You know you're in Arkansas

When you go out for a date and end up at a buffet (sick, btw.)



When you check out the movies and nothing looks interesting, so instead, you go to Tractor Supply and buy animal traps to catch the litter of stray kittens under your house.


When you go outside in the morning to check your cat traps, and find this waiting for you.

not a kitten.

Saturday Night

On Saturday night we ate dinner at the Station Cafe and walked around the square for a bit.

I convinced a random 10ish yr old kid at the water fountain that a wad of moss down in the water was a snake and then I scared him when we poked it with a stick and I jumped and shouted "rah!". It was pretty funny.


After dinner, I was skooled by my dad in a round of mini golf at Metfield park.

I did score a hole in one on one hole, but took like 5 strokes on the next hole and it was all downhill from there.

The kids loved the mini golf. I don't know why we haven't done this before. Y'all know how much I love free entertainment. We will definitely go back. I think we will try out the course at Kingsdale park later this week.

Corbin was so cute with his tiny golf club. He knew just what to do, and hit a hole in one on one of the holes. Are you kidding me? The kid is 2 and already a golfing genius. Watch out Charlie Sheen, looks like someone else has Tiger Blood.

{29}

29 sounds older than 30, if you ask me, and I wasn't particularly thrilled about getting older. I never thought I'd be that girl who whines about her age, but I still feel 25, and that's where I'd rather be. I had a wonderful birthday that started out with a 5 mile run with Darcie and Tanya, then a trip to the farmers market, where they handed out dozens and dozens of free tulip bulbs (I can't wait to plant them in the fall! and free? excellent.), I got home just in time to head back out the door with my family for soccer games.

The girls played well and the games ended just in time for the sky to turn black and the rain to come pouring down. We headed to Fayetteville anyway and had delicious cookies and pettite fours at Rick's Bakery (I rate that place 5 stars. You KNOW it's a good bakery when they their plain old sugar cookie is something you crave daily.) The kids loved sitting at the counter and watching the ladies behind the glass decorate elaborate cakes with fondant and fancy piping. Aaron picked up a little cake for me (chocolate on chocolate) to bring home and continue festivities throughout the entire weekend (which I loved).

We also went to the Cricket store and got a new phone. I still don't know how to work it, and our phone service is still total crap and I still drop 3 calls a day if I walk into certain parts of my house or drop my foil antannae hat, but it is nice to hear better reception and have a phone with a battery that lasts longer than 45 minutes. Also, the new phone has web access, so that's fun. It also has one of those fancy touch screens, so if you recieve a text that says something like "re ctgan atia I dobn,t Kdjnboooow on sTURDAy" --just know it's from me.

Our friends watched the kids that night and we went to dinner at Table Mesa (another favorite of mine, I can't get enough of their flautas and sweet potato fries), and our waitress surprised us with a key lime tres leches. I am ordinarily not a fan of tres leches cakes (too soggy), but the key lime version was tart and fabulous! We were stuffed to the muff with guac and dinner and couldn't even finish it.

Weak sauce, I know. Aaron and I were disappointed with our inability to make room and muscle down something so good and so free. After dinner we went to Hanks Fiiiiiiiiiiiine Furniture to look at sofas (and realize we did not like anything in the store), a task that would have not been productive with the kids in tow.

The next day, I slept in until 7:30, had banana pancakes a la Chef(s) Willy Kids.
That night we ate cake.

It was a great birthday.

I am so grateful God has blessed me with everything I've ever wanted out of life: A loving husband, awesome children, good health, good friends, a job that I love, and a lovely home of my own.

I'm working on crossing things off my list of 30 things I'd like to do by the time I turn 30. There are a few things I don't think are going to happen (leave the country), but I'm starting a couple other projects this year that are not on the list that are bigger and more important anyway.

29 will be good. It is good.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

We're headed to Dallas this weekend.
Sans children!

