Friday, June 10, 2011

Favourite Things Friday: Family Fun

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.
The Family: A Proclamation to the World
{emphasis added}

As a kid, summers were filled with hometown entertainment; parades and fireworks and activities that made you really enjoy the 'stay' in stay-cation. As a parent, I like doing those same kinds of things with my kids. It really isn't about the money spent. It is about the time doing fun things together as a family.

Springville is home to Utah's oldest art museum. Bronze statues and sculptures dot main street. And our festival days are called Art City Days. We enjoy taking advantage of the great activities that are offered by the city and local sponsors. We have certain favorites we do every year and this year we're doing a few things we haven't done before.

The Little Bugs and I were off to an early start this morning with a hot air balloon launch. Crews started setting up at 6:30 am and as they filled their balloons, there was hot chocolate and doughnuts and music. There were eight balloons and it was interesting to watch them as they expanded and began to rise into the air. As the balloons lifted off the ground and drifted into the sky, the occupants in the baskets threw out candy and prizes. It was quite an amazing sight.

But that wasn't the best part of the morning. After the field cleared, a ninth balloon was filled, tethered to the ground and the pilot gave rides to anyone who wanted one. Although we didn't go very high {perhaps 40 or 50 feet}, it was really fun and left you wanting more.

This morning we also enjoyed breakfast at the fire station; pancakes, eggs, ham and juice or milk prepared by our city's very own fire department. This wasn't one of the free activities, but the money went to a good cause and we had a nice time hanging out in the fire station.

Our last stop for the day was at the Children's Art Festival. This has been a favorite activity of ours and we never miss it. This year was the best yet. There were more booths than usual and the art projects at each booth were really fun {not to mention free!}. The Little Bugs were pretty tired, though, and we didn't stay as long as we usually do. The Mama must have been tired too, because I don't have any photos of the Art Festival.

Tomorrow morning there will be another balloon launch and breakfast at the fire house and I'm thinking it might be really fun to do those activities all over again. The parade is also tomorrow morning and we'll be going to the car show in the afternoon. There is a carnival going on {which we'll definitely skip} but we might swing by the craft and food boutiques. The scones {fry bread} that the Kiwanis club sells are legendary. There are a couple of concerts in the evening, which we may or may not go see and the grand finale will be fireworks tomorrow night. So my favourite thing for this Friday is time spent with the Little Bugs participating in some really great family fun.

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8 comments:

Larri said...

What fun family time! I can see why it would be a favourite. Thanks for sharing. Happy FTF! ☺

PS...Now I'm hungry for pancakes.

Barb said...

You took some amazing pictures....

Sounds like this was a great start to the summer!

Impera Magna said...

How wonderful you got to go up in a balloon... that's something I've always wanted to do...

Shay said...

Looks like a fair amount of fun was had by all!

And I completely agree that it doesnt need to cost a lot of money for you to enjoy time spent together as a family. You just have to go looking for things that are going on in your local neighbourhood or town!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend Elizbeth.

Paulette said...

Sounds like your summer is off to a great start with the fun family activities. Love the balloons and that you got to go up a little ways in one!

Janice said...

Sounds like my kind of summer day. Thanks for sharing and hope you enjoyed the fireworks.

Michelle said...

While I was still living in Pahrump, Nevada, we would see occasional balloons in the air. Not so much an event, but apparently an owner who decided to take his hot air balloon skyward.

Thanks for sharing your experience and reminding me of mine.

Jen said...

Looks like great fun! I love watching hot air balloons, they are so peaceful. Aww...I miss the firehouse pancake breakfast too. Reminds me of childhood!