Up, up, and away!

Raise your hand if you think hot air balloons are cool. If you aren't raising your hand, you are dead to me.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  I love hot air balloons - well, I love looking at them.  I have never ridden in one, but they are so fun to watch floating through the sky.  I love the bright colors and the whimsical feeling that they bring to me.  So when I found out about the Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival that is held every year in Foley, AL, I jumped at the chance to check it out.

Canon and I attended in 2012 with my best friend and her family, and we had so much fun, so when it came back around this year I made sure Craig wasn't working attended with us.  We met up with some friends of ours that just had their first baby so it was our first time meeting her as well.

I should mention, though, that it was June on the Gulf Coast.  That means it was as hot as Hades out there.  I mean, breathing made me sweat.  No work-out needed.  Not even thumb wrestling.  Seriously, blistering.  So we parked ourselves on our blankets in the only shade we could find and tolerated enjoyed the {country} music.  Who's got two thumbs and cringes when she hears that drawl?  This girl.  No worries, though.  That just steered our attention to this sweet baby.

Look out tiny she is next to her daddy's hands.  She is so petite and dainty, but she is strong.  I'm talking, She-Ra, Princess of Power stuff here.

In addition to live music, there was also a petting zoo (which we didn't visit) and a kids play area (which we did visit), complete with bubbles and balls, all enclosed in a "gated" field.  And true to Alabama form, there were tractors to check out and even one to raffle off.  Canon wanted to take a few home, but I convinced him that they needed bigger, greener pastures than we could provide.  (Har, har).

 

Then it was time to get down to the real reason we went to the fairgrounds that day - eating!

See how red his face is? We were doing absolutely nothing and he was that hot. Come on, winter!!! 

Just kidding!  The real real reason - hot air balloons!

Shooting these beauties gave me the chance to play with some editing that I normally don't like to do.  If I am shooting people, I abide by the mantra "the more natural the better".  These things, though?  They just scream "play with me!"  Oh, wait.  That didn't sound right.  Well, you get the idea.

If you have the opportunity to attend a hot air balloon festival, do it.  It is so relaxing to watch them floating through the air.  Bonus points for eating a funnel cake, too.