Game Night

On Friday night, Kurt and Laura invited us over for dinner and games. It's been so interesting watching these relationships unfold. I feel such a connection with Laura because of our high school friendship (and the fact that we knew each other before we had husbands and families. . .) And it's fun to watch the kids make connections- almost like they're related. . . Gloria is sure Kurt and Rob are long lost brothers. . . So, anyway, we ate pizza, played games, talked, laughed hysterically and relaxed . . .

Laura and her youngest teamed up and beat the rest of us at Scene It:

The kids spent a lot of time on the tramp. . .

This is a bad/blurry photo, but still so cute:

We probably over-stayed our welcome by leaving after 1:30 a.m. but we just had to watch The Princess Bride. . . . I did come to the conclusion that Gloria may be right and Rob and Kurt just might be long lost brothers when they started quoting Monty Python . . . This could be bad. . .

The Fountain

Another Thursday, another Nampa Nights. The temperatures have been well over 90 degrees this week so it was a nice treat to head over to the fountain that is a block away from the stage.

The kids had fun cooling off in the fountain's spray:

Gloria gets soaked from head to toe whenever she has the chance. . .

High Street was the band for the evening and they always draw the biggest crowd of the summer.

Gloria couldn't help but dance the night (?) away. . .

The band interacts with the crowd during each of their three sets and tries to get everyone up and moving . . .

Lori attracted a little bit of attention. . .

Hmmm. . .

6 Thursdays down, 10 to go. . .

The River

A few years ago we discovered a perfect little spot off of the greenbelt where the river is just right for dogs and kids. Amazingly enough, it's less than a 5 minute walk from the shop. It's a great place to take a short break in the middle of the day, so that's just what we did on Wednesday afternoon. . .

The girls played in the river. . .

The boys threw rocks. . .

Lucy had a wonderful time discovering all of the new smells. . .

Emma was at home resting after a vet visit for her ears so Lucy had the river and the kids all to herself. . .

We eventually had to get back to work, but it was lovely while it lasted. . .

A Sense of Normalcy

Zach and I played Settlers of Catan the other night for the first time in about a month (starting the game at 11:30 p.m., of course. . . ). Gloria wanted to play so we gave her plenty of advantages so she wouldn't get discouraged and give up. Halfway into the game, Rob came home, took over Gloria's spot and wiped Zach and I off the board. . . Things were back to normal for a couple of hours.

Trailer Teamwork

Even though we've been incredibly busy this month, there are several things that have made my life easier. The stage trailer, of course, has saved our backs as well as hours and hours of set-up time, but the other aspect that has made a huge difference is the teamwork between these two guys. They just work really well together and I think that all of the time and effort they both spent on this trailer has paid off in many ways. . .

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again. . . it's a beautiful thing. . .

Gloria and the Reptile Guy

The set-up for Sunday's event went pretty smoothly and actually turned out to be a lot of fun. The park was filled with jump houses, small carnival rides and all kinds of entertainment. The stage and canopy turned out really nice:

The "Rhythm Dogs":

The Reptile Guy was very cool. He's only 18 or 19 and he's been taking rescued animals to all sorts of places, including The Tonight Show, since he was 14.

He's great at interacting with the audience and drawing them in to what he's doing. Of course, when he asked for volunteers, Gloria immediately caught his attention:

He seems to really love what he does and it shows in the way he holds the audiences' attention.

Gloria rode The Orbitron over and over. She even convinced me to try it and I managed to do it without throwing up!

The Tracie Underwood Connection Band:

Gloria made herself at home, as usual, and had a great time winning prizes at Bingo:

When the event ended, Rob hi-jacked my camera and took pictures of his new objects of affection:

I have made it pretty clear over the years that I don't want to fly speakers. . .

I've thought about giving him an ultimatum. . . the speakers. . .

. . . or me. . .

. . . but chances are good I might lose. . .

We only had about an hour and a half before we had to vacate the premises so we broke things down as quickly as we could. We had great help. . .

Gloria took advantage of the rented dance floor and performed for her imaginary audience:

We were able to load everything but the two stages by the time we had to leave. One more trip in the morning and we'll have one more event to check off the (long, long) list. . .