The Great Prosser Balloon Rally

I did it! This is our SIXTH September living in the Yakima Valley, and I finally went to the Prosser Balloon Rally sunrise launch yesterday morning. For three of the Septembers we've been here, I was too sick and pregnant to care about going to the launch. And last year I was too sleep deprived from baby Amber to care about going. So technically there was only one year that I missed the rally for no good reason. My local friends tell me that the past five years haven't even been that great for balloon launching--rain, clouds, and wind have hampered the launch. Well yesterday, I braved it all and finally WENT. Jeff had a fever and Jay had a headache, so I almost stayed home and waited for a year that we could all go together, but I'm so glad I went anyways. It was SO COOL.

Saturday morning I got up at 6am and somehow all three kids were still asleep! After a brief internal struggle, (it goes waaay against the grain to wake up a sleeping child, especially before 7am), I woke Jay up and asked if he wanted to go see the balloons. Sadly, he wasn't feeling well and decided to stay home (this sickness--however mild--is slow-burning and lingering!). Next I crept into the girls' room, half expecting Rose to finally have come down with the dread fever and headache that everyone else but me has had or currently has. But when I asked Rose if she wanted to go, and she popped right up out of bed all excited for an adventure. Of course Amber woke up when I was in the girls' room, so she came too. Leaving our feverish menfolk behind, us girls bundled into the van and drove the 15 minutes east to Prosser. The sun was rising and I was worried that we had missed the launch, because it is called the sunrise balloon launch after all. But when we arrived around 6:40am, the balloons were all still lying deflated and flat on the ground. Yay!

We found parking at Chukar Cherries just a block away from the balloon launching site (surprising, since we were technically late). When we got out of the van, it was 37 degrees outside--our first brush with sub-50 temperatures this season. Poor thin Rose struggled with the cold the most, as usual. I gave her my spare jacket, with shivering motherly sacrifice, as usual. Eventually Rose got into the stroller and sat holding Amber covered in a blanket for warmth, which seemed to help. When the balloons started inflating and the sun rose higher, the air warmed up enough so we weren't too terribly chilled in our fleece jackets and vests. There was a good sized crowd assembled to admire the balloons, but it didn’t feel too packed. Normally I avoid large crowds at all costs, so I was glad that there was enough space for everyone out on the little Prosser Airport field so we could all enjoy the balloon launch without tripping over each other too much.

The balloons were amazing! I was expecting them to be colorful, but I've never been quite that close to hot air balloons before, and they were enormous! HUGE! Rainbow-rific! Gorgeous in the morning sunlight! Normally, I’m only awed by nature (think mountains) and historic sites (think Chateaux), but I felt a little giddy watching those crumpled flat patches of fabric bloom and swell into giant balls of color. Spectators were allowed to walk around amidst the balloons, so we were up close and personal! It was so fun standing right next to the balloons as they inflated. We oooh'd and awwww'd and pointed excitedly with the crowd as the different balloons took shape and showed off their various vibrant patterns. It was kind of magical. First, a large fan was aimed at the flat balloon to fill it with air. Once the balloon puffed up enough while lying on its side, they switched to the flame-thrower torch thingy to get hot air inside the balloon.

As the air in the balloons heated up and they fully inflated, they simply lifted off and floated away like giant brightly-colored dandelion fuzz! It looked that effortless when they finally started lifting off. The loud part was the fans that inflated the balloons from off the ground, and the occasional flames inside to lift the balloons up. But when they weren't using their flame-throwers to gain altitude, the balloons just floated there like big rainbow-colored bubbles, wafting along on the wind. I loved it. Rose was pretty chilled so she liked it but she was mostly concerned about staying warm by that point. Amber was busy eating the slightly stale banana muffin that I packed for her. She stared with wide eyes at the giant balloons, but I think she may have been less impressed with them than I was because most things in Amber's world are significantly bigger than she is. I'm not as used to being dwarfed as Amber is. I am six feet tall after all. 

