Every year Sennet’s school has their “balloon drop.” The kids are given a small balloon and told that they have to fill it with water and then build some kind of holder or nest or vehicle for it. Then they bring the balloon back to school and the staff take them up to the fourth floor roof and toss them off. The idea being that you don’t want your water balloon to break when it hits the playground asphalt. The kids can only use recycled material for their vehicle, so everything can just be tossed in recycling when finished. I think Sennet is 4 for 4 so far with not having his balloon break (kindergarten through third grade – but perhaps one year it broke – I can’t remember exactly).

This year we asked him what he wanted to do for balloon drop and his immediate response was, “a taco.”

Stacie and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then we figured, “why not?”

So he built a taco. (He actually had a little help from dad and a little more help from mom, because he didn’t give us the balloon or instructions until THE NIGHT BEFORE it was due – takes after his father there…)

Folded a big piece of cardboard, built a cradle for the balloon, then filled it up with a nice cushion of shredded green and yellow paper (lettuce and cheese), and butcher paper (meat/beans) – bit of red paper in there too (salsa).

When the teachers held it up over the ledge for the drop, the whole school (who is down below on the playground) started chanting, “Taco! Taco! Taco!”

They tossed it off, and once again his balloon survived the ordeal. Apparently the kids all went bananas tearing it apart to see if the balloon lived. Shredded paper everywhere. Sennet had to clean it all up – ha! Worth it. (Our friend Kelly took these last shots of the aftermath…)