Oh what a weekend.

It appears that St. Louis believes the Ice Man cometh. As witnessed by the fact that EVERY suburb in this city held some sort of celebration/hoopla within the past two days. We're talkin' parades. Hot air balloon races. Jazz fests. Craft fairs.

And carnivals where all the rides are F-R-E-E. City of Brentwood, you win for most best theme (FREE!), most economical and overall good time!!!!!

So it appears we need to party like it's 2009, because winter is a comin' and that means we are going to hibernate for 4-6 months. After we add a respectable layer of life-sustaining blubber courtesy of large amounts of candy/funnel cakes.

I learned a few things this weekend. Via free events that may/may not include scary metal cages suspended by questionable metal cables (translation: ferris wheel). I am probably afraid of heights. You may have guessed this based on my morbid fascination with plummeting to my death in the St. Louis arch two weeks ago. Not so much afraid of heights as afraid of falling from them.

The Scrambler. Man, o man, I used to love this ride in high school. Now, a close second to my low tolerance for heights is my inability to handle things that spin. Constantly, at high speeds. Do not let my smile fool you, we were one rotation away from pukeville.

From the free carnie to the balloon glow. Never done this before in all of my years here...don't know that I'll ever do it again, as it involved a 4 mile hike...with four children. That's a two hour journey, in the dark. Fueled by corn dogs and diet coke. BUT. It is absolutely STUNNING to see so many hot air balloons lit up against a clear black sky.

Too bad Big J thought we were marching him to his death in a field of large orbs and fire. He was NOT a fan. No amount of holding or hugging could console him against the fire that would unexpectedly shoot up in the balloons with a noise similar to a wind tunnel. Hmmm. Can't believe I didn't see that coming.

Saturday brought parades, jumpy castles, sunburns, soccer games, candy consumption. Big J was finally convinced he wasn't being sacrificed to the balloon gods.

What a weekend!