We plan to:
-sleep past 5am
-go to the temple
-eat In n Out Burger
-go furniture shopping
-IKEA
-hit the outlets
-eat a lot of good food.

I'm really looking forward to a couple days alone with my guy.
He's good company, be jealous.

It takes a good friend to love your children the way you do.
A BIG shout out to Kasey. You serve unconditionally, and I love that about you.
And not just because I often happen to be the recipient of said service.
Thanks for keeping my brood this weekend.
You're the best.

Let the weekend begin!

Aife Aife Aife…Arted! Gringo Fiesta III

Gringo Fiesta III was a spicy success.

Can you stand to look at how excited I was?

Gringo Fiesta kicked off on February 18th.

This is officially the greatest made up holiday ever created.
And I don't just say that because I made it up

Friends came over. ...Although, a few of you managed to evade the camera for the second year in a row. And I can't imaging why, since I am such an incredibly gifted photo taker and all ;)

But seriously, you'd better get in there next time, so that when y'all become rich and famous, I can have some proof that we are friends.)

Tomatillo Salsa was consumed in massive quantities. You should make some. It is excellent...and dare I say, better than the tomatillo salsa at Pollo de Feliz. And if you went to Pollo Feliz and took a good look at the folks dining there, well then you would believe me when I tell you that Pollo Feliz knows how to get their salsa on. The dude in front of us in line was actually giddy with delight when he placed his order. He looked back at us and with fingers wiggling impatiently in front of him (like a child does when you take too long to unwrap a popcicle for them), he clapped extatically, "Ooooh, I'm so ready for this. You just can't go wrong with the chicken at Pollo Feliz." I stepped up to the counter next and said, "I want whatever that guy ordered."
When I tasted their tomatillo salsa, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Granted, I had just ran 15 miles in the snow and was totally starving, but whatever. It was delicious.

And thanks to Kasey and Jimmie, we now have the recipe. Make it. Eat it. Enjoy.

Mustaches appeared.

and luckily, there were no hair fires at this gathering...although the guys sort of do look like they'd been "burning" something. Just sayin'...

But I'm guessing it was along the lines of heartburn from all the spicy goodness we put in our faces.

We did it. We ate Mexican Food for 10 days straight.
Here's the menu:
(These are in no particular order after Day 1)

1) Shredded beef (for tacos, burritos, whatev), black beans and tomatillo salsa
Directions:
Sear a chuck roast in a frying pan for a few minutes on high heat. Before adding the roast, I threw 2 TBS of olive oil, 2-3 tsp of minced garlic and 2 TBS of Caldo De Pollo into the pan.
Transport roast to crockpot on Low.
Add 2 cups beef broth, 1 bay leaf, 2 jalapenos halved and seeded (I left a few in for a slight kick), 1TBS lime juice, and 1 small can of diced green chilies. Slow cook for 7 hours or until the roast shreds easily with a fork. It helps tenderize the meat if you flip the roast over in the liquid after about 2-3 hours. Drain excess liquid and serve with black beans.

We also ate Kasey's delicious Chipotle Chicken Salad,

2) SantaFe CPK pizzas with black beans, avocado, and cilantro lime chicken,

3) Fish Tacos with mango topping
Place boneless tilapia fillets on a sheet of foil and sprinkle with a dash of garlic salt. Place one butter pat (thin) on each fillet, and give each a healthy squirt of lime juice. Fold and close the foil around the fish so it makes a large loose envelope.
Grill on medium hi for 6-8 minutes, or until the fish is flakey.
Mango topping: dice 2 roma tomatoes,1 mango, 1/4 red onion and half of a peeled cucumber. mix with 1 tbs olive oil, lime juice, minced garlic, and a LOT of fresh cilantro. Spoon over fish, or serve with fish in warmed corn tortillas with avocado slices and more limes. Mmmmm limes....

