small town--in all its glory

Last weekend the kids and I went with Chip to Northwest Arkansas for a work event. A volunteer department was having a festival as a fundraiser for their department.
I had no idea what to expect. I thought we were going to an indoor conference. I thought we would be there for a little while and then go do something fun in that part of the state like go on a little hike or something. I was delusional. 1) it was an outdoor festival; 2) we would not leave early; 3) who wants to go on a hike in July in the south? We got to the hotel on Friday night around 8. We had promised the kids they could swim in the indoor pool. We finally got everyone in bed around 10pm. The next morning we had donuts and headed to the festival around 10am on Saturday. It was HOT!!! There was a good bit of things to do for kids but they still got bored mid-day as they were now hot AND tired.
About this time the tune shifted. A 75ft aerial was extended over the streets of this sleepy downtown. Since we were first-timers to the "Centerton Days", we did not know what was going to happen next. Suddenly water was pumped from that truck onto the street offering much fun and relief from the heat and boredom.
For 5 hours Chip judged a competition between several departments. It was called a "firemen's muster". Some of the time he was judging he had a little help from one of his friends.

This is an example of one of the competitions. A hose was pumped full of water. The guys had to wrestle it, get it under control and fill up a 55 gallon drum with it. Actually the firefighter you see here is a woman, a tough woman.

Passing the time.

Even the firemen were getting tired by this time. I think Ella actually took this picture. It was pushing 8:00pm by this time. I guess they should be tired. They were working hard in full gear.

I took this picture and then sent a text to a friend saying: "I feel like I am in a movie. I am in a country downtown festival and a band is playing Sweet Home Alabama in the background."
We left at 8:45pm. Swung through Chick-fil-A for DINNER! And made it home to the apt by midnight. YeeHaw!