Guess who took lots of pictures? Everyone! It wasn't just me, I promise...

Waiting for the weather verdict--will the balloons be able to launch? Those flat puddles in the background are all deflated hot air balloons.

 Balloon basket--smaller than I expected.

The first golden rays of sun hitting those little red noses

 We stayed by this red, yellow, and blue balloon to watch it inflate from flat to take-off.

Some people were handing out free helium-filled balloons with "Trust Jesus" written on them, so that silent message floated on the periphery of hundreds of pictures people were taking all over the field. Normally I'm not a huge fan of casual usage of the names of Deity, but this one ended up working for me--it just fit in with the small town sunrise balloon launch somehow.

Those flames!

 It was so big, and we were so close that I couldn't get it all in one picture.

 Tradtitionally, the balloons head over to the river to attempt a dip and lift or something. They go down low close to the water and then lift off up high again. It's quite picturesque (I've seen pictures from the past) but the crowds were too thick on the bridge for us to see much of this part while pushing a stroller. From what I can tell, it's kind of an either or thing--either see the lift-off or the river-dip. The river is about a quarter mile from the airport launch point, so navigating crowds with a stroller for a good viewpoint on the narrow bridge wasn't happening this time. Luckily, now that we know how awesome it can be, we will come back next year!

We admired the balloons all the way until 8am before dashing back to the car and heading home. We had to drive Jeff to Sunnyside so he could hop on the school bus with the cross country team and drive to their meet! So we drove 15 minutes back to Grandview, picked Jeff and Jay up, drove 15 minutes in the other direction to Sunnyside, dropped Jeff off, and finally returned home for breakfast (another 15 minute drive--that quarter hour feels longer and longer the more I drive it).

Part One of our Super Adventuresome Saturday was done by 8:30am.

{Part Two of our Super Adventuresome Saturday is in the next post, probably not showing up on this page because of the plethora of pictures posted here}

Where the WILD Things Are

Saturday morning after the balloon launch, breakfast and a flurry of lunch-packing, we clambered  back into the van and headed out east-ish to Connell, WA to see Coach White and his middle school runners in action. Connell was about an hour and 20 minute drive from our house. We started listening to HP7 (Harry Potter book 7 on CD), which Jay was very excited about. I dosed him with ibuprofen before we left to help with his headache and it perked him up for the remainder of our outing. 

We arrived at Connell High School at 11:30am, just in time for the first middle school race. Jeff did his coachly duty and I stood on the sidelines chatting with a friend whose daughter is on Jeff's team. It was fun to be back at a cross country meet--it's been a while! Jay and Rose rolled down a big grassy hill near the start line, sat in the grass, ate their baggie'd PBJs and played in the dust and gravel by the course. After two hours of that they started asking repeatedly when it was time to go too. We watched a few races, chatted, hugged Coach White, and then left. 

When we were considering going to Connell earlier this week, I did a quick internet search to see what Connell had to offer the tourist. Connell has a population of 5,000, so I wasn't expecting much, but most small towns have some sort of claim to fame, and I adore discovering them. Connell did NOT disappoint! The town is home to no less than seven big wall murals depicting various historic events in town history, such as the potato harvest, the old field plowing, and even one based on a photograph of a flooded Main Street back in 1907. But the mural that caught my eye was next to the tiny branch library. It was a huge wall with Wild Things from Where the Wild Things Are painted on it! What could be more appropriate for a White Things pilgrimage?

We drove down the main street in town slowly, pointing out the different murals excitedly. The kids really got in to it--more than I expected--and that made it even more fun. Jay said "I love murals!" The murals were pretty cool looking. We saw: a dragon, a potato harvest, a harvest history, a flooded main street, and a homesteader's cabin, all in mural form. We circled around and around trying to find the Wild Things, but they were hiding. Finally I Googled the mural on my phone again and discovered that it was right behind the library tucked away in a courtyard. So we drove down a narrow alley and into a three-sided courtyard that was formed from the walls of the library and the buildings on either side of it. There they were: the Wild Thing monsters, larger than life! We parked and got out to see them up close. I took a bunch of pictures, because ever since Jeff named my blog nine years ago, the Wild Things have kind of become our White family Thing. We all loved the mural. The only thing that was missing was Jeff. Sadly, he had to stay at the meet. So I satisfied myself with pictures of the kids being wild things in front of the Wild Things.

