balloons and birthday and best of times

I was taking my walk this morning and saw a balloon, tied to a bush and was transported back in my mind to another day that i saw balloons in trees. It was the middle of summer and Paul took me to Stansbury Park to go for a hike. We started at the front of the park, behind the swings and went down the hill and back towards the end of the park. We were about at the part where we would be looking to go up the hill, towards the rotunda, near the picnic area when Paul pointed out a red balloon, tied to a tree."Let's take that path", he said. As we went up the hill, there were more and more balloons in trees. We kept going up the hill and chatting about this and that,following the balloon path. Paul said that it was probably from a Boy Scout event that had been there the day before. At the top of the hill, i went first into the clearing when i heard a rustle.....and out jumped my sister, my mother, my best friends Beth and Amy Snider and my Grandma Ama. "Happy Birthday!!!", they yelled. Woo hoo!! It was then that i noticed the picnic on the tables and the BIG watermelon "birthday cake"-- with candles. What a fun party! Hot dogs, chips, cole slaw and lots and lots of watermelon (which i love!) after i blew out the candles.......Was it an extravagant, over-the-top party with entertainers, decorations,and party favors? No. But that made it all the better. Then we all went back to the swings to play (and roll down the big hill) while the adults carried the picnic basket and left-overs to the car........What a fun memory for today.