Zombie Invasion

Alexia checked the garden every morning before breakfast, hoping against hope that something was finally ripe enough to pick. Finally Grandpa discovered one small zucchini for her.
She was thrilled. He showed her how to cut the stem and then let her cut it for herself. And that's still the only thing that has been ripe enough to pick.
She and I baked three loaves of bread on Wednesday and while we waited for them to rise, we had high tea. I broke out my Noritake china that I bought when we were stationed in the Philippines so we could have the real deal. Friday we baked Lemon Squares from the last Cooking Light magazine for the VFD barbeque the next day. If you saw that recipe, they were a smashing success. However they do contain nuts and I was worried that I'd forget to supply a note. Alexia wrote a note for me. It says "almins in the leamian sqrares. Cut them and leave some for me."
The Zombie Invasion was a promotional for the annual volunteer firehouse barbeque and fundraiser. The safety fair theme was that if you're ready for zombies, you're ready for disaster. The day included this band which we have had before. They're really fun, doing retro music and occasionally there are toe tappers who feel the need to swing out a little and dance in the grass.
CERT volunteers created and ran the childrens games. Sandy and her grandson put all of them together and they were a hit. This was a first time event and she went all out. She's the leader of our local CERT team, the Red Rock Rattlers.
The bean bag toss was probably the favorite, followed by pin the eyes on the zombie.
The drop dead absolute favorite was the water balloon fights which were open to kids of all ages. The Care Flight helicopter came and the crew allowed children to sit in the cockpit. I think everyone loved it but Alexia who was terrified and done as soon as she started. Volunteers fingerprinted children and a laser simulation fire extinguisher station helped people learn how to use one properly. Some people had never even held one.
The children earned a "gold" coin for participating in each game and then were able to trade them in for the toys in the tubs. The prize element raised the popularity of the games, if you're ever doing something like this.

Alexia and I and a small crew filled water balloons for hours on end and got very wet in the process, but it was hot and somehow it was fun. One of the important things in disaster preparation is knowing your community and there was plenty of community building going on.

A number of the volunteers got into the zombie fun.

At the face painting table, you could also choose to be made into a zombie. Alexia came home as a "bling bling zombie" - her words. The "jewelry is from the bins, traded for her plastic coins. About 3:30 I drove her to Hallelujah Junction to meet up with her parents, halfway between our homes, as they were taking her brother out for his birthday. Originally she wanted to go to church with me this morning but she announced very seriously at dinner Friday night that she had decided to go home so she could spend the last day of summer vacation with her family. Third grade (year-round school) starts tomorrow. She's getting so grown up.

After a week in Oregon followed by a week with Alexia, I was in bed last night by 8:00 and slept until 8:30 this morning. I was the zombie and no one knew it!