On their list of "things to do before our circle has been completed," they can now cross off another item: Ride a hot-air balloon.

Their blue-and-yellow inflated aircraft was one of 19 that took off Saturday for the second day of the Ogden Valley Balloon Festival. The annual affair continues through tonight at the Wolf Creek festival field in Eden.

Hundreds of riders are expected to float among the Wasatch Mountains this weekend, and it's a hard-to-describe experience, the Hills said. "It's not like an airplane ride, it's just so beautiful," Steve Hill said, after enjoying the "calmness, the quiet, the scenery." It's not scary at all, the husband and wife agreed.

All three Hofheins kids, of Pleasant Grove, would concur with that assessment. That's after Nathan Hofheins had to push his daughters and son just a little to make them go on the "abridged" rides, where a crewman on terra firma tethers the hot-air balloon with a rope around his waist, while the pilot lifts and lowers the craft.

The Hofheins and several other youngsters - even a few adults - didn't go on the $175 flights hundreds of feet in the air; they just floated up a few stories for free.

Still, staring up at the elevated balloon doesn't really do justice to the experience, according to 7-year-old Joseph - "it looked higher from up there than down here."

He and his older sisters smiled and waved at their parents from the floating cabin, but a few others kids seemed a bit more concerned about the heights and fire involved. Those balloon riders might have smiled for their parents' camcorders and cameras, but lip-biting was involved when a loud blast of orange-and-blue flame flared into the multicolored balloon.

One of the festival's co-founders, balloon pilot Mark Nichols, said that noise also scared off his kids more than a decade ago, but now his children help rig balloons for his side business, Windrider, which provides rides for hire.

During the 14 years of the festival, Nichols said the Eden event has become a mainstay in the community, and he appreciates how it allows him to share his hobby with more and more people.

Nichols doesn't seem to get tired of flying. He's a pilot for FedEx, as well as for the Air Force reserves, but claims hot-air ballooning is a different sort of lift.

Plus, with a balloon, he can fly whenever he wants. After all, Nichols said, "I can't just go out any day and climb into an F-16."

mariav@sltrib.com

* The 14th annual Ogden Valley Balloon Festival features arts and crafts, live entertainment and hot-air balloon rides at Wolf Creek and Wolf Mountain in Eden.

* Breakfast and dinner buffets are provided by the Ogden Rescue Mission and proceeds help fund the organization.

* For information, visit www.ogdenvalleyballoonfestival.com.