Damn, she's adorable!

Wow! What a day yesterday. As usual, our friends and family get here and we immediately make them work. Amy was no exception. She got here Friday morning and was watching Charlotte almost before she got her luggage.

Yesterday morning, both Rachel and I were running around like proverbial chickens getting ready for classes at Romp n' Roll (Rachel) and the Ashland Strawberry Faire (me) so Amy was on duty early. It definately helps that Charlotte, who had never met Aunt Amy, seems to love her to death.

For the sake of plot development, I need to wander off track for a bit.

The weather the last few days has been rainy to say the least. We had a couple of thunderstorms that were worthy of the Illinois storms I remember from when I was little. Samantha, Emily, and I, along with a "grownup" member were stuck in Romp n' Roll Wednesday while the heavens open up. The wind was blowing, the trees were boogying (sp?), the rain was going sideways, and, to our amazement, a Target shopping cart got loose and was slowly being pushed around the parking lot area in front of our door. It was moving in an almost nonchalant manner, as if the ghost taking its purchases to the car (ghost train?) could care less about the weather (I guess they wouldn't, would they?).

When the cart passed the front of RNR, we were amused and then got distracted by the hope that there wasn't a tornado setting down in the parking lot. When, a few minutes later, the cart passed by again, going the other direction, in the same nonchalant manner, then it started getting bizarre. Maybe the ghost forgot where it parked the ghost train.

This poor, indecisive cart passed by our front door no less than four times! We never saw it turn around and the fact that it did kept us nervous about tornados.

We also had some ceiling tile casualties in the back right next to the garage door. If it's not a leak, it's probably rain that got blown up under the awning and got in via the top of the garage door. But MAN! did it rain!

It kept raining and spitting and threatening to rain and didn't stop until Saturday morning. I was telling everyone how nice it was going to be for the Strawberry Faire during my Friday classes but it was hard to convince people with the gloomy weather right outside the window.

Which conveniently brings me back to my original story (How 'bout DAT fer a Segway?! Hemingway, eachyer heart out, eh?!).

I couldn't set up the tent and tables for our booth at the Strawberry Faire until Saturday morning since it was still drizzeling off and on so I had to get up extra early and head over. Good thing we only live 1 mile away. :-)

Everything got set up with a minimum amount of drama and the Ashland Jaycees helped a great deal Their booth was next to ours and they always have someone willing to help out. When scheduling made me leave early and there was no place to put our stuff, they didn't hesitate a second. The Flanagans, fellow founders of the chapter, stepped right up and all our junk is sitting in their family room (guess I need to pick that up sometime today).

Charlotte (oh...right...this is supposed to be about her, isn't it?) and Aunt Amy walked down to the faire and talk about an attention hog! Amy said she had trouble actually getting TO the faire what with all the people recognizing CJ and stopping them to see the little princess. It didn't hurt that she was wearing a NEW red "Bald Chicks Rock" that Megan Blake's mother made for her (I told her she could get a cottage industry going with those) and her yellow wide brimmed hat "with the bow in the front!" Of course, Amy doesn't know any of these people and they keep coming up and talking to CJ like they know her which they probably do. Amy was a champ and resisted the urge to tell everyone, "Stay away from my child!" Very funny.

In the end, they did get to the faire and Charlotte walked all over the place and saw lots of friends, teachers, and RNR members all morning. I bought a slab o' strawberries (who didn't?) and we schlurped on them all day. CJ had developed the habit of only eating the skin of strawberries. Not sure why. But I encouraged her to take a big bite of these strawberries and once she did, there was no stopping her!

Another side note: I'm not fond of strawberries. Never really have been. I know they're really good for you and I can tolerate them without gagging but I never reach for a strawberry if I've got the munchies. Not like blueberries. (Mmmmm...blueberries...oohhhh!) But the strawberries they had at the Ashland Strawberry Faire yesterday might have changed my mind. Wherever they were from, Hanover or California, I don't care. They were sweet through and through and I think I ate a couple of little baskets by myself. Never in my life have I had a taste turnaround like that (except maybe with cottage cheese but that's another story).

Charlotte ate a bunch too.

Amy finally took her home after a good long while and when I got back to get ready for my Southern Horizon gig at Cold Harbor, Charlotte was presiding over a tea party with Amy, Rachel, and Uncle Kolbey. I got suckered into sitting down for a little bit too.

Damn, she's adorable!

The result was that Charlotte had a great day as did Romp n' Roll, the Greater Ashland Jaycees, 30,000 Ashland Strawberry Faire guests, and all those folks at Cold Harbor who got to see that incredible sunset followed by an amazing moonrise! (I haven't even heard about Kids Night Out yet!)

Today, Charlotte and I will be headed to her boyfriend Wyatt's 4th Birthday party. That can only mean that Charlotte's is right around the corner!

Hope this post hasn't strained your eyes too much.

Rog

p.s. I have added a new skill set to my resume...FACE PAINTING! I've never done it before and I was expecting someone else to do it yesterday but as fate would have it, I was the one available when someone asked for it. I'm attaching a little example of my new skill! :-P