4) 7 layer burritos
Ground beef, tomatoes, spanish rice, cheese, refried beans, Fold into Abuela's tortillas that have been cooked fresh on the griddle. Spray the burrito with canola oil spray, and sear the burrito on the hot griddle to crisp up the edges and melt all the contents inside. Serve with an avocado topping (whip together avocado, sour cream, a dash of garlic salt and a squirt of lemon juice).

5) Chicken Tortas and pina coladas
a torta is a sandwich with a shredded beef, chicken, or pork filling, onions (we leave them out), cheese, and avocado slices on grilled bread...and by "grilled" I mean the bun is opened, slathered with butter (or brushed with that melty butter stuff like what they put on your popcorn at the movies) and placed face down on a hot griddle. We stuffed our tortas with pepper jack cheese, avocado and leftover shredded beef from the first night.
The pina coladas were a big hit with the girls, as were the sugar rimmed glasses (thanks for the mix, Missie!)

6) Fajita Quesadillas and berry margaritas
We used cilantro lime chicken (I grilled and extra breast on pizza night), black beans, sauteed red pepper, and pepper jack cheese.
The berry margaritas were from a mix (thanks, Missie!) and we mixed it with sprite.

7) Taquitos (yep. the frozen kind. I had school that night. it counts.)
We like the El Monterey chicken and cheese taquitos and we eat them with (and only with) Tostitos Restaurant Style medium salsa (thank you darcie for bringing both of these into my life).

8) One Dish Mexican Casserole (---now, my neice jordan's fave!)
This recipe comes from Ashley and Joseph Danes, who were friends of ours when we lived in Boise. When Aaron had his blood clots, they brought us this dinner the night we came home from the hospital. Yes. It's a casserole, and we freaking love it. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

9) Taco Salad with pita chips and salsa crema dressing.
This recipe is adapted from a Body For Life recipe.
Brown ground turkey and seasonw with McCormick taco seasoning according to the packet directions. serve with hearts of romaine, kidney or pinto beans, avocados, cheese, tomatoes, whole wheat pita chips and salsa crema.

salsa crema: wisk together equal parts softened cream cheese and fat free sour cream. Add 1 tsp seasoning from the taco packet, and enough salsa to thin the mixture into a dressing. Delish.

homemade pita chips: use a pizza cutter to slice whole wheat pita bread into trianglar (like you would slice a pizza) "chips". Spray/brush with water and sprinkle with coarse ground sea salt. Broil on Low until slightly crispy. Beware of overcooking, they'll be gross if they crisp for too long. Leave them in the broiler just long enough to dry them into chips. 2 minutes. (hahaha "twoo minutes.") This is the BEST substitute for tortilla chips on a salad. So much more flavor. Yummy.

10) Carne Con Chile
This recipe comes from Elena Grover. It's one of our favorites, especially because it freezes so beautifully. We eat it most often diced zucchini or yellow squash in it, served over spanish rice (and the leftover rice was used up in the 7 layer burritos).
Sautee 1 1/2 c jasmine rice in 1 tbs butter. Cook until the rice is sort of translucent color and it smells very fragrant. Add 2 c chicken broth (made with caldo de pollo is best) and 1 cup of pureed salsa (I use a mini prep and blend until it is a thin liquid). Lookout when adding the broth to the pot...it will bubble and sizzle a lot because of the butter...don't get burned. Add 1 tsp minced garlic. Cover, reduce heat to med low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. I've found that with the jasmine rice, I need an extra 1/4 cup of water or broth for cooking.
Add corn, cilantro, dash cumin, and a dash of curry. Enjoy!


So keep your eyes open throughout the year for really good recipes. Gringo Fiesta is a celebration of all foods from south o' the border. So send me your recipes, or start preparing to host your own Gringo Fiesta celebration next year. We're starting a movement.



And check it out....GringoFiesta (yes, one word...FB apparently thinks we're racist and doesn't like the word Gringo, so it's all one word) is now on facebook. Become a fan! When the Gringo Fiesta movement takes off, I want to be recognized as the founder: just a hungry girl that doesn't like winter. Also you should become a fan because it is cool.

