Busy Days, Busy Nights - Fourth of July Weekend

I just read a comment from Nancy requesting a picture of my garden gnome. Thus the bottom picture. We had gotten a ceramic mushroom from Marcia and Hal, and Paul said we needed a gnome to go with the mushroom. He's reading to a rabbit, which is slightly hidden behind the mushroom. The rest were taken at Sharon and Dave Sidle's home on the fourth of July. Dave's 40th birthday on July 2nd was also celebrated. The Wayland family is much into volleyball

. and they played a marathon game for three plus hours - we'll have to consider getting a net when our lawn is able to handle feet all over it...like next year. (?) There were fireworks at the end which is a tradition that Dave's dad started years ago. They're really professionally done and lots of safety precautions are taken. Their yard is 2.5 acres - all mowed and level. Everyone sits on the deck or in front of it, and the fireworks are done by Dave and his father quite a distance away down on the lawn. Cars even stop to watch it. When the fireworks are done (around ten o'clock), it's time to "call it a day" and get the little ones (and old ones like us) in bed. We had a good crowd - 60 or so, family, church friends, neighbors. Everyone brought a dish to pass, so food was very plentiful.