Alexander

J+M+J

It was the afternoon Monday, June 16. One moment I was planting tomatoes, and the next moment I was running around the house like crazy, getting ready to go chase Mr. Wilson’s balloon. A little while later, we were in the car driving to the park in Brandon where we would soon launch the balloon. For a detailed description of the launching process see http://sarah.frederes.com/2007/11/09/the-keebler/. This post will be mostly pictures. Mr. Wilson’s children, Jacob, Adam, and Anna joined us for this launching adventure.

It’s amazing to think that the huge balloon fits into this tiny bag. Well, at least the bag is tiny for the size of the balloon.

I caught Joseph in a cute yawn.

Setting up the basket.

Landon and Adam were assigned the job of getting the balloon out of the bag.

This is the fan.

Joseph observes the goings on.

Dad and another lady are holding open the balloon for the fan to blow into.

We aren’t the only ones setting up balloons.

Jacob and I are velcro-ing the top to the rest of the balloon.

Maria is going to try to hold the balloon steady until Jacob and I are done. I am not sure how much the balloon was pulling her, but it looks like the balloon is dragging her. Anna is behind Maria

The balloon is more rowdy this time than last time. It was swinging from side to side, and Jacob and I, who were now holding the rope Maria held earlier, did our best to steady it. Easier said then done.

Dad and Adam took a ride this time. He got into the basket, and it began to lift off the ground.

If you look closely, You can make out Dad’s hand waving at us in the car.

Night is falling, and it is time to land.

Maria and Anna climbed over the fence you can see in the picture to join Mr. Wilson and Dad. Unfortunately, they had a dilemma. Anna was caught on barbed wire by the seat of her pants. Landon climbed through waist-high grass to the girls, and he freed Anna.
Afterwards, we went back to the park. Mr. Wilson had cookies, carbonated juice, and champagne for the adults. The cookies were from the Keebler brand. Mr. Wilson explained the history of the hot air balloon.
A few hundred years ago, people noticed smoke rising upwards when fire burned. They also noticed that little bits of grass and sparks would be carried upward with the smoke. They wondered if they could harness the smoke and use it to carry people. They believed that the blacker the smoke, the more weight it could carry. So they would pour dirt, tar, and other black filth into the fire, and then they caught some of the smoke in a bag attached to a basket. Because of the hot air, the basket went up. Eventually, they sent up some farm animals inside the basket. They also put a bottle of champagne in the balloon to prove that the ballon wasn’t a dangerous animal from the sky, but was actually made by men from earth. Each bottle of champagne from France included the name of the town it was made in. To this day, people still take up a bottle of champagne with them to give to farmers as a gift for using their land to land the balloon.
Just before we left the park, I am pretty sure I heard a coyote howl. We ate Taco John’s for supper. and then it was time for bed.

A+M+D+G

J+M+J

May 1st was Ascension Thursday, so there was going to be a Mass at the Cathedral. It was sort of rainy and a little windy, but the last thing I expected was stormy weather. Landon was going to be an altar server, so he had to be at the church early. Because of this, Mom left to take him to the Cathedral as the rest of us were finishing supper. My job was to get the little ones cleaned up, and find their shoes and coats and put them on. In other words, they had to be ready to go to mass before Mom got back.
Shortly after Mom left, it started to pour. Torrents of rain fell down from the sky. A few minutes later, it stopped, instantly and completely. Thunder and lightening began to rumble and flash. Alexander was nervous and began to complain about ‘dee funder.’ Maria moaned, “I wish that there wasn’t going to be this really bad storm on the way to Mass.” I responded, “Oh Maria, This isn’t a bad storm. Really bad storms have big winds and hail and tornadoes. This is just a little shower that will help the plants grow.” “I know.” Maria whined, not convinced.
Mom would be home at any minute so I had to hurry I made sure everyone’s shoes were on, their coats found, and done with last-minute drinks and bathroom breaks. In no time, Mom had pulled up and everyone ran out to the car. I ran out last, only to turn around and run inside for Alex, who had had panicked halfway to the car and ran back into the house. I couldn’t convince him to walk with me to the car, so I picked him up and ran to the car, and we were on our way.
Halfway to Mass, my heart leaped as the tornado sirens began to wail. I bean to pray Hail Mary’s with Maria and Johnathan while Mom turned on the radio. We heard that the tornado was close to Harrisburg, a small town not far from Sioux Falls. It didn’t make me feel better that we were on the side of Sioux Falls closest to Harrisburg. Mom kept driving, but I half wondered if we should pull over, find a ditch, and lay down. It was a small comfort that we weren’t the only ones on the road at the time, and the cars next to us weren’t turning around and driving away at top speed.
After a few minutes, we reached the church. Mom called Dad on her cell phone, and he told her that Mass had been canceled and everyone was in the church basement. Mom told us to go inside and go to the basement, so I grabbed Alexander and ran to the door. Maria and Johnathan followed me. Maria was carrying Joseph, who was much to big for her to hold. When I got to the door, it was locked. That was not fun. It was raining, there was a tornado somewhere around, I was hearing a vacuum cleaner-like noise, (now I think it was the sound of a train or another siren being distorted by the wind,) and the door was locked. Mom caught up with us. When I told her the door was locked, she called Dad on the phone to ask him to come up and unlock the door from the inside. She couldn’t get a hold of him, so we ran to another door. Thank goodness it wasn’t locked.
We went down to the basement and saw Dad and all the other people that had come for Mass. My friend Isabel was there, and so we got to talk together. It was a lot harder to be scared in the basement of the cathedral than in the car. There was a little hail, but it didn’t last long. I hoped that it hadn’t hurt my tulips that were about to bloom at home. After a while, the storm passed and we went home. I was happy that the tornado sirens hadn’t gone off when I was at home alone with the kids.

A+M+D+G