Today I am a political activist

Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend a Democrat policial rally on campus. The governor, U.S. senator, congressman, and several others were there. There was music, accusations, belittling of undecided voters, belittling of conservative people, and some more music.

Wednesday I got to attend the Republican rally complete with Sarah Palin, and country music star--Aaron Tippen! It was very exciting--better music, more detailed accusations, support of undecided voters, and liberal people. There were campaign promises that made sense and--to my pleasant surprise--a realy positive atmosphere. Not at all what the media in this "swing" state would have the general public believe.

I thought you might like to see some pictures I took at the Republican rally. There were about 6000 people there. The Democratic rally had about 50 people in attendance and would not allow cameras except from the media.

My pictures aren't that great--I really have to get a tri-pod! But "Joe the Plummer" was there. People are starting a grass roots idea and wear these t-shirts to the event--"Steve the Farmer", "Dave the Excavator"

Gary recently pranked a neighbor by -placing some hi-jacked Obama signs on their yard (They

are pro-Republican). We subsequently found out that Obama signs require a $10.00 campaign contribution. I decided to go get Gary a McCain sign--I figured $10.00 wouldn't kill me and he would think it was cool.

------McCain signs are free---as are all other Republican yard signs.

Marching Band--Freezing Mom!

Tonight I finally got to see Brandon march and play in the football game. It was a hoot! He is soooo handsome in his uniform and they all play so well. I love marching band music anyway but hearing my son play it was AWESOME!

It rained here all day long and stopped from about 5 to 7:30 pm. It started raining at kick off and rained hard all through the first half of the game. The kids got soaked! It is warm when it is raining but when it stopped, it got so so so cold. Luckily I had dressed in lots of layers so I was ok. Unfortunately I haven't unpacked my snow boots or coat yet so I was pretty miserable towards the end. The game didn't get over until 10:45 pm because we injured two of their players bad enough to send both to the hospital--one in the ambulance and one by private vehicle. We aren't a dirty team, just really hard hitting! Even the opposing team said that we were about the cleanest team in the region.
We won 37 to 20 and it was one of the best high school games that I have seen in years--I do have to admit seeing my son march was probably why I liked it so much! :-)

This is one really great looking trumpet player!

FINALLY--The Chocolate Factory!

Today Brady finally got his GOLDEN TICKET.


After 2 and 1/2 months of patiently waiting, Brady finally got his trip to the Southbend Chocolate Factory! We took the back roads to get there and had a ball seeing all the Amish (actually, I am pretty sure they were Menonite) people with their buggies.

This was at an eye doctor clinic.

This was at an intersection we were stopped for the red lights.

This was behind a convenience store!

We took pictures of the buggies but weren't sure about pictures of the people. To avoid embarrassing ourselves we stuck to the cool buggies and pretty horses. It was soo00 fun to see them and be with them on the roads!

After almost three hours of driving, we finally arrived at the corner of Sweet St. and Sample St. The tour did not disappoint the little people in the group. We were all really interested in the cocoa bean husk flower bed mulch.

When it rains, or gets wet from sprinklers, it smells like chocolate! You can buy big bags of the stuff from the factory to put in your own flower beds at home. The tour guide bothered to mention that dogs LOVE to eat it! So did the squirrels.

There are a lot of squirrels here; black, brown, and gray--there were probably 20 working over the cocoa flower mulch pretty hard. Too bad I didn't manage to get a pic. of any of them.

Lexie's new friend MJ came with us today and she is the sweetest little girl. She and Lexie kept each other company on the long drive both ways.

MJ is concentrating on not dropping her spoon into the chocolate. I think (judging by her tongue sticking out) that she was really eager to eat the treat. They had to wait until it cooled!

They had a great time at the chocolate factory and afterward when we went to downtown Southbend and ate at the "Chocolate Cafe". It was across the street from the college football hall of fame. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to be sure I am really here. I am living in my vacation. :-)

They loved the hair covers and wore them most of the day, they even wore them in the car on the way home while they played "chocolate factory".

I tried out Gary's little point and click HP photosmart camera today. It takes video clips and I am so excited to be able to add that to the blog!

How do you get a 100 pound box of chocolate off of the wall and out of the store before anyone notices?