Balloon Jam

Matthew arrived home from Cub Scout Day Camp all sweaty, muddy, and smelling of repeated applications of sunscreen. Instead of resting, I whisked him away for a Mother-Son date. We had been looking forward to this date all week.

We drove into Austin for a Balloon Jam, where we met several pros with amazing talent and learned all night until our heads popped. (Pun totally intended).

(Quick side note: Matthew has been learning balloon twisting for the past month so he can do party entertainment as a high school job rather than working a stereotypical fast-food job. (Even though I used to manage a McDonald's restaurant in college, I am adamant that my kids will never work in fast-food.) He's already accompanied me to a party to get experience with clients. He has the funnest clown costume. Oh, I forgot to mention his birthday party. Remember the Messy Party? Matt dressed up in his costume at the end and twisted balloons for all his friends. They thought it was the coolest thing ever. Wowzahs, this is a big tangent. Let's get back on track.)

So. This outing was a nice excursion to pump up our twisting skills.

It was such a great evening to learn tips and tricks from experienced professionals and get inspired by their creativity. I have such a long way to go in my ballooning skills, but I felt very encouraged by everyone there.

Check out some twisters at work:

By the end of the night the floor was carpeted with balloons. It was such a sight!

The energy was great and I was touched by the generosity of a few of the twisters who mentored me all night and offered invaluable advice. They were so patient in explaining the 'boring basics' to me and helping me grow. I felt like a sponge soaking it all up! Thank you so much everyone for helping me learn!

Matthew was pleased to meet a couple other kid-twisters at the Jam. He had worried he'd be the only child there. Matt was really impressed with their skills and felt empowered in his own twisting attempts. 

Here are Matt's favorite balloons from the night. He managed to fit them all in the backseat of our car to bring home. 

I really love this Air Guitar. -smirk- What a fun balloon for boys! 

It was such a fun night for the two of us, and we stayed out entirely too late (especially after a long hot day at cub scout day camp!). We were really exhausted by the time we crawled into bed, but it was totally worth it.

We eagerly look forward to the next Balloon jam, and didn't mind getting up at 6am the next morning with only 6 hours of sleep for another day of Scout Camp.