I also really love that this has become a tradition for our family. Growing up, I loved that my parents had silly little traditions that we did every year. Like arond the last week of April, when the straberry stands are open, we'd buy a flat of strawberries, smash them, add a mountain of sugar and have strawberry waffles topped with whipped cream for dinner. And sometimes, a whipped cream fight would break out. (Mom-didn't you find 10 year old whipped cream stains inside the cabinets when you remodeled?)

Now, I can't resist making strawberry waffles (topped with 1/2 a can of reddi whip) every Spring when the fresh strawberries arrive in the market.

I hope my kids will remember (and continue) Gringo Fiesta nights when they are older.
Ole Gringos!

Today.

The windows are open and a fresh breeze is blowing fiercely through the house.

The kids are caked in mud, leaves, lunch, and grossness.

There are cookies (yeah, the break and bake kind. we're fancy.) on the counter.

I had lunch with a friend while our children ran wild.
We just sat at the table, stuffed ourselves with chips and hummus, and narrated what we saw the children doing through the window.
We are quite funny, and our kids are awesome.
Then, we went outside and played some more until it started raining.

I talked to my Mom, today.

I scored some books at the Borders liquidation sale.

I babysat sweet little Claire, this morning. She makes me so happy.

I drove Reese to school an hour late.

Another friend called about an hour ago and we had some good laughs about ordinary things.

I got a pedicure a week ago and my toes still look fab.

Aaron and I have a date tonight.

It's 4:30 and the kids are dressed and ready for bed.

Aaron dropped in for lunch.

I read for awhile and did some laundry.

I made running plans for tomorrow. At least 7 of us are meeting for a training run on the course for the Bentonville Half. Go runner girls of Bella Vista! We really need a name for ourselves.
I heart that my "short" run is 13 miles. But I'm also feeling the toll of the longer runs and I've already burned through the running shoes I bought in September.

Corbin didn't take a nap, is cutting teeth, and has a wicked diaper rash, but is still the happiest baby guy ever. And the cutest ever. Especially right now, with dried mud on his nose, sunkissed cheeks, sweaty hairline and sticky everything.

I showered, but put on the same outfit I wore last night. (it was cute, alright? Don't act like you never do that. Plus, I rock at being gross, remember?)

One of my potted plants from last year had tulip bulbs in it that never sprouted, but i discovered 4 little 1 inch sprouts today.

It smells really good outside. Like rain and fabric softener.



Today was a perfect mix of events that were totally ordinary and not so ordinary at all.

I love a day when I can just hang around and enjoy sweet kids and good company. Nothing spectacular or miraculous needs to happen.

My life is a miracle that I choose to see.

Be Mine, Valentine

Some photos to accompany Aaron's post:

I didn't take any pictures of us the night we went out to see Mamma Mia.

I really wish that I had, because we looked pretty decent.
It was a fun show. I do like the movie better, but you just can't beat Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. The actress that played Sophie in the play looked and sounded just like Maeby from Arrested Development, and I had a difficult time not wondering if she was actually just a 16 year old that was skipping school and living a double life where she pretended to be a professional actress/movie producer ;)

On the actual Valentine's Day, we decided to go to dinner as a family.

Here we have Corbin, eating everything in sight, including a napkin and some crayons.

And here is Quincy cutting up her food, but not actually eating any of it.

Reese ordered cheese pizza with bacon on it, spaghetti, and an orange italian soda. Quincy had a cherry italian soda and some bread. Corbin ate a full loaf and a half of bread. I probably ate the same. Everything was really good. I'm in love with the spicy romano chicken bowtie pasta there. Yum.

We kept things pretty simple for Valentine's Day this year.

Reese and I made her homemade valentines on one of the days that we were snowed in. Half of them open the wrong direction, or the writing inside is upside down, but I think they are the cutest things ever.

