The clouds were crazy amazing on this day. LOVE this place!

The clouds were so bizarrely awesome that morning.

THIS WAS THE MOMENT I WAS WAITING FOR THE ENTIRE TIME---that piece of sun when they stood the balloon up… it happened pretty fast and I'm so happy I actually caught it!

I positioned myself here so that I could get a series of shots …not to mention those amazing clouds! I like shots like this because you can see the scale of these balloons because of the wee little people around them.

One of the reasons I love the Carolina Balloonfest is because the pilots participate in competitions. On Saturday morning it was the Hare & the Hound competition. The Jasper balloon (the Hare) usually takes off first with a head start over the others. Wherever the Jasper balloon lands, they mark an X on the ground. The other balloons (the hounds) follow and they have to throw their markers as close to the X as possible.

I just love hot air balloons… they're so vibrant and have great color patterns…and they just float away…

After the Jasper Balloon (the Hare) left, it was time for the other balloons (the hounds) to chase after it. I just love how huge the balloons are!

This is Ham-let... One of the shape balloons at Carolina Balloonfest… I have a bizarre sense of humor so…. does anyone else think it looks like Ham-let makes a funny face because there is fire being lit under him??? Love this balloon, on the side it says "When Pigs Fly" and on the back there's a little curly pig tail.

Just take a moment… a moment to see the enormous size of that balloon! It's so cute too...

Rocket Man is Huuuuuuuge! We also decided he looked like he's constipated…LOL The ReMax balloon is tethered next to Rocket Man and flying in the background is the Two Sweet balloon. It was pretty funny…sometimes depending where we stood, the perspective of Rocket Man seemed like he was also watching the balloons fly by.

I L-O-V-E the balloon glow!!! If you sit up on the hill, there's a great view. Sometimes they look like blinking Christmas lights… Also the crowd counts and everyone says "Full Burn" and all the balloons light up at once! It's so very awesome to see! I really like the rings of light on the ground from the balloon at the right, front of the pic.