117 Pictures were taken on Monday. . .

. . . and that doesn't include the flub-ups that I deleted! With the exception of Zach's birthday parties, I haven't been taking nearly as many pictures lately as I did in the summer when we had so many interesting events going on. Monday, however, turned into a big handful of Kodak Moments all day long! The day started with a stage set up at Storey Park at 9:00 a.m. My mom and dad came out to see how the trailer sets up and Kurt brought Hailey and Hayden so we had a good crew of helpers. It was pretty routine and, since we didn't have to put up the canopy, it went pretty quickly. This park is practically in our backyard and it's the first time we've had an event here. Actually, the event was a political rally that we only had to provide the stage for but it was nice having it so close to home.

I think Hayden may be tired of having his picture taken. . .

It was a chilly, windy morning. Definitely sweatshirt weather.

While we were setting up the stage, several fire trucks went by, sirens blaring, and we could see smoke in the near distance. When we left the park, Rob and I decided to get a little closer to see what was going on. We ended up getting really close. We stayed out of the way and I was able to take a few interesting pictures. I felt a little like a voyeur but I noticed I wasn't the only one with a camera. We were told that a house that was under construction caught fire and quickly spread into the nearby field, spurred on by the wind.

Only one other house seemed to be threatened and they had a pretty good handle on it.

They lost a 20 foot pine tree and a few shrubs but the house was spared.

This little barefooted lady was the home owner and was being interviewed by the local news people. She was very animated and seemed to be OK with the camera men filming her in her house coat. I really wanted to take her some shoes and a jacket. . .

I think her shed may have gotten a little singed but I heard on the news later that no one was hurt and no homes were lost. Oh. . . and that it was arson. . . I can't imagine. . .

Back at home, Rob wasn't in a big hurry to go to the shop so he wrestled his 3 girls for awhile:

Gloria enjoyed Rob's attention at the shop, too. He fixed up a spare case so she could use it for Barbies. . .

. . . and the two of them experimented with cool, interesting sounds on the keyboard.
I actually managed to catch up on a little bit of paperwork before it was time to head back to the park to take the stage down. Laura and the kids came along to help and the stage came down in record time.

The kids begged to stay and play for awhile so we all headed over to the playground.

Hailey and I were both taking pictures and I think we got some pretty good shots:

Lucy was very entertaining. She loves to "herd" people like any good Australian Shepherd would so she spent most of her time tracking down the kids and bringing them back. Rob would hold her back while someone ran a good distance away and then he would let her go and she would find them and bring them back.

We had to convince her that Hayden made it back so she would stop searching for him. . .

Lucy is also good at Hide-n-Seek . . . you really can't get away from her. . .

. . . just like you can't escape my camera. . .

Lucy was pretty worn out by the end of the evening. . .

Warning: Don't drink out of the water fountain next to the restrooms at Storey Park. . .

It was a nice way to spend the evening- good friends, nice weather, no canopy to take down, no truck to load. . .

The fun continued even after we got home. We barbecued steak and teriyaki chicken, made Au Gratin potatoes and corn on the cob and sat down together as a family to eat dinner. It wasn't quite as normal as it sounds. . . after all, it was 10:00 when we sat down to eat. We ended the day with a game of Settlers of Catan. A happy ending was made even happier when I won the game!