Playgrounds, Playgrounds, and Balloons

We had a happy week, of course!

The weather continued to be beautiful, so Phoenix and Griffin took advantage of it by riding the tricycle on Tuesday.  Usually Phoenix rides while Griffin pushes.

On Wednesday, we took an early evening walk to the neighborhood playground.  Griffin had to take his new best friend with him.

Phoenix stopped to pick some juniper berries.  They are edible, but a bit bitter before they ripen in the winter.

Proving once again that it's usually the little things that create happiness, the kids (and Dad) had a great time jumping on a metal drainage lid and making a lot of noise.  Phoenix likes to do this whenever she encounters any random metal lid (manhole, etc).

Then, our little monkeys got to show their acrobatic side on the playground equipment.

Friday night, we saw the movie Ratatouille at our nearby city park.  The city brought a huge blowup screen to project it on.

On Saturday, we planned to see the hot-air balloons from the Plano Balloon Festival at a park we'd never visited before.  The wind didn't cooperate, but the kids had a blast checking out the novel playground equipment.  Griffin slid, Phoenix bounced, and then they had a motorcycle race Tigger would be proud of.  We also had a great meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken, thanks Granny and Granddad!

 

Sunday, we decided the wind wasn't going to get the best of us and set up to watch the balloons at the nearest free parking lot from where they were launching.  Everyone, including Granny and Grandad had a great time.

The kids are always willing to help Daddy take some video of the event.

Granny, pic taken by the talented Phoenix:

Griffin and Granddad take a final look at the straggler balloon, which was worth waiting for!  It was a huge dragon.