Hello Dear Readers!

You may remember that time last year when Joni and I took a hot air balloon ride over Luxor, watching the sun rise spectacularly over the Nile as we drifted above.

I had such a great time then that when planning Harrison’s birthday trip I thought ‘Hey, I wonder if they do hot air balloons in Lithuania?’

The answer to that is yes, yes they do.

So it was that we rose at the crack of dawn to blearily drag on every item of clothing we owned (kidding, I was also wearing half of Harrison’s clothes) and hop into a van with several strangers, bound for Trakai, the neighboring city and site of our launch.

It was approximately 1 degree outside despite being April, which meant I looked like this:

I did, however, manage to thaw a little as Harrison helped to inflate the balloon:

The ride itself was very peaceful, with just three of us (and the pilot) flying over the city.

Now, I don’t know if this is a real thing, but after landing the pilots, um, said a prayer and poured champagne on the ground. They then wiped it on our head and pronounced us official hot air ballooners. No, really.

Regardless, I enjoyed the free champagne and loved being able to take Harrison (who by the way was terrified) up over the skies.

-Carissa “Officially Qualified to Fly the Balloon” Rawson