birthday balloons part two

Grab your coffee or whatever your beverage of choice is and sit back, you will be here for awhile. There is just something about a field of 500 hot air balloons and a digital camera. Kind of like your favorite Lay's potato chips...you can't stop at just one.

ONE of the highlights of the fiesta is the "special shape" balloons. They are so darn cute and pretty amazing with all the details that make them... well, special. It is so fun to see them laying out on the ground, all flat and lifeless and wonder what they are. Then as the fans blow air into them and the air is heated up it is so exciting to see their big giant bodies take shape. I don't know how many "special shapes" were there this year, but I did manage to photograph quite a few. I chose some of my favorites to share here. Yep, there were some that I left in the photo folder. Of course, I might want to save something for part three of this balloon weekend.

First up...any guesses? I'll reveal this guy later.

It is fun to see a whole cluster of balloons and then see one little cute shape pop up above the rest.
Like this witch riding her broom.
And then there was this huge Darth Vader.
And this guy with an ugly face.
And then this one with this cute little... tail.
The big clown had a really big nose and that other funny face was peeking out right next to him.
I liked this big yellow fish.
A penguin on holiday. Notice his sandals.
And then there was this zebra. And the monkey's behind him.
Not to be confused by these "zebras". That is actually what they are called and they are all over the field directing the balloons and letting them know when it it safe for them to take off.See the one "ref" is carrying a little zebra in his hand. Some of the outfits were pretty crazy. Unfortunately, I only got a picture of these two that were pretty tame.
Cute as a bug.
This giant rooster had some comical pilots who did a loud cock-a-doodle-doooo, as they floated up into the sky. And from this angle it looks like the rooster is laying a baby chick.
An owl.
A cute lady bug on a sunflower.
This little guy just had a great hair-do.
Sorta like this jack-in-the-box.
Okay... remember the eye balls in the first picture. Come on...turn around...
Why yes...it is Sponge Bob and I guess he doesn't live under the sea after all. Hellooo!
Remember Pepe Le Pew?
The three bees were a crowd favorite. Momma, Daddy and the little baby.
Cute as can bee.
Who do you think this big nose belongs to?
A giant kanga and her babies in her pouch.
And the big foot?
Well, Daddy Kanga of course. We never saw these two get off the ground. Either because the temperatures had warmed up too much or the wind was starting to cause a problem, but they were still so much fun to watch inflate.

So, I think the special shapes are pretty wonderful. We were like a bunch of little kids pointing them out..."Oh, look there's a cow!" There really was a cow, I just didn't get a great shot of him.

It is hard to decide if I like the fun shapes more than the regular balloons.

Really, I think I just like them all. Especially... when there are so many of them at one time and especially, when I was there to share it with the Birthday Girl and my sisters!