Block Party on July 3rd

We had a great time at the block party tonight. Sold some books, got a tan, made some friends and even met a couple of budding and published authors who I look forward to chatting with again someday soon. Oh...one more thing...shortly after setting up our display Allan got stung right on the elbow by a rogue bee with a temper tantrum. It was a hit and run kind of thing...we never saw the bee again. This is why I am afraid of bees.

The event itself was somewhat of an eclectic collection of several events all rolled into one. Part classic car show, part church carnival, part 4th of July celebration and part vendor fair. Somehow on paper it doesn't sound like it could work, but...by golly it was a HIT!

The event was hosted and directed by the Tacoma Alliance Church and a friend of ours from Lighthouse Christian Books. It was sponsored by Home Depot and had quite a good sized crowd turn out. Of course, Free Hot Dogs and Hamburgers were an added bonus. There were bounce houses for the lil' ones and dunk tanks for the older. While I didn't get to leave our booth very often, my 4 year old pretty much summed everything up by saying the part that he liked best was "everything!" He had a blast.

The evening concluded with the inflating and launching of a red white and blue Hot Air Ballon (which was amazing to watch) and a stellar fireworks show put on by the Tacoma Rainers directly across the freeway from the event (which we unfortunatly couldn't stay to watch - the kids were far too tired by 10pm). Wow, what a night!

We may have even booked a few school visits for this next fall. (Which reminds me if you know of a teacher or librarian at an elementary or middle school in Washington State...have them give us a call.)

We'll definately plan on visiting this event next year.