For Quincy's valentines, we downloaded and printed the valentines that "cousin Jenny" (that's what my girls call you, Jenny...cute, right?) designed for her work. We attached them to little boxes of conversation hearts. I made peanut butter chocolate suckers for my girls and the kids in my preschool class, with a note that says, "You are a hoot!".

And since it was Jacob's last day of preschool, his also says, "I will 'owl'-ways be your friend."

For my Valentine, I purchased no lingerie, just showed up for dinner dressed the way he likes me best: sloppy ponytail, jeans, and a t-shirt. Nothing fancy.

but not just any old tshirt, either (y'all know how Aaron feels about tshirts)...

I wore a Lakers shirt

...to go with the Lakers shirt that I got for him for Valentine's day. (Can I just point out that buying my husband another tshirt is a sign of true love? 'cuz it is.)

His and Hers Lakers shirts.

Now we can be that couple.

At least it's not his and hers matching haircuts. (Flowbee, anyone?)

Happy Valentine's Day!

While the Parents Were Away

Kasey received the Bestest Friend Ever Award, tonight, when she came over and put our kids to bed for us so Aaron and I could go on a date.

Our date was wonderful, just what we needed.

We came home to three sleeping children, and this awesome video of the Baby Guy taking a horsie ride on Kasey's lap.

Shut up.

Could he be any cuter?

We don't think so.

Thanks, Kasey!

Change of Plans

Mother nature is against us.
We left Saturday morning for OKC.
2 hrs later, we hit the blizzard that swept across Oklahoma and Arkansas, and after sliding on the road twice (in new tires) we had to turn around and come back.
Aaron was pretty disappointed.

We did enjoy our time alone with this little guy, though.
We had dinner and watched the NIU game at Gusanos then went to Chili's for Paradise pie, and watched BYU [forget how to play basketball] from the comfort of our own home while 8 inches of snow fell outside.

Church was canceled Sunday (yup!), since most people couldn't get out of their driveways in the snow, so we slept in, and enjoyed having a quiet house to ourselves.

Kasey and Jimmie brought our girlies home to us in their Jeep, and they brought dinner too! Excellent! I had my first corned beef and cabbage experience, and managed to pound 1/2 of a dark chocolate cake (over the course of 2 days, but yup, 1/2 a cake...totally worth it. I shared a little...unwillingly). Verdict? Corned beef=GOOD. Cabbage=not my favorite. Carrots and Potatoes=GOOD.

You KNOW you have good friends when they still take your children overnight even when the kids are sick and they know the chances of anyone sleeping are pretty low. But Kasey assured us the girls could handle watching movies in their jammies from her house just as well as they would from ours. She gave them meds round the clock and handled 3am nebulizer treatments like a champ. We soaked up a little more of this guy, and did NOT wake up at 3am.

Yummy baby.

Thanks, K! What would I do without her? Definitely not eat good pizza, a "big salad", and Paradise Pie snuggled up in a snowstorm with my boys, this weekend. From girls night out, to bathroom remodels, to bed rest, that girl has ALWAYS been there for me. I feel blessed to have such selfless friends, and am totally inspired to try harder to recognize when I can help others the way that she has helped me so many times. The weekend was just lovely.

Good news: because our cancellation was due to inclement weather, the hotel gave us a refund, and Tia and Jared were rockstars and sold our tickets for a good percentage of their original cost, so we aren't at a huge loss there, either.

Bad news: it's probably a good thing we didn't stay in OKC, because by Sunday afternoon, Reese Quincy and I all had pretty high fevers.

We went to the Dr. today and (drumroll please.....)

BOTH girls have double ear infections!
No surprises there! They've also got a croupy cough from some virus that has almost run it's full course. We got a prescription cough syrup for that, and hopefully, with the antibiotics everyone will be fever free and feeling better soon!

My appointment was slightly less successful. They aren't really sure what is wrong with me, but with Tylenol, my fever was still 104.1* at the doctor's office.

