This is exactly why I wanted us to have a Suburban. Heath, Janelle, and Ella piled in with us.
Bring on round 1 of the corndogs. This was only a warm up for the State Fair.
Jackson wore us out with his desire to work the room. Or rather, play the field.
There was a flyover by some special planes, but my camera wouldn't capture it. It did capture this, which I love.
Janelle and Ella. AKA Janella.
Not so sure what to think about the clown.
She painted a rocket for my boy.
Notice that Target's balloon is flying high above the rest.
Just trying to get a little shade here.
BEHOLD, THE BALLOONS! Jackson was so excited when we climbed the big hill and saw everything from above. This was after he did a little dance for us.
This was the coolest part. They would count down and all light up at the same time. Awesome!
The one picture that's missing is the one of the two Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who were there. I would have felt really weird taking their picture. I am totally obsessed with their reality show on CMT. I have a weakness for "making the team" shows (like Making the Band several years ago) and since this one is set in my town, I cannot stop watching it! I prefer to record it and watch it when my wonderful husband is not sitting next to me.
So, if you are ever in Dallas at the time of this festival, you have to go! Especially if you have kids or if you like to take pictures. Or even if you just like corndogs. I will never miss another one.
54 comments:
I think the one of Jackson in the stroller is really him giving Him some praise!!
How fun!
That picture of Your hubs and Jackson is precious, you have to frame it:)
I wonder if we have a balloon festival here in Austin, my boys would love it!
Suzi
Oh my gosh, I cannot believe you just wrote that you are a fan of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader show on CMT, because I was just introduced to it this weekend. I am obsessed. I even wrote a blog post about it before I even read yours.
Thanks for sharing your pictures - it looked like fun. My family will have to try to go next year.
What a fun weekend y'all had!
I'm so loving that show too "Making the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders" How funny was the lady with a doctorate trying out. :-)
Amanda, I LOVE it! It was such a fun day. Such a unique experience. Everytime I look at the pictures I get excited about it all over again like a little kid. Thanks for such great memories!
My grandparents live in Plano and when I was a little girl - they used to take me to the hot air balloon festival. When I see a hot air balloon - that is what I always think of.
I also L-O-V-E making the team! When I was growing up - my dream was to be a DCC. Obviously it didn't happen for more than one reason but I love to live vicariously through those girls. And to see how mean Kelly the manager/director can be. Bless those poor girls hearts when they don't "fill out the suit" right.
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! That is just too cool. You can tell that Jackson had a blast. I really like the 1st picture of him looking over at Ella in her carseat. Looks like ya'll had a great time.
Hope you have a great week!!
Blessings....
ahh! i'm so glad someone else watches this show! i just found it last week and i think i've managed to catch all of the re-runs since then. SO ADDICTING!!
i tried to get in a hot-air balloon once. i don't know why because my worst fear (other than the dark..hehe) is heights. once we got up in it i sat in the floor the whole time and refused to look out. :)
awesome pictures! i'm so jealous of your hair..what in the world..it's beautiful.
There is also one in Longview, Texas every year that I used to go to called the Hot Air Balloon race, I think. and there is one here in Colorado Spirngs area, but we haven't gone, yet. Next year! You have inspired me.
BTW, when I saw Jackson's first picture, my heart did a flip. What a beautiful child!
We miss it every year too! This year was no different.
Oh goodness...I'm so glad we don't have cable! I'd be watching the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader show, too!
Looks like you guys had a wonderful time!! I just ran across you blog through Sgt. & Mrs. Hub's...and realized I'd read some on another blog (LPM). Jackson is growing like a weed..God has blessed you guys. And..I'm a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys Making The Team...I guess I secretly wished that I could've been a cheerleader...hey, guess I am...to my kiddos and wonderful husband!
*sigh* ...it is my lifelong DREAM to be able to go in a hot air balloon. If I ever get blessed with a husband, I have ALWAYS thought it would be SO fun to leave the reception in one! (but I'll take any earlier opportunities that arise!) :)
Lovely pics & glad you had such a lovely time!
~Deborah :)
Why am I not in Texas to enjoy the warm weather and hot air balloons? (Is it okay if I pass on the corn dogs...for real girl!? lol).
Love the pictures :)
M'kay...we're singing 'In Christ Alone' now in class and I'm trying not to flail a hand. Gotta go :)
We have a similar hot air balloon 'thingie' here in east TN.
My husband has been a Dallas Cowboys fan since he was little. He loves anything to do with the D.C. and yes that includes the D.C. cheerleader reality show. You should invite your hubby to watch with you. That show turns my husband (who knows nothing about dance or cheerleading) into a critic. We turn that show on and all of a sudden he is using phrases like "Her kicks are not as high as the other girls'" and "She is out of time with the others".
I dont know which is more fun - watching the show or listening to my macho husband talk like one of the girls!
