We saw Joe the Plumber...and McCain too

Yesterday afternoon I took the kids to a rally for John McCain close by. I hope that no matter which candidate you support, you agree that it is a good thing to get the kids involved in the process as much as possible. The younger kids got out of school a bit early, and we picked up Joseph at the middle school and headed over to Mentor High School. Traffic was heavy as we approached just after 3:00, and as we pulled into the parking lot, we were handed a sheet of paper by a volunteer saying that the parking lot was full, and we would need to drive to the mall and be bussed over. That was going to take quite a while--the mall was several miles away. As I looped through the parking lot, lo and behold, there was an open space! I guess some kids were still leaving school for the day. We stood outside in line for a while, and made it inside, to the upper level bleachers. Then we sat and waited for a long time...then some local candidates came out about 5:00 and spoke, followed by country singer Sammy Kershaw, then we waited again. About 6:20, John and Cindy McCain, Lindsey Graham (senator-SC), Joe the Plumber, and one of the McCain's daughters came out. Cindy spoke first, and then Graham introduced McCain. Once McCain started, he turned the mike over to Joe the Plumber who spoke briefly, and then McCain spoke for about 15 minutes. It was an exciting event. The girls were having a really hard time with the heat--it was really hot with all those people packed in the gym, especially up higher where we were. It was still fun though. In the picture of the speakers, Joe the Plumber is in a camel colored sweater behind the McCains.