I walked in, they looked at me, and made me wear a mask! Sad, right? I got paranoid looks from everyone that walked in and I felt like a leper. Worse, I started coughing (the kind of coughing where you just cross your legs and pray) and they gave me ANOTHER mask and told me that "these new masks they just bought are kind of thin, so I should double up".

Great. Now I'm not only a leper, I'm the reject leper.

I got the nice nurse.
She brought me a warm blanket and said, "I hurt just looking at you".
Thanks, nurse.

Then she gave me the most painful shot of antibiotics I've EVER received, right in the butt... but I'm pretty sure was stabbing me with a dagger of some sort when I wasn't looking. It took ever a minute, which doesn't sound like a long time, but relative to the "quick like a band-aid" shots I am used to...it was an eternity of pain.
Then again, I was probably more aware of how long it took because her hand was on my butt.

Doc gave me Rx's for two more antibiotics and some Darvocett. I mentioned that Darvocett knocks me out and he said, "Good. Take the Darvocett and go to bed."

HAHA.
Wouldn't that be awesome if Mothers could just "go to bed" and sleep off their illnesses?

He sent me home with a cute note excusing Aaron from 3 days of work so he can stay home and care for the kids while I rest up.

I got home and went to bed.
I woke up 10 minutes later. sort of. I was conscious enough to hear what was happening, but not awake enough to get up.

The Cox Guy was here to fix the internet.
Corbin was crying.
Quincy was crying.
Reese was crying.
The tub was running.
Quincy had pooped in the front yard. (FOR REAL.)
Aaron was dealing with the Cox guy (a real winner, I might add) and carrying a poopy baby around.
Reese was attempting to bathe Quincy, because she was disgusted at the sight of Quincy's runs, she couldn't take it anymore and demanded that Q get in the tub.... but the faucet had become stuck on Hot and she was scalding her screaming sister.

My fever had broken and I was soaking wet with sweat and I could hear everything happening around me, but was too sick to get up.
Am I the only mom out there that finds it hard to "take it easy" or "rest up" when stuff like this is happening down the hall?

Reese ran outside to tell Aaron about the water, but fell on the concrete and scraped up her arm.
More crying.
The Cox guy left.
Aaron bathed Q, mended Reese, changed Corbin, and gave them all their meds.
Corbin went to bed and the girls and Aaron went to Walmart for prescriptions, popcorn chicken (that's how we roll), new princess toothbrushes, Dora toothpaste, glittery obnoxious Princess Tiana t-shirts that I never would have purchased, chicken noodle soup, and pink roses (for "mom 'cuz her butt got shot").

I slept.

I had to cancel preschool tomorrow.
I missed the "Flintstone Olympics" Activity I've been planning for 2 weeks.
I have no idea what we're going to do tomorrow.
I'm pretty sure it involves a fort, movies, and comfort food.
I HATE not being able to take care of my children.
I HATE not being able to take care of myself.
I want my mom.

Not quite what we had planned for spring break!
Luckily, we all have drugs now, and we will all (hopefully) feel better VERY soon.
or at least well enough to go out and clean Quincy's poop off the front lawn.

stay classy, San Diego.

The Big Dance

We're headed to Oklahoma City.
First Stop: The temple
Second Stop: Food. But where? Been to OKC? Have any suggestions?
Third Stop: The Ford Center for NCAA Basketball
Fourth Stop: Sadly, Not here. or here. Both were on our list, until we discovered that Baby Guy would not be welcome.
Soooo....no bedside turtle cheesecake and cocoa at 10pm, no cozy down comforters, no jetted jacuzzi tub, no late 1800's architecture, no fresh flowers on my nightstand, no fresh fruit and yogurt in bed wake up call and gourmet breakfast and OJ on the balcony.

I can't blame them for their no-kid policy. No one wants to hear a crying baby down the hall during their romantic getaway.

But my baby is pretty dang perfect.
and they allow PETS. PETS!
I don't know about you, but I'd SO rather hear a cute baby giggle in the morning than some yappy dog that needs to be let out to pee.

