Although we see the hot air balloons almost everyday, it's always a treat to see more than the regular amount in the air during the Balloon Fiesta in the Hunter Valley. Grabbing my camera and toddler in arms we drove 20 seconds down the road to see them land at one of their preferential landing sites in Old North Road.

Day 3 of the 4 day fiesta

When i first moved to the Valley over 13 years ago we went up in a Balloon Aloft flight for our wedding anniversary, and since then we've always loved seeing them floating over the area we live in.

When i first saw the full baby mobiles of mini hot air balloons on Pinterest back in 2015, i knew that was what i wanted to make for my son's nursery, but my own version, with a little added UNIQUE Claire touch to stand out from the thousands of others on the internet.

This year i made a special commemorative mobile to try and depict as many of the hunter valley companies as i could honor through my talents, including the new Peterson House hot air balloon in hot pink and black.

My son was super excited to see the "Hot balloons" as he calls them, in our road this morning. A slightly unplanned viewing, as i'd been sick in bed over the long weekend and didn't think i'd get a chance to see them all this year. Thanks to facebook notifications i saw that they were taking off from Oakey Creek Road and travelling north towards us, in a frantic change of clothes and wake everybody else up and bundle them in the car we drove 1km to the landing site.

Dash asking about the NUDIE balloon, saying "mummy, why is there a baby in a nappy balloon?" LOL

The welcome site certainly brought more people out than our rural road had ever seen in the mornings, country rush hour, LOL! the balloons somehow bring a smile to peoples faces and lift their mood, which is something that my room decor mobiles do too, babies and young kids faces light up when they see them, and that in turn gives me joy that my 100% hand sewn mobiles are loved beyond the many hours that go into making them.

We look forward to next years balloon fiesta event in the Hunter Valley Vineyards

Thank you Balloons Aloft and all the other companies for the free show this morning XXX