summer work begins

community yard sale today!! we've known about if for two weeks. prepared nothing. i'm using the excuse of "we had vacation bible school all week...." blah. blah. blah. "it's too much work." yeah, yeah, yeah. but zach. now, there's an optimistic thinker for ya.

zach comes home from work on friday asking the kids if they want to put out a lemonade stand in the morning. eager replies from both the littlest optimists. "yeah!", "yay!", "what's a lemonade stand?" they cheer. a little explanation and the preparation begins. davis buys the lemons. allison buys the cups. daddy helps put together the beverage dispenser and mixes the lemonade. mommy helps with the sign.

its friday night. i'm thinking, "do they really know how early shoppers start arriving for a 7 am yard sale?" i think, "not."

its saturday a.m. 6:30 to be exact. and i lie in bed listening to the traffic accumulating on the street. "davis, you ready to get up and start your lemonade stand? it's morning time."

davis replies " its time to sleep, mom."

a few minutes later, davis goes in to wake up zach. the family is up and working on our last minute yard sale venture. one product only. fresh lemonade. chick-fil-a style.

not even out of their pajamas, davis and allison reel in their first sales and customers. not even an hour later, the stand is vacated. workers leave due to exhausted job motivation. cartoons are on. tummies are rumbling. after counting our profits ($20 in just over an hour), and getting dressed, we go out to put some of our money back into the system by shopping the street.

(a hair past 7 a.m.....okay, we're here. where is everybody?)

two hours later, davis wants to put out the lemonade stand again. his parents aren't really up for it. but he shows enough entrepreneurial spirit to convince his mom. obviously, i need to trust his natural business instincts. he grew his business by two more employees and turned a 102% return on investment.

all the kids learned a little work, friendly smile, cheerful waves, strong negotiation, please and thank yous......a successful business makes. not bad for a couple hours on saturday morning.

and it all started with a simple seed from the dad. happy father's day to our own optimistic, supportive, no. 1 venture capitalist!

rise & shine! waiting on our 1st customers:

dad serenades for bigger tips. darby's tail knocks down business sign greeting customers. allison jumps up & down from excitement and not knowing what to do. davis would give it all away for free. customers are on the honor system - drop your money in, take your change, pay however much you want. i can't even describe it to you appropriately:

workers hunger strike:

davis & kayla give it another go:

the company grows:

if allison doesn't drink all the product first: