Yesterday afternoon we went to the Unity in the Community festival down at Sylvester Park. It was organized as a response to a neo-nazi rally that had received a permit to gather on the Capitol steps today (a total of 11 nazis showed up- apparently our counter rally worked!). The Unity festival was pretty cool There were speakers from all sorts of local groups, from WROC to YA-YA Media, and many others as well. There was also live music, of varying flavors, with our friends in Rag Dharma playing when we arrived. There were plenty of activities for the children, as well, from a free tattoo stand (in the picture), to a game run by the Y camp staff involving a big parachute & lots of giggles & laughs.

There were a lot of people talking about diversity & how unwelcome the nazi presence is in Olympia. This led to some neat discussions with the Sunchild about nazism, racism, diversity, and prejudice. His favorite sign said "Nazism? That is so 1938!"

After the festival, we went to our friend's house, where the Sunchild could play with his buddies O & Q. There is a ton of land & trees & stuff for the boys to play with, and they always have a great creative time. We were glad to get a chance to see them, as they are travelling back east for a month or so to visit family.