The Big Bang Theory

1. Big Bang:

2. Theory:
Hot sun + cold drinks (promise I didn't drive mom!) + good friends + oversized hats + big bangs = GREAT WEEKEND!

Ok, now to the real point of this post...America had a birthday! And we celebrated all weekend long!
This may have been one of the greatest fourth of July weekends ever...it was epic fun!
In order to cram all of the fun I had this weekend into one blog post I'm going to tell you all about it using just one single run-on sentence...ready, go!

I baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and went to circus, and spent 5 hours poolside with some great people (silver, blake, gabe, amy), and got sunburned, and slept in, and met some fantastic friends at Kaboom Town where I spent an hour and a half in traffic to arrive just in time to see 30 minutes worth of fireworks (see above video) and then spend another hour and 45 minutes in traffic getting home (totally worth it!), and slept in, and went to the farmer's market where I bought some sweet strawberries and a refreshing mexican coke, and bet on Big Tony at the horse races with blake and leslie, where we wore giant hats and totally rocked them, and picnicked on the shore of the lake watching sailboats, listening to live music, and breaking our necks trying to watch all 6 fireworks shows at once, and came home and realized how thankful I am to have such wonderful friends in this beautiful city.  The end!

Accompanying pictures, in no particular order:

Party Now, Blog Later (Part 2) aka "Up, Up, and Away!"

Well hello again folks! I've been trying to decide if I should let you all in on more of the fun I've been having...but it's all "up in the air." 

No really...up in the air...in a HOT AIR BALLOON!
A balloon called Coyote Moon to be exact (see picture)

My awesome Uncle Glen (Sorry Uncle Allen, take me on a cruise and then maybe we'll talk :D) took me up in his beautiful balloon one very very very very early morning in June and it was ahhhh-mazing!

It's eerily quiet up there...everything is still and the balloon doesn't make a sound except for the occasional blast of hot air and the small creak of the rope against the basket...and you feel almost weightless as you float across the clouds.  It's such a cool feeling, and I can totally see how people get so hooked on it. 

And the views...oh the views! A gorgeous sunrise, a herd of cattle trying to run from us, people waving from their yards (I felt so famous!), the patchwork of the fields...it's just breathtaking. 

Of course, my company wasn't so bad either...

After a smooth landing (I even grabbed a souvenir tree branch on the way down!) it was back to reality (boohoo!) But boy what a ride!

Thanks Uncle Glen for the ride! I'll be stalking you until you take me again. ;)

I'll leave you with a video from my ride and a quote from the movie UP:

Ellie: [her last message to Carl] "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own."