Hot air balloons are so whimsical. I think they’re quite fantastic and can only imagine how exciting they were when they were first invented. Canberra has a good climate for hot air balloons and we often see them from our apartment. My love of the balloons has rubbed off on Elena and she gets awfully excited when she sees them out the window.

Canberra’s annual Balloon Spectacular is on at the moment. The balloons take off from the lawns of Australia’s Old Parliament House and fly over the city. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for Elena to see a hot air balloon up close.

Elena was a big fan of the balloons and their burners from afar. She wasn’t as keen on them up close. Hugo slept through the whole event. Unfortunately the balloons weren’t taking off, but we still got to see plenty of tethered balloons up close.

Luckily, the only other person in our family mad enough to drag a toddler and a baby out of bed at 6am to see some balloons, my mother, was in town last weekend. Elena thought getting up and dressed and rushing out of the apartment before dawn was a great game.

Kimba the lion was one of the tethered balloons. Isn’t it great?

And, as clichéd as it is, we even got to stop and smell the roses on the way home!