Friday, July 19, 2013

Fireworks Tent 2013 Recap

It's true that it's been two weeks since Independence Day. I feel like I'm so behind on everything that I want to document here on the blog, but I hate to just let good memories go away, so I'm going to post this anyway. Maybe someday I'll get all caught up again!

We had a really fun group of people working the tent this year. That always makes the week better!
Most of the tent staff (but still missing a few people)

For the first time since we've been doing this tent (eight years!), we had staff tshirts. We looked very official, and I think it helped people figure out who to ask when they had questions.
 Brett, Melissa, and Lauren

Technically, we are the Lee's Summit/Hillcrest Transitional Housing Tent. It was quickly renamed to the Ice Cream Tent. Laurel arranged for us to have a refrigerator/freezer hooked up in the tent, so we made the most of that!
Ryan (he wanted to be in disguise in this photo) and Laurel

This happens every year. After a few days in the tent, everyone starts to go a little nuts.
Left to Right: Lauren, Melissa, Ryan, Brett, Rebecca (me), and Brooks
Horizontal: Laurel

The big difference between this year and previous years was the weather. It was about 20 degrees cooler than any other year we've been out in the middle of that parking lot. It was so incredibly wonderful not to sweat to death out there. Of course, on the flip side, we had seven major storms to contend with. Fireworks and rain do not mix. At all. When rain comes, everyone springs into action and everything gets covered in plastic.

Okay, now watch this short video of what we had to deal with out there! The Weather Channel saw my YouTube video and actually emailed me. Five minutes after I responded to the email, they called and asked if they could run it on their website and in any programming on their TV channel. How cool is that?!
After fighting storms all week, we hit the 4th of July at full speed. We were so busy, no one sat down or had a chance to eat. Brad Munsen from the Lee's Summit Chick-fil-A came into the tent to do his fireworks shopping that afternoon and saw how busy we were. He called me over, asked me how many staff were in the tent, and then returned about a 30 minutes later with sandwiches, nuggets, and sauces for everyone. If it hadn't been for his generosity, no one would have eaten until after 10:30pm that night. It turns out that he also supports Hillcrest Transitional Housing through his business as well. It was awesome to meet him!

And, of course, Sean brought our babies out to see me. I loved that! He brought them out twice, but I only took photos the first time. 

All of the staff helped wrangle our kids since tents don't come with doors.
Brett carrying in the diaper bags. He was such a good sport!

We brought out the kids' lawn chairs, which actually proved to be really exciting for the public shopping in the tent. Who knew that little chairs could catch that much attention?
Daddy bought McDonalds for a picnic in the tent

Abby, Caleb, Elijah, and Ellie

Ellie, Mommy, and Abby

Abby and Ellie

Exploring the Tent!
I think the kids were exploring so that they can help sell fireworks in the future. We still have to work on what they are though. Elijah was very confused why the "Crackers" table didn't actually have any food on it....

6 comments:

  1. ha ha "fire"-crackers aren't food.. that made me laugh! how sweet? are they two sets of twins?? they could be, so cute.. what a great event and how sweet of that man to bring you all food! Great event!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, Elijah is a pretty funny kid!

      Actually, they are one set of quads. So...kind of like twins, only there are four of them!

      Delete
  2. Enjoy all of your blogs each day and all the pictures and videos. You and Sean are doing a super job! Thanks for sharing!
    Barbara Chambers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Barbara! It's always nice to see a comment come through from you!

      Delete
  3. How exciting. I love the photos. That sure was a lot of rain in that video. No wonder they wanted to air it. :) The kids as usual are adorable. Hope you're having a great weekend with them. :)

    ReplyDelete

We would love to hear what you think! Please know that all comments are on a slight delay as we approve them on our end. Thanks for commenting!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...