Apparently the Wild Things have names. We didn't know that! 

Roaring their terrible roars and showing their terrible teeth. 

Amber may have been the wildest little thing that's visited that courtyard in a while! It was 2pm--an hour past her naptime at this point. We drank hot chocolate right next to the Wild Things from a thermos that I packed, although the day had warmed up significantly since the chilly morning. Then we loaded up, got gas and went potty, and drove home, accompanied by the mesmerizing vocal talents of Jim Dale, lost in the wizarding world.

We got home just after 4pm, and that's when my poor kids started going downhill. Jay's fever revisited him for the THIRD time this week, and Rose has finally come down with it for the first time. We're in for the long haul for the next week (or more if I ever get this sickness). I'm just glad Amber is done with it--sick one year olds are really draining and sad. 

I held poor feverish Rose while we watched the LDS Women's Conference broadcast together. Rose always enjoys watching the women's broadcast, and I love that about her. She admires all of the hairstyles, shirts, makeup, and jewelry of the choir members and she watches the speakers with big focused eyes. She will barely sit still for one general conference talk (although she loves the choirs), but she has watched the past few women's broadcasts all the way through. The talks were wonderful and I already want to re-watch the broadcast. Amber kept interrupting with loud noises, making me miss chunks of the sentences. Jay went into his room and fell asleep at 5pm, poor guy! 

 Me, Rose, and our little tormentor--haha

Isn't this just the saddest sight? Eventually Rose got tired of grinding her bony bones onto my bony frame and opted to lay on the hard kitchen floor instead. I would've thought she'd choose the carpet next door, but she simply slithered off my lap and curled up in a ball at my feet on the hard floor.

We picked Jeff up in Sunnyside (that 15 minute drive again) at 6:30pm. It was a lot of driving for one day, but I felt so satisfied with our day! Balloons and cross country and Wild Things and Harry Potter and a church broadcast! Too often with young kids I get into survival mode where I don't want to GO anywhere because it's so exhausting, especially with the long drives necessary to get anywhere in our state. But Saturday reminded me how much fun it is to go on family adventures--the preparation work and long driving are PART of the adventure! Jeff has two more cross country meets this season. We shall have to explore some more. Bring it ON, WashingTON!

Opposition and the soccer field

Today I have two journal entries to share.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Reading Elder Oaks' April 2016 conference talk about opposition gave me a useful insight this morning. I was trying to read with annoyingly persistently loud children--Jay and Rose were playing with/shouting into loud beepy crackly walkie talkies after breakfast this morning while I tried to read this one talk. I kept asking them to go to the basement, stop pushing the ringer button, stop shouting into the walkie talkies, etc., to no avail. They kept coming back and ruthlessly creating too much noise for me to think. I did even know what I was reading, and I was feeling totally peeved and frustrated. "Why can't doing the right thing that we are supposed to do every day be a little easier?" I thought peevishly. Then in a lull from the noise, some of the words in the talk I was reading broke through and made sense. Elder Oaks said:

"it is opposition that enables choice and it is the opportunity of making the right choices that leads to the growth that is the purpose of the Father’s plan."

After pausing briefly to appreciate the situational irony--me facing opposition while I read about opposition--I was taught: Opposition doesn't create personal growth; it creates an opportunity for personal growth. We take that opportunity when we choose to follow Jesus' example amidst opposition: choose to be patient, choose to be kind, choose to be positive, choose to serve, choose to pray, choose charity. Rather than continue fueling my frustration by battling loud children, I chose to leave the family room, in spite of my sore morning-after-race muscles, for the quiet of my bedroom to finish reading and pondering.

