Here's Rachel in our pool with Shamu. We had a pool party in July with Chad and Julie. Rachel came over that morning and declared, "It's going to be very hot today, so this is a good day for me to come swimming, right?" We had a blast!!!
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Sunday, August 22, 2010 - Elburn Days!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Rachel if she'd go on the parachute ride with me at Elburn Days -- although she wasn't sure if it would be that much fun. But I told her it was my favorite ride and she agreed to go with me.

Yesterday morning, she called to tell me that she'd be at the park between 6 and 9. That sounded a little bit too late for me and I hemmed and hawed but I said that I'd be in there on Sunday. Well, we kind of left it in limbo.

As luck would have it, Bob was selling tickets for the rides between 4 and 8 so if she was going to be in there with her mom and brothers, he might see them. Well, when I got there around 6, he hadn't seen her. Darn. But I bought enough tickets to ride the parachute ride just in case.

Then, I walked away and saw Nick's folks at the picnic table putting on the wristbands for the unlimited rides. So, I sat down and talked to Mary. After a bit, Kevin's stepmom, Terry, came by and we all chatted.

I mentioned going on the parachute ride with Rachel but I couldn't find her, and Mary said that she'd seen Steve (Rachel's grandpa - who is our neighbor) so I found him and he called Michelle. She said that they'd already been at the park in the afternoon and Rachel was across the street eating cake. ok

So, Terry graciously offered to have her nieces or her son, Zach, go with me on the parachute ride -- because there are NO single riders. haha She called and the kids showed up!!

We walked over to the ride and guess what? The motor stopped working and the ride was idle. WHAT???? The kids immediately went off on another ride. Terry and I stood there talking while we waited for it to be fixed in 15 minutes. duh! That turned into 25 minutes.

Then, Steve came over and said that he'd talked to Michelle and she hadn't realized that Rachel and I had made previous plans to go on the ride together, so she came over with Rachel since they only live a block from Lion's Park. oh boy!

So, I thanked Terry and the kids for offering to help me out. That was so sweet. After that, Rachel, Michelle and I made a beeline for the Scrambler. Wait. First, we got tickets (which Bob offered to pay for and we let him). That was very nice!

The Scrambler was so much fun. We screamed and the wind cooled us off. It was a fairly long ride, too. Such a hoot....

Then, we went over to the little Roller Coaster ride. That was hilarious. We screamed and went around and around and around. oh boy!! I kept thanking Michelle for coming over to the park. Thankfully, she and Rachel were having fun, too.

Finally, I knew my fun was almost over because the sun was setting and it was going to be touch and go driving home in my car because I forgot to bring my glass glasses....I had the sunglasses. oops!

Our last ride was going to be the Pirate Ride, but there were too many teenagers standing in line and we'd have to wait for it too long. So, I said, "what about this ride?" Oh, you mean the Magic Carpet Ride?? okay

THAT was awesome. I remember Zoe going on that. It seemed too scary to me back three years ago. But last night, it was perfect. We had so much fun. I thanked them profusely and hugged them. They were just so wonderful and exciting riding companions because you have to scream a lot so you know you're having fun. And we screamed our heads off!!!!

The drive home would've been a little better if I had my glasses with me but every once in a while, I'd put on the sunglasses and I could see okay. I took the back way home down Hughes Road so it wasn't quite as intense as driving down Hwy 47.

And since I am writing these words today, you know I made it home safely. haha Bob got home about 8:20 or so. He also had too much fun. It was the epitome of Americana Panorama. Truly it was. Everyone was having fun and we noticed a definite absence of the Goth teenager (not that I have anything against Gothic-ness). Apparently, that's not "in" any more. Or they don't come to Elburn Days. Whatever...

This morning, I got some great pictures from Diane, and coincidentally, she and Marc ALSO had an awesome evening last night at a private/exclusive party that Marc played for at the Sanford Airport. It was the perfect night for fun. And the moon smiled on all of us.

All righty then, I must be going now. see ya later, djb