We're taking our sweet baby boy, and hitting a cheap Marriott instead. Not the same, but it's baby friendly, costs less, and that continental breakfast is mine all mine.

And it turns out that NCAA basketball is not very kid-friendly either. Unless you count $68 tickets per child as kid friendly. Reese and Quincy will be livin' it up at Hotel Kasey and Jimmie. They'll be in good hands. I've been lucky enough to stay at Kasey's "B&B" before...it's quite heavenly.

Enjoy your weekend!

Bad Influences

It started with a little post-Fencetivus Mexican food at Maria's.
Everyone was having a pretty good time, until...
"Uuuuuuerrrrugggghhhhhh...."

"Hey, ese...you okay? You don't look so good."

"Hey, relax. Don't worry about him. Look at his face,


...see? He's fine."

"No. Really, man. I don't know...he's been laughing like that for like half an hour. You gotta take his keys. Yo, he is all kinds messed up."

"Naw.... is cool, Homie. I can drive."

2 Years Later in Anytown USA

Ok, well the pictures are lousy because it was getting dark and oh, right, I am a terrible photographer, but one of the reasons I blog is to journal what we do with our time, so I'll post them anyway.
On Friday night, we recycled a date night from 2 years ago, picked up pizza to go, and ventured back to Pickin' on the Square. I don't know why we haven't just made this a yearly summer tradition.

It is rad.
I live in a cool place.
Every Friday night from March until the first frost, local musicians show up to jam. Little groups form on every corner and pocket in between, and play a little bit of everything. It is mostly folk, country, and bluegrass. People bring lawn chairs and just float from group to group to enjoy a sampling of each.

This time, we left the girls home with a sitter and brought baby guy along. The cicadas are so loud right now that it was difficult to hear some of the groups over the screechy buzzing (the sound of a cicada can't be described with words, you just have to experience it for yourself. But they are like alarm-clock-going-of-in-the-dead-of-night-loud.
We know now that the younger crowd shows up a little later. At first we were kickin' it with a bunch of blue hairs (not that we really mind, they oohed and aahed over the baby every 5 seconds). By the time the sun went down there was an even mix of old and young people there.

These guys did a lot of Simon and Garfunkel and John Denver. During a couple of songs, a guy in the back would pull out his harmonica and chime in. I love that it's a total free for all. Even if your voice is crap, if you know the song and "got the spirit"...you join in. There were several young kids there by the end of the night with banjos and guitars. What surprised me most about them was their song selection. Gospel. And not because they look like they're from one of those bizzaro families where the girls wear pioneer dresses and they get up to milk cows before bible study and then marry their cousin kind of families...but because they actually enjoy the simplicity of the traditional tunes.
Yeah. That kid is whistling. He danced a lot, too...and it reminded me of the scene from Forrest Gump when Forrest discovers Elvis.

And for your viewing pleasure...some video goodness. I probably SHOULDN'T post this because pickin' on the square is really so much cooler than the video depicts. I took this early in the night before the groups that we enjoyed most showed up, but these guys were pretty funny. They did "On the wings of a snow white dove" and "Polly Wolly Doodle" and a couple of other songs that they insisted everyone within earshot sing along to. I pulled out the camera to tape everyone joining in on "You Are My Sunshine".

The camerawork is bad.
My singing is worse.
Lucky for you it is only 12 seconds long.
But it's worth posting to prove that I live in the coolest place in America. This kind of stuff just isn't goin' down in the parks where I grew up...and there certainly isn't a 80 yr old man playing the spoons on his lap either.

That's the original Walton Five and Dime (first walmart ever) and civil war statue/fountain in the background.
Oh yeah, see the guy on the far left with the acoustic guitar? He rode his bike with his kids to the square because he only lives a few blocks away. He brought his guitar and his 2 boys, ages 7 and 4, with him on the bike.
How sweet is THAT ride?!