The tent slowly began to fill with balloons and after about 3 minutes we finally had a firm grasp on just how many 1,000 balloons actually is.
It also wasn't long before we encountered our first problem. As the tent filled with balloons, the sun was reaching its maximum shiney-ness. The temperature under the tent was close to 310 degrees (kelvin). As a result some of the balloons started to pop. We were filling faster than they were popping, but when you're trying to inflate 1,000 balloons, hearing them spontaniously pop is not a sound that makes you happy.
As a result, balloon containment spread to the canopy we were working under and even into the house. The popping continued, but at a slower rate.
It wasn't all hard work. We wrote personalized messages on the back of many balloon cards, with sayings like, "Take good care of my balloon", or "Please don't feed this balloon to any endangered sea life", or "The lucky finder of this balloon gets a tour of my chocolate factory."
Nancy even drew a face on one of her balloons. Later, we found her in the corner arguing with her balloon over politics.
