Well. That. Was. Interesting.

Had a bit of craziness this evening, after an already crazed day. I'd just gotten back from the farm (where I picked 4 quarts of cherry tomatoes! I'm drowning in tomatoes. YUM!). David was home, getting ready to take the boys to a Red Sox game at Fenway, and we had to forbid Micah from wearing his Yankees t-shirt :) Sam got hom from swimming with a friend just in time, then they had to take my car instead because they were meeting other friends. In the mean time, I was trying to unload the veggies from the farm and get Sofia ready for the day school pool party.

So the guys leave, Sofia is in her bathing suit, and I go into the bathroom for a moment to change into mine.

And I smell smoke.

I pop back to my room, where Sofia is sitting watching a Signing Times DVD, and don't smell smoke. Ok, that's good.

Out in the hall, however, Smoke.

Rush to washer and dryer (which are on same floor as bedrooms) and shut both off. I've been doing laundry almost non-stop since we got home at 2:30 Monday morning.

Yup. Smoke.

Ok, grab Sofia and call 911.

We live in a very nice neighborhood, and I think our house has had the most emergency calls in the past 12 years (we've had the ambulance twice - once for David's grandmother and once when baby Micah had a febrile seziure - and the police/EMT once when Sofia locked me out of the house).

Well, looky who arrived - VERY quickly:



Another truck pulled up a few minutes later.

So a herd of fire fighters went into my house which is filled with mounds of laundry and vegetables.

Eventually, they do decide it's the dryer. They were very thorough, and checked the entire house including basement and attic.

So the wonderful firefighters of Ashland were kind enough to remove the offending dryer:


And the Chief made sure nothing was still burning:


The lady from the gas company turned off the gas (it's a gas dryer) and our neighbor the plumber came to cap the end a little while later.

And then the party was over:



Sofia hung out (in her bathing suit and her rain boots) at the neighbor's house. Lots of other neighbors ran over to make sure all was ok.

WHEW!

I really appreciate living in this town, on this street. Fabulous public services, and wonderful neighbors.

Sofia and I made it to the pool party about an hour late, but that didn't stop her from swimming or me from getting a kosher hamburger!

Once we got home, I got her to bed, and spent an hour sorting through veggies. Tomorrow I will begin making lots of tomato sauce.

Found some more vacation pics on my phone:

First day, after 12 hours of driving:


My kids - I think this might end up being our Rosh Hashanah card this year:


And a nice shot of the beach: