LAAFF-2008

We recently went to the Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival (LAAFF) downtown on September 7th. We had a blast! It was very hot and I did get a sunburn, but that wasn't the fun part. Laurel and I had fun looking at the vendors' jewelry. I even bought a necklace. (You can see it in one of the pictures below.) We got to hear some great music. Mainly from the band pictured here. I had a great view of them and was going to take a better picture, but people started walking right in front. Then the band stopped and I thought they were finished, so I lost my good spot. John got this shot for me. Anyway, it was some type of Middle Eastern music. There were people off to the right dancing.

There were also a couple of statue women there. They are always interesting to look at. If you haven't seen them before, you should come down and check them out someday. They stand as still as statues in full costume (and full heat!). When you give them a tip, they move.


We saw a nice, shaded area and decided to take a break. Cory and Laurel took advantage of a hammock.
Once we found the face-painting booth, we really got into the festival!

Our friend, Chip, was in town. He is a professional juggler. He had gotten there earlier and had been teaching most of the day. We found him in the coolest part of the festival! Laurel attempted to learn the baton.
Then we saw the hula hoops! Cory really had fun with this. He even had 2 going at once!
Laurel and I noticed a group of kids painting with their feet! So, of course, we joined in. Unfortunately, this was the only picture of that we got.

Oh! I almost forgot about the tightrope! They said Laurel was a natural. (She should be. She's been in gymnastics since she was 2.) You can see John and Chip in these pictures. Chip is in the background with the hat on. John is on his right.

There was also a jousting contest. However, instead of horses, they were on bicycles. I didn't have a good angle for pictures, but the image is forever ingrained in my mind. lol

As we were leaving, a little girl gave Laurel a balloon giraffe.
We also went to a picnic recently. I'll post those pictures next time. I am terrible at keeping in touch with people and thought this would be something that I could do to let everyone know what we've been up to. I got the idea from Gail, although I don't take nearly as many pictures as she does. lol (Love you Gail!)

There have also been new developments at work. For those of you who don't know, I currently work at the Asheville Humane Society as an animal caretaker. There are going to be new positions opening up and they want to hire internally. The position I am hoping for is medical assistant. It is a Monday through Friday job with better pay. (They won't tell us how much more yet.) If I get it, I hope to be putting more of my vet tech skills to use. Both the vet and my supervisor said they hope I apply.

On John's side of things, he has a gig on Thursday, September 25th at The Sports Zone from 8-10pm. He will be hosting "open mike night" with Kim White (the singer). It will be his Asheville debut. (Unfortunately, he will be playing the acoustic guitar. I'll let you guys know when they finally get a full band going.) He has been working around the clock to perfect the songs they will be performing. I might be a little biased, but I still have to say that he kicks ass. You won't be disappointed if you come.

I also have a new article posted on Associated Content. Actually, it is more like a short story. I had to write a descriptive essay when I was in South College and my teacher loved it. I edited it a little, but it is mostly intact. Check it out here. Don't forget to rate it by clicking on how many stars you want to give me. Also feel free to post a comment. If it gets good ratings and comments, more people are likely to read it.