school's out

 School ended on Wednesday for our kids.

The teachers had two admin days after that to get things

organized and finish up report cards.

I got a jump on things and got busy a few weeks ago.

There's always lots to do to finish the year!

 I had my last two days of music classes on the playground.

 We have a beautiful playground with two amazing play structures,

a bush!

and lots of oak trees for shade.

It's really a kid's paradise.

 I finally have all my storage cupboards organized and now I have room

to store all the photocopying for the year.

I was able to get all the 

SQUILT journals

(Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time)

 copied for my almost 300 kids plus

recorder books and various other things.

And my bins are cleaned out and ready for another year.

It was a fantastic year and I'm already looking forward

to what's ahead next year!

the balloon ride

 At exactly 5:10 am

the hot air balloon company we booked with

picked us up at our hotel.

We were nervously excited.

 They fed us, and about 60 other people,

 a light breakfast

and then we were told to go out and watch

the balloons being fired up.

 It was a gloriously clear morning and not too cold.

 There are 20 balloon companies in this region

of Turkey

and only 100 balloons are allowed to be launched

each morning. 

 I sometimes struggle a bit with heights

but this didn't bother me at all.

 It's quite amazing how close

the balloons can get to each other.

 Crazy rock formations.

 Apparently, Cappadocia is one of the

best places in the world for hot air ballooning.

 Back on the ground.

The landing was pretty rough but we had been

well-coached on how to hold on, lean and

bend our knees.

 It's quite a process bringing the balloon down.

There are a lot of people on the ground waiting to grab

the basket and get that balloon under control!

That's Howard climbing out of the basket.

After we had landed on the ground, 

we were told to bounce up and down - 

which we did -

and they used that movement along with the fire

to jump the balloon right up onto the trailer!

It was quite the experience.

Goodies upon landing and a certificate for everyone.

This was definitely an adventure of a lifetime!