Summer Reading and Tall Paul

Magician Tall Paul is one of our perennial favorites. While his jokes are groaners for the adults, the kids are delighted by his antics (especially when they catch him 'cheating'!)

The temp was supposed to reach 107 today, but outside is really the only place we can fit more than 70 people - and as you can see, we had a few more than that:

I counted about 150, which is fortunately the approximate number of people our big shade tree will cover!

See that tarp back there? When I arrived this morning, the first thing I saw was a huge mound of dirt smack in the middle of the lawn. This dirt is for next week's Mud Day, and I was expecting it to be delivered...this afternoon. 

Good thing I know how to operate a shovel! I started carrying it bit by bit to the base of the tree, and a patron by the name of Joseph stopped to ask about our hours. He asked if I needed any help, and I told him thanks, but I only had one shovel. He went back to his house, grabbed his shovel, and came back to help! If anyone knows a Joseph with an Akita named Sophie, tell him thanks again for me!

We got enough moved that we could just toss a tarp over the rest, and everyone could see the show.

Especially if they sat on the pile!

As usual, he had the kids laughing pretty quickly.

 Then he started bringing up volunteers to help him out.

Most of my pictures of this one turned out blurry :( She had the perfect deadpan expressions to act as his foil!

This young man did a great job, even as the magic wands grew bigger...

...and bigger...

...and then he had to hold them all at once!

He's in there somewhere!

He finally got some help.

But the next volunteer broke his favorite wand!

I literally snorted when the wand magically went limp in her hand, and she immediately hid it behind her back.

Fortunately, the show went on, and everyone seemed to survive the heat. In fact, many people grabbed their lunch inside, and brought it right back out to eat on the grass! I hope everyone had at least as much fun as I did watching the kids giggle and shriek.

Now...back to shoveling dirt.