twisting at a Breakfast with Santa event.  Then the kids and I went home for a bit to finish getting ready.  Then we headed down to Salem to take Nichole to a dance practice at a school- lighting and spacing rehearsal for a show that afternoon.  The lady in charge of the dance company is a good friend and said Nichole could stay there while the boys and I went to pick up Jeremy from Thanksgiving Point, which we did.  We left Nichole with a lunch and Jeremy, the boys, and I ate in the car on our way down to Salem again.  I got to sit with Nichole's class during the show.  She really enjoyed having Mommy sit with her. 
After the performance, we all got in the car again to head back home to change because we had tithing settlement to go to at the church building.  After tithing settlement, we loaded everyone in the car again and went to Orem to do some shopping at Winco and pick up some pizzas for dinner.  Then we headed home where we ate dinner, did scripture study and family prayer, bathed and showered the kids, and dealt with stalling until the kids finally went to bed.  And Jr. Jr. got a haircut.
Oh, and it was cold and windy, too.

That was my day.  How was yours?

Park Week- Day 10

Day 10 was rough. We got an early start as we all went with Jeremy to BYU for a balloon jam in the morning. But our moods were not working well with each other. We were all having trouble. Once again, maybe it's from being tired or feeling under the weather. We had planned to head out to some parks after BYU, but ended up driving home. As the kids saw us stop in front of our place they started screaming. They didn't want Park Week canceled. Sigh. After a few hours, we finally headed out for Park Week- Day 10. Here's where we went:

Lindon City Park (Lindon).

This had been on the plan for Day 1 and we finally got to it on Day 10. It's right on the way as we drive to Orem and Provo so we're passing it all the time. But these last couple weeks, it has been so full of people having events, we haven't gone. As we were passing it today, there were only a couple cars parked there, so we quickly decided to pull in. The Lindon Heritage Trail goes along the park, but there's not much path through the park. Not even a sidewalk next to the parking lot.

Windsor Park (Orem).

This is one we'd been to before. It has a nice big playground and lots of room to run around. And the bathrooms are decent.

Timp-Kiwanis Bounous Park (Provo).

Try saying that ten times fast.
No walking trail. Just a paved area that goes on the side up and around to the fields (baseball? football? soccer?- I didn't go look), which may or may not be connected to the high school next door.

Between this one and the next we tried going to Rock Canyon Park, but we never got out of the car. It's a great park shaped like a huge bowl. If you watch my brother's video, "Icycling the Movie," a lot of that was filmed at Rock Canyon Park. The non-trees part. Fun. The playgrounds are so close to the pavilions above the bowl that I don't like the idea of playing on them if someone has the pavilions reserved (which someone always does). So we didn't play because I didn't want to put the effort into figuring out parking to let the kids run around the bowl. But it is a park I like. We used to live within walking distance so a friend and I would push our strollers to the park and around. Great for walking.
And today, Nichole saw a raccoon as we were driving around the park, so I had to mention Rock Canyon Park.

Exchange Park (Provo).

Big playground. Big park. Long. Another park that has the Provo River Parkway running alongside it. You can get some nice exercise just by walking from one end of the park to the other. Lots and lots of room to run around.

It was a rough day. We all have them. Maybe two weeks is too long for Park Week. Maybe a week and a half would be better. Maybe getting sick in the middle isn't the best idea, either. So when you do your own Park Week, make sure you're taking your Vitamin C. You'll definitely be getting Vitamin D from the sun.

It was a rough family day... but it was a family day.

Teaser Trailer

Summer is the Busy Season

Summer is the busy season for Balloon Guy Entertainment. Usually I'm the stay-at-home mom, but every once in a while, I get to be involved in a big event or a big build. Last week and this, we've been working on...

Wonderland.

The Orem Library is starting their summer reading program and the kickoff event is always a Teddy Bear Picnic. This year's theme is the Mad Hatter's 'T' Party. With some other balloon twisters, Brendan and Marshall and Mike, donating their time and talent, we created the March Hare's house, a tea table, the Mad Hatter, a playing card, the Cheshire Cat, and numerous giant flowers and giant mushrooms. We started last Thursday at the library and twisted all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, rested on Sunday of course, then set up where the 'T' party was to take place and finished building on Monday. On Tuesday, today, and tomorrow, Jeremy did or will do a magic show (with a little juggling thrown in- get it? Thrown in). So if you want to see the last show and Wonderland in person, the Mad Hatter's 'T' Party begins tomorrow at 10:30am. Get there early (half hour?) because for the last couple days it has been packed.

If you aren't able to make it or just choose not to, here are some pictures of what we've done:

The beginning

The middle

The End

Now I have been involved with big builds before, but this is the first time I've created a large sculpture all by myself (as you know, Jeremy does it all the time). I must say, I'm pretty proud of my "little" table.

And of course I have to give credit to our kids. They have been absolute troopers. It has been crazy dragging them back and forth to and from the library every day. This has been hard on them. But with three room changes during the build, they've been helpful transporting balloons, and playing mostly well while being stuck inside (at least it's not in our hot apartment). We've had our rough moments, but I want to say Thanks to the kids for being such troopers. And they get to go to a 'T' party for three days to see the Mad Hatter and Alice, and listen to storytellers, and watch Daddy's magic show.

It's quite an adventure.