Happy Birthday America!

After our family fun day we had a chance to rest and then to headed to Lisle for the Eyes to the Sky Hot Air Balloon Festival and fireworks. My mom and dad joined us - which was great because my dad has always wanted to take a hot air balloon ride. The weather was great and we were able to get good parking - thanks to my dad.
We met the Goy's when we got there and then headed into the field to see the balloons up close. There was a storm coming in later that night so they couldn't fly but we were able to get really close to them. The kids loved it - especially the very large Energizer Bunny balloon and the pink bunny ear hat they were giving away.
We were able to see a balloon get blown up from the beginning. It was a beautiful balloon and very cool to see it start off flat and grown into an amazing large balloon. When it was almost up they needed 4 people to stand in the basket to keep it from floating away and my dad was quick to volunteer. Nola though he should 'get out now' but he enjoyed being in there - even if it was quite hot!
All of the balloons lit up before being brought down. We sat down for a while and waited for the fireworks to begin.
The show was ok - nothing to write home about - but the kids loved it and that's what matters. Maybe next year we'll take them downtown and have them experience the great fireworks and amazing crowds - might be tough to convince their dad, but we'll work on it!
On the 4th of July we woke up to a little rain. Reagan said she didn't want to go to the parade in the rain so we met the Scanlon family at Tony's for breakfast (Pat & I were very happy to miss the parade so we could have great breakfast!)
That afternoon we had a party at our house - still raining, but we had a good time. Pat was quite the trooper and cooked on the grill in the rain. It was a fun day - hoping for better weather next year!