I See the Light

A friend of mine also graduated this year.  And here in Minnesota, there are these things called "Open Houses."  Supposedly they're to celebrate the graduate's successful graduation without dying (high school is tough these days, you know!).  To be honest, it's more of a free food fest ("So how do you know the graduate?"  "What? Oh, we're just here for the food."--no that doesn't really happen).

Well, this particular friend of mine happens to be extremely cool and came up with a fantastic idea to end her Open House.

Floating lanterns.

(Does not come with matching Flynn and Rapunzel.)

The Beast and I, being introverts, discussed whether or not we wanted to stay to see the lanterns.  Good thing we did!

At the appointed time (9:30 I believe), everyone was called over to the side yard, where there was more room.  Various kids held unlit lanterns by the strings attached.

Yes, the lanterns weren't really going to float up into the sky as in Tangled.  The idea was to hold onto the (invisible) string, making the lantern like a kite.

(Or was that the idea?)


My friend took one of the lanterns from the child holding it, and with the help of her father and sister's husband, started the process of setting it afloat.  It took a long time.

When it seemed the lantern was ready, full of air, she nodded to her sister's husband that it was time to let it fly.

Of course, she meant float.

He let go of the string.

Off it shot into the sky, floating up, up, up, and away!  Sailing over our heads, we all burst into laughter as it disappeared out of sight into somebody else's yard.  Someone called out "It hit a phone line!" (but I have no evidence to prove that it really did hit a telephone pole or anything), and my friend's sister's husband quickly decided he wouldn't help with the next one.

And it wasn't until just then, as they prepared the second lantern for a safer flight (I mean, float), I realized this was worthy enough for the blog.

So that's when I pulled out my cell phone to get some shots.

All pictures have been posted here with the permission of my friend.

The second lantern just after being lit.
All pictures (except last) taken by and copyright THE Disney Freak.

My friend holding the string to the lantern.  Her brother held
another long piece of strong on the other side
of the lantern.
This time, her dad told them, "Don't release the tension until I tell you."

I actually really really love this photo.
Waiting for the lantern to be ready to float.

Eventually, while we were waiting, the lantern
actually began to burn a little.
Eventually, my friend's dad just gave up waiting
and that was the end of the floating lanterns.

Rapunzel and Flynn in the original scene.
Picture from a Google search: allthingsfadra.com