I am with you on the Suburban - we have an Escalade that I typically refer to as "The Bus" because anytime we go somewhere, we can take EVERYONE!
amanda! how fun! we didnt know about Dallas had one! Titus loves hot air balloons. There is a great hot air balloon show in St. Louis that you can see from Vernon's grandparents house so Vernon grew up watching it every year for free! but we tried to go to it last year at their house and the wind was just right that they flew away from us instead of towards us...so paying some money to get it would have been worth it, although titus still LOVED seeing the balloons! Next year we are SO there!
It only stands to reason that Target's balloon would fly high above the rest.
And more importantly: HOW HAVE WE NEVER TALKED ABOUT MAKING THE BAND?
Oh my word. That's an entire month's worth of emails.
That looks like so much fun! YOu have such a knack with the camera!
I DID float in one of those gorgeous hot air balloons last year about this time...over Pigeon Forge, Tn. I was an act of faith! I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat!
I love the pic. of Curt and Jackson. It would be so cool if you could photoshop the people in the background out of the pic. and then you would see just the two of them staring up into the heavens.
The shot of Ella crying in the car and Jackson looking at her with a, "What's your deal?" face...cracked me up!
What great pictures. How cool that the balloons all lit up at once. Goodness, I am craving a corndog now. :o)
Of course Target is flying higher than the rest. That's just how it rolls.
We're so sad we couldn't go! It looks like lots of fun!
Amanda,
That looks like so much fun!
We live in Ga and there is a park here that also does a hot air ballon festival every Labor day.
The boys love it!
I do love the one of Jackson and daddy looking at the airplane and Jackson on daddy's shoulders. I just love daddy and son pictures!!
What fun family and friendship memories!
Blessings,
Kim
I love the one of them looking up! So sweet. Good memories in the making. Priceless. I too like the cheerleader show, but shhh, nobody knows it. I guess it's my DLAM thing I couldn't come up with a few months ago.
I'm not so sure how I feel about clowns either. :)
But I do love hot air balloons. We have gotten blessed to see them here in Idaho before. I love seeing all the different colors take off around me and the "night glow" is too cool! Glad you had a blast!
I haven't seen anything like that since I lived up north, I rode in a hot air balloon, just once.
It's a pretty big deal up north.
more so though is the air shows.
they're cool too:)
DCC, I actually wrote about one of them in a book I am writing;
" Sudden Desperation", here it is:
- Unperfect in everyway-
In the world today we are taught that if we aren't auditioning to be the next Top Model, or making the Dallas Cheerleading squad, then we will never feel successful. It's a completely false concept, but yet we believe it.
I got into watching the DCC auditions on television, and how much hard work the girls did just to be impressive enough to look the part.
One girl in particular was focused on, a girl named Kalli, she was voted off by 11 judges in the beginning, yet the director told her that she saw something more in her, and overrode all of them to give her a chance. But what was impressive was, Kalli was one that her heart bled through in every practice, and that is a perfect example.
Kalli, she was trying to make it into a role of someone that followed a crowd, and just looked pretty for some football games....but inside, it was clear that she was going to be successful, because she was real, and I haven't watched the rest of the episodes yet, but whether or not she makes it, in the end, she stayed genuine.
It's all God wants from us. Make the effort, but stay true to ourselves."
So, she didn't make it, but I loved when she said to Kelly, " You won't find a girl here with more heart in this than me."
and Kelly replied, " I believe you."
Kelly probably can be mean, but its the nature of what it all is about, sports I believe is just like that.
Anyway, obviously Amanda, I kinda know the show lol.
Didn't know they started back up again yet though.
I can see your weekly DCC update coming though lol:)
They have a hot air balloon festival in Abilene. We went all four years we lived there.
Amazing pictures.
Re: the Target balloon being above the others.
That's how it should be, luv.
;-) (I can't even tell you how happy I am to be living in a Target-accessible area again.)
What a fun outing and great pictures! Some really good ones of Curtis and Jackson. I have always thought it would be fun to ride in a hot air balloon. I haven't actually seen a show since I was a kid. Maybe we will try to do that next year. Tobey would get a kick out of it.
Yes, Amanda, these balloons are fascinating. We saw them often when we lived in Phoenix, AZ. A beautiful, colorful sight in the sky all together and spaced about. Days like this with your family and friends are so wonderful. Thanks for painting the picture again in my memory as well as on the blogpage.
i love the hubby/son one and since i am a firm believer in b&w photos, i can totally see this one a little closer and in b&w!
and since this is the first time i have commented on your blog, tell your mom i love her. sorry to be dorky ;)
I love the Hot Air Baloon Festival!! It really is amazing and definitely worth going back year after year. I have only been once, but hope to go back again some day!! This did make for some great pics. I like the picture of Curtis with Jacks on his shoulders...very cute.
Love these pictures Amanda. Like almost everyone else Jackson standing in the stroller is so cute.
I should probably leave this response under crock pot, but I am running late getting ready for work. The C&D was very good. Roy had two servings and not because he thought he would not see this for another 29 years...he loved it. I added some peas to it cause I wanted another veggie in it.
