The Big Balloon Adventure

One sunny morning, a VERY big parcel arrived for the Taylor family. It was bigger than the sofa. Bigger than the fridge. Almost as big as the front door! On the side, in BIG red letters, it said: OPEN IN THE GARDEN. DO NOT OPEN INDOORS. WE MEAN IT! Everyone looked at everyone else. "What do you think is inside?" they wondered. There was only one way to find out!

Everyone gathered in the garden and pulled the string. WHOOSH! POP! FLUMP! Out burst a patchwork hot air balloon! It grew bigger and bigger and BIGGER, until it floated high above the garden. Down came a little basket. "Everybody in!" called Daddy. In climbed Daddy and Mummy. In climbed Isla, Leo and Mia. In climbed everybody else. Then, with a little wobble, the balloon began to rise. "Up, up, up and away we go!"

Up they floated, over the house, over the street, over the school and the shops. Their town grew smaller and smaller, until the houses looked like toy bricks and the cars looked like tiny beetles. "Look at that!" someone cried. "Look at THIS!" shouted someone else. The whole wide world stretched out below them. And their big adventure had only just begun! "Up, up, up and away we go!"

Soon they were floating over the sparkling blue sea. Down below, a whale popped up and gave a great big SPLASH! Dolphins leaped through the waves, twisting and turning and showing off. One did a somersault. Then another did two! Everyone clapped and cheered. "Do you think they can see us?" asked Mia. Just then, a dolphin jumped so high it looked as if it was waving hello!

Next came the snowy mountains, with their great white peaks reaching up to the sky. The balloon drifted into a fluffy cloud. And what a surprise! The cloud was full of soft, fluffy snow! "Snowball fight!" someone shouted. Snowballs flew everywhere. PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! One landed on a grown-up nose. One slid down a grown-up collar. Isla, Leo and Mia laughed and laughed. The grown-ups lost. They always do!

Down below, a steamy green jungle rustled and swayed. A family of cheeky monkeys swung up to say hello. One monkey spotted their picnic bag and pointed at the biscuits. The family pointed at the bananas. A swap was made! Bananas for biscuits. The monkeys chattered happily. The family munched happily. Everyone thought they'd got the best deal. Then one cheeky monkey stole one last biscuit and ran off!

Over the golden desert they floated, until they spotted the tallest sand dune they had ever seen. "Picnic time!" called Daddy. They climbed to the top and spread out their sandwiches. The sun was warm. The sand was soft. The view went on and on. A line of camels plodded past. They stopped. They stared. They stared at the sandwiches. "Sorry, camels!" laughed Daddy and Mummy. "These are ours!" The camels looked terribly disappointed.

Suddenly, the wind began to HOWL! Whoooooosh! The clouds turned dark, and the balloon bobbed up and down. The basket wobbled. It swayed. It spun around. "Hold on tight!" called Daddy and Mummy. Everyone held on to each other. A little hand held a big hand. Arms wrapped around shoulders. Everyone snuggled close. The wind blew harder. Then, slowly, slowly, the storm began to pass.

Out came the sunshine. And there, stretching across the sky, was the biggest rainbow anyone had ever seen! Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. It was so close they could almost touch it. One little finger reached out. "Ooooh!" The rainbow felt like warm, fizzy sherbet! It tickled their fingertips and made them giggle. "Can we take it home?" someone asked. Everyone laughed. "Perhaps we already have a little rainbow right here!"

As night fell, the balloon floated into a sky full of stars. Then something wonderful happened. Green and pink and golden lights danced across the sky. The northern lights! Everyone snuggled together under one big blanket. They pointed out the stars. They counted shooting stars. They whispered their wishes. The world was very big, and the night was very quiet. But tucked together in their little basket, the Taylor family felt warm and safe. "Up, up, up and away we go," they whispered.

At last, the sky began to turn pink. The sun peeked over the horizon, and the balloon drifted gently towards home. They had seen the sea and the mountains, the jungle and the desert. They had touched a rainbow and danced beneath the stars. "What a wonderful adventure!" said Daddy. "But where shall we go next?" asked Mia. Everyone thought for a moment. Then they smiled. "Down, down, down, and home we go, to the little house we love and know!"

The balloon landed softly in the garden, right where their adventure had begun. That evening, the Taylor family piled onto the sofa, still laughing about the monkeys, the snowballs and the fizzy rainbow. They had travelled all around the world. But the best part wasn't the mountains, the sea or the stars. It wasn't the rainbow or the flying balloon. It was being together. Because wherever the adventure takes you, the best place in the world is with the people you love. And the Taylor family had each other.