We had a wonderful surprise when Chris and Paula decided to bring the boys to California for the weekend - and escape the heat of Southern Utah. We laughed, played, spilled milk, read books, picked up endless toys - and loved every minute. We spent the 1st day at Heritage Park and swimming in the pool at Amber's house. The kids loved being together and Caleb was known to say: "mom - Isabel follows me everywhere". The next day we went to the Discovery Museum - then to the Irvine Spectrum to ride the ferris weel - called the "big wheel" because we sat in large baskets that hold up to 6 people instead of regular 2-person swings. On Saturday we went to ride the big "Orange" helium balloon (for the 2nd time) and had a blast - headed out to ride a fun train around Irvine Regional Park and spent some time at the zoo - then on to the beach for a hot dog cookout with all the kids. I have never seen so much sand covering children - but they were in heaven. Thanks you guys for having such amazing little ones who bring so much joy into life. This helium balloon is the first attraction/activity designed for the new "Great Park" that won the bid to replace the El Toro Marine Base when it was sold to the city. The balloon reaches heights of 300 to 400 feet (depending on wind) - it has a single cable in the middle and you ride in a basket that is shaped kind of like a donut so you can look down through the middle. You can see for miles around you and especially view all the things they are already beginning to build. Eventually (about 15 years) the park will be bigger than Central Park in New York - and will include a canyon - lake - golf courses - wilderness park - museums, and much more.

Caleb was a little tentative being up so high - but he loved the adventure of riding under a big balloon and being able to see the ferris wheel he rode in the day before - which is a few miles away from the balloon.

This is a special "history walk" - they have used one of the old runways and developed a chronological walk through some of the history of America and especially the marine base. This will continue to grow as the great park grows. It is awesome to see how much of the base they intend to keep and re-use (i.e. runways will become parking lots - and cargo jet hangers will become museums). This was truly a great adventure - and it is free to the public.

This is a picture of the basket you actually ride in - it is shaped like a donut with a big hold in the middle. It is completely safe and enclosed by netting - but open to the air so you can see a lot and take lots of pictures. And NO - you do not get motion sick going up in the balloon - that was one of my fears but other than a slight jerky movement when you take off and land - the ride is perfectly smooth with little to no motion at all. It was awesome.

This is a night time view of the balloon. We actually went at night and saw the city in lights - but couldn't see too much of what is going on around the area - so we went back the next morning and took another ride in daylight to see how the ground actually looks. Both were great adventures and equally fun.