Goode company-potato salad rocks and so does the slaw. At Goode Company Seafood...the campenchana is my favorite along with an order of fried green tomoatoes.
Kelly Fisher gave me a recipe for roast in the crock pot, so I am going to try it. It is just for the meat, not with the veggies.
Amanda - I have taken over something that you do and it has helped. I have started having my devotion in the AM while my daughter (2) watches a cartoon (usually a Barney video Lord help me) and I have been so consistant. I usd to do it at night and would often miss it because I just ran out of time. Thanks for sharing what you do.
PS - Balloons look amazing. Wish that happened in FL.
Love your blog! I got your link from Janelle (who got mine from you!) thanks for spreading the word! Looks like I'll be visiting you often. :-)
Okay the pic of Jackson and Curt is SO adorable... and Jacksons face is priceless!
What an awesome experience! I wish we had a hot air balloon festival in my neck of the woods. We may just have to venture down to Dallas next year for it.
I, too, am a fan of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader show. I, too, watch it after hubby is in bed. Which is perfectly fine with him.
You have GOT to make it out here someday for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta! It's the largest balloon event in the world with hundreds and hundreds of balloons in the air at the same time and it's nine days long. The Special Shapes Rodeo is my favorite part. The only balloons that can participate are ones shaped like something - animals, shoes, bottles, planes, people... Believe me, it is the coolest thing to see! It's in early/mid October every year. (Do I sound like I work for the Albuquerque Visitors Bureau? Ha Ha)
I went to that festival a few years back when I lived in Dallas, I loved it! And it makes perfect sense that the Target balloon was high above the rest. I love me some Target!
That is so cool! I want to come next year!
THose last two shots are amazing!
I never thought I'd admit to the internet that I've watched the DCC show. You've pulled my deep dark secret from me. Is it on again now?? I'm with you, though. No hubby-watching allowed. ;) He doesn't need those high kick images in his head!
I am so happy that the old girls tried out again(Yes, watched it late last night)
I remember Natalie Woods and Megan, and the two other girls(the one had a friend who got further than she did), Megan is nice, but last year was definitely not ready for the team...anyway, my thoughts.
Be Blesssed:)
Angie
I am so jealous!! I have also always wanted to go, but don't ever know about it until after the fact. This year we saw it early enough to go, but thought it might be a little much for a 6 week old and a tired mommy! Thanks for sharing the great pics though!!
cgs
That looks so fun! The pictures are great!
It only makes perfect sense that the Target balloon was flying high above the rest! It IS the greatest. I am so deprived here in Huntsville WITHOUT a Target. But, it has clearly saved me much money throughout the college years! :)
Looks like so much fun! It's always sounded so fun!
Lindsee
Those are some great family pics sister! you're a hot mama!
I am absolutely horrible at commenting...that's why you haven't heard from me in a while!
You look ABSOLUTELY beautiful Amanda!
And that boy, WELL, he's as darling as his parents!
So proud of you and Curt :)
♥
tammie
I don't have much more to say other than - how precious.
Thank you for sharing the preciousness.
Just a comment about your Dallas Cheerleaders program. If you're not comfortable with watching it with your husband should you even be watching it? What kind of message do these cheerleaders send to men? WHy are they necessary to Football? Do you want your sons to only think of women as "objects"?
holy 44 comments batman.
you're so popular...
cute pictures amawndaw
St. Louis has a HUGE balloon race every year. This year my university had a balloon in it. Students signed up and a name was drawn for the student that would get to ride in it. What a beautiful event. You're right there's really nothing else like it!
~Cheryl
Myrna directed me to this post of yours because we used to own a hot air balloon. I've posted about it for 6 times to date. If you are interested come have a look. We were involved in the Plano Rally for several years in the 80's!!!
Susan
We used to go to one when we lived in South Carolina, but haven't been to one since. My oldest was probably Jackson's age when we went and he was enthralled by it, too! I need to find one around here...
I am so glad I stopped by to visit today.
I was bummed on Saturday b/c we had to miss the PBF due to the fact I stumbled into a hole in a prayer labyrinth during a silent retreat last Friday morning and sprained my ankle badly. [I was alone and I did ask Jesus to help me get up and get back to my car and drive home, praise Him, He did!]
Since I could not stand on my foot due to the swelling and bruising of said ankle adn therefore could not make dinner, we headed to Pei Wei for dinner and saw the evening launch balloons heading to their landing spots. We, along with everyone else heading S on P Road, turned into where the new hospital is being built in Le*a** and pulled over to watch them land. The Plano Profile balloon navigators had to yell at the cars beneath them to move out of the way so they could land, we were that close. Most of them landed in the fields next to where we pulled over and it was great for Lil Miss Firecracker to see them up close as they landed. Best of all, I could stay in the car off my foot and it was FREE.
Thank you for the post! I at least got to see some of what we were missing through your pictures. :-D
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