Oranges and a Big Yellow Balloon

Getting ready for our San Diego trip we read a Richard Scary Book called “A Day at the Airport” to prep for the airplane.

At the end of the book (sorry to wreck it for you) there is something called a “bratwurst balloon” and it makes my guys laugh hysterically.  Now, imagine their (my) delight when I saw this humongous balloon soaring over the San Diego Safari Park (the new name for the Wild Animal Park).

I decided we would ride it and this became my mission for the day.  At first the guys decided “we didn’t have tickets” and our turn was  “not today”.  But after a delightful tram ride around the park, we hopped aboard this balloon and soared high in the air.

We were actually the only people in the basket with the pilot and I suddenly became aware that in all my deciding to go for the ride, I forgot that it was just a balloon on the end of a little cord and I am very scared of all things unsafe.  The boys who were unsure about going up were delighted and I was white-knuckled and could barely move.

My knees were still shaking even after the trip when we were far away at a “pick your own orange grove” my husband found me.  A peace offering for my sudden moment of bravery?  (If you don’t know, I love factory tours, u-picks and places where things are made.)

The boys had fun seeing where oranges came from and picking them off the trees.  And they were totally excited to see their “Lallo Balloon” way off in the distance.  I can’t believe I went on that thing, and I’m totally proud that I did.  The boys are still talking about it and I feel like the coolest mom in the world.

(If I forget to mention in a later post, we did have a casualty on this trip.  We were driving towards the park when the hubby pointed out a cute squirrel on the side of the road and it suddenly made an unfortunate move. Thadunk.  It seemed quite bad karma happening on the way to a place that is trying to preserve wildlife. I’m hoping there was a starving hawk nearby- Circle of Life, right?)

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