May 29, 2006

Hemp Hoe Down 2006


We went to the Hemp Hoe Down a couple weeks ago, at a campground just went of Sturgis off of Interstate 90. Had a very, very good time. Ate some yummy food: Thai spring rolls, buffalo burgers from the "Organibus Kitchen". The kids ran and ran and ran and played and played and played all day. They found endless ways to keep themselves occupied near the creek. It was a beautiful, sunny day spent with friends as a few of the others from The Mother's Collective were there, too. Alex Whiteplume spoke about his experience of growing hemp, only to have the DEA come in and seize it, twice. It's now being battled out in the court system, hoping that the courts will declare HEMP and MARIJUANA to be two separate things, and so cannot be treated the same. Hopefully Alex and his family will finally be able to reap the benefits of this amazing crop.
In the photo, we are stripping the fiber off of hemp to make hemp paper. Saylor and Sage were both into it!

May 25, 2006

First Lemon-Ade Stand

Saylor is on the quest to earn money! He wants an iPod, so we are coming up with all sorts of ways he can get one. I told him I'd help him by giving him some of my money, he's got birthday money left, and then this morning, he says "Hey! I could have a lemonade stand!"
"Yes, you could!", I say.
"Can I have one today?"
"Of course!"
So, we gathered the necessary supplies: frozen pink lemonade (whew! 2 left!) paper and markers for the sign, and called on grandma to deliver by some cups. His first customer was the UPS man who I yelled at and told him he needed to come on over across the street and buy some lemonade. He was so sweet, and happily did so. We explained that Saylor was saving up for an iPod and so he bought his 25 cent lemonade, and told Saylor to keep the rest of the dollar for a tip. Saylor had that very cool, very proud, 'can you believe it' look on his face. It was so fun to watch him. He made $7.75 in just under 2 hours. Not too shabby, I say! Stone generously volunteered his time to help his big brother out. He was the delivery boy for the car that pulled up and ordered 5 cups, and also helped Saylor with the pouring and luring people in! Saylor wasn't to sure about the 'marketing' (or, yelling at people to come over and buy his goods), so I did that and Stone helped out, too. Stone is always up for getting people's attention. He, unlike Saylor, doesn't mind all eyes on him. Kind of like his Papa! Saylor's more like me in that way, not so comfortable with so much visibility.
At dinner, Saylor was making plans for his next business venture. I guess we'll see where this all takes us!