Every instance of opposition gives us an opportunity to grow by choosing not the easy route, but the right/kind/Christlike way. It is easier for me to choose the Christlike way in big defining obvious situations, like refusing to drink alcohol and choosing to keep the Sabbath day holy. It is harder to remember and notice the smaller daily situations of opposition that present me with the valuable opportunity for personal refinement and growth if I will just remember and choose to act as Jesus Christ would act. Like when my kids are being wild, or stubborn, or messy, or when they misbehave. There are other instances but I can't think over Amber's crying right now. I left the family room to finish writing this and she found me.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016:

Today was hard. Jay was home from school due to last night's fever, but he felt fine so he was a bit more inquisitive and high maintenance than I was prepared for. He was very sweet and tried to help me out with Amber, but I had to keep telling him to stop and rest so he could get better. I vacuumed the whole house this morning (it takes nearly an hour--we have a lot of carpet) and right after I finished, Amber had dumped a baggie of pretzels onto the carpet and unloaded about 30 books off the bookshelf. An uphill exercise in futility kind of a day. When Rose got home from school, Jay still felt good so I had him do his homework and then let him go out to play wildly on the tramp with Rose. After dinner he felt feverish and headachy again. That's exactly how Amber was last week--an on again off again fever. 

This week Amber has been in recovery mode in the food department. Since she barely ate anything last week, her appetite is big now. I think that contributed to her mood swings today, but I didn't realize it until after she was in bed for the night and I had some quiet time to reflect. Amber spent a large portion of the day crying loudly. She would eat a snack and then demand something else, turning every single question into a battle of wills. She yell-cried and I held my ground and it went on and on and on for 15, 20+ minutes! Over and over all day. I was so emotionally fried by 5pm! Well, that happened long before 5, but Jeff didn't get home till 5:40pm today, nearly 12 hours after he left this morning. Those cross country parents take forEVER to pick up their kids, and Jeff has to wait around till every kid has been picked up.

Jeff walked in and asked, "how are you doing?" to which I replied, 

"I think I need to go on a run, and I don't know when I'll be back." 

"As long as you come back," laughed my loyal husband gallantly. I assured him I would.

I had dinner all ready right when Jeff walked in, so I left the serving up of that fancy grilled cheese and tomato soup to him and split out of this crazy house to run five miles in the west country of Grandview. Alone. By myself. It wasn't quite as peaceful as I hoped, it being harvest season and all (various types of heavily laden trucks roaring past at regular intervals, plus more than the average amount of commuter traffic out there). And there are always dogs. My quads are also still sore and tired from my race on Saturday, making my would-be post-long-day-rage-speedy-run a tad slower than normal. I couldn't run quite as long as I needed to in order to decompress, so after 5 miles I swung around back behind our house and stopped at the soccer field to milk every last sweet drop of my alone time. 

It was gorgeously tranquil back there. I stretched and did the minimum essentials of my core exercises--even 5 push-ups--and then just laid there on my back in the cool grass, looking up into the fading light of the blue sky and finally feeling peaceful--settled--inside. Amber's day of screaming and crying really scrambled my wits and that 15 minutes of time in the still silent, still soccer field were balm to my introverted soul. 

I came inside at 6:50pm, assisted with kids' bedtime, showered, heated and ate my grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner, and felt completely at one with the world once more. One hour at the end of the day is all it took. One hour to exercise and shower and be alone with my thoughts. I felt SO much better! 

{end journal entry}

Usually I try to write some sort of conclusion for blog posts, but the more I study good writing, the more I'm realizing that good writers let readers draw their own conclusions. So even though I have plenty to say on these topics, I think this time I'll step back and let these two journal entries swirl together and speak for themselves.

 Rose is getting freckles! 

I ADORE FRECKLES!

 "Nuh!" --Knucks!