Thoughts Along Life's Highway

First Day of School

Thursday was the first day of school for the girls. They were so excited, and I guess I was, too, given that I woke up at 4AM and never went back to sleep! (which is becoming a bad habit, I might add)

After getting dressed and ready with surprising speed (and why is it that it’s always so stinkin’ easy that first week or so of school? And then they turn into sloths and can’t move faster than –23 miles per hour?) the girls came downstairs to enjoy some bacon, eggs and cheese sandwiches.

Then it was picture time:

 

Oh my gosh, they are getting so big!!

And then we were off to school:

(those are from open house the other day)

I was surprised that the girls asked me to walk them in to their classrooms, but I was very happy to do so.  They were so cute trying to look all grown up and yet holding on to my hand so tightly.

I know I won’t have many more years of that first-day-of-school walk-in honor… probably only a couple, actually, so it was really special this morning.

Then, I headed home and got busy with work – in a surprisingly quiet house!!

The pups and I picked the girls up from school (Sydney was a maniac and ended up in the front seat looking (and barking) at all the teachers and kids as she tried to spot her girls)  The kids were thrilled to see the pups and asked me to bring them every day (I”m not so sure about that!) when I pick them up.

After that, it was snacks, homework (yes, even on the first day of school) and some down-time with the TV.  Little Bit crashed early and Big Girl wasn’t far behind (nor was I, having finally “hit the wall” from my early rising)

One day down… and, oh, about two hundred more to go!

Back to school (almost)

We’re in the countdown to the first day of school here…

And, believe it or not, I’m actually looking forward to it.   While I was so terribly excited for the girls to get out of school back in May, I am equally excited about them starting school again in a few weeks…

Here are a few reasons why:

• While I love (initially) not having a schedule, the lack of routine causes us to slip into some not-so-good habits – staying up too late, sleeping in later than we should, eating junk, etc.  I’m looking forward to getting back into a structure/routine and getting us all back into some healthier sleep patterns.
• And the eating thing is a big one, too. I have been so good about menu planning, but in the past few weeks, that has slipped as well, and I found us eating out a lot more in the past two weeks than my body or my budget really prefer. When we are in school, I am much more disciplined (I have to be!) about meals and meal planning.
• I’ve enjoyed having the girls around me this summer, but to be honest, I think we are all starting to get on each others’ nerves a little bit.  It will be nice for them to have the stimulation (and distractions) of school and their after-school activities and I am looking forward to being able to work for several hours uninterrupted each day.
  Sad, I know, that I’m looking forward to work – but it is always a challenge in the summertime to balance working from home with two little monkeys running around asking to go swimming, to eat (constantly!) etc.  The ability to segment my day into “mommy” and “professional” times will be a very welcome change.
• Back to school also means that summer is drawing to a close – which, while I have loved summertime, is wearing out its welcome here and we’re all ready for some change in the air and cooler temperatures. Honestly, I’m getting tired of my summer clothes! I’m ready to pull out some fall colors and long sleeves.

So, bring it on… bring on the new school clothes, book bags and lunch boxes.  Bring on the fall leaves and tumbling temperatures! I’m ready for you!

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Seven Years ago Today

We were welcoming our little Doodle Bug into the family.

Hard to believe she is seven today. My sweet, big girl.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl.  I love you so very much!

This is the story of a bird...

a very resilient, brave (and sometimes stupid) little bird.

We came home from running errands on Wednesday afternoon – following a big rainstorm – to find a little bird in the front yard.  Big Girl found the bird sitting on the ground under one of the trees and called me outside to see it. (We think he must’ve gotten blown from the nest during the storm.)

At first, I wanted to just leave the bird alone, thinking nature would take care of its own.  Then, I realized quickly that neither the girls nor my conscience would allow that to happen.

I called my mom, who used to raise birds, to find out what I should do. She suggested picking up the bird in a dishcloth and putting it in a shrub and hopefully its parents would find it and take care of it. So that is what we did.

“Peep” (or Cheep, or Tweet as he has been called) sat happily in his makeshift nest until SuperMan got home from work that evening. He fed him a few worms and made him a “nest” in some grass clippings in the flower bed under a tree.

The next day, Peep was hopping all over the yard and we spent a lot of time “rescuing” him as he hopped into the neighbor’s driveway, rolled down the hill and got caught in tree limbs, etc.

The girls got very attached to him and spent a lot of time watching him from the sunroom and front porch.  He had quite the personality and would open his little beak asking for worms anytime anyone got close to him.

His parents continued to feed him and SuperMan offered worms every evening when he returned home from work. Peep hopped all over the yard and got bigger and bigger. We were pretty happy and hoped that we’d rescued him and that he’d soon fly off to be a big bird in our woods.

On Friday, we got a suggestion to put him in a makeshift “nest” – a basket hung from a tree – in hopes that his parents would be able to better care for him and that we wouldn’t have to keep rescuing him from driveways and streets.

So, SuperMan and I made him a “nest.”

 

And we figured we were good to go. Peep had a new home, safely away from predators and vehicles and tucked up under a tree so he would stay safe and dry.

And all was well.

Or so we thought.

Until it got “cold” last night.  After the storms we had yesterday, temperatures dropped into the sixties last night. Which isn’t really cold unless you are a baby bird.

And unfortunately, I think it was too cold for Peep.

The girls are devastated.  Big Girl is crying in her room. Little Bit is trying to make sense of it and reasoning it out in her own little way.

SuperMan and I feel bad, but, you know, we did the best we could. And we know that. I hate that he didn’t make it, but I am glad that the girls had three days to experience a little bit of nature – and even a little bit of the harsher realities of life.

So now Peep will live on in our memories and we’ll watch his siblings as they grow and fly from the nest (that was too high to reach to put Peep back in) and the Circle of Life will go on.

How to make chocolate milk

Today’s post is a guest post.

Brought to you by the cutest Doodle Bug I know.
She will be sharing her expert recipe with you – a recipe for chocolate milk.

Take notes. You will want to make your own.

Hee hee.

Back to School Shopping

I bet you read that and thought “Huh? It’s still SUMMERTIME. Is she NUTS?”

Well, yes, actually, I am a little nuts, but it is also getting close to that time of year… or at least for us it is. Where we live, school starts in early August, so we’re already seeing stores full of back-to-school supplies and the girls are already starting to obsess about who will be their teachers, etc.

So, naturally, I’m thinking back-to-school shopping.

And I thought I’d share with you some of my picks for this year.

• Last year, I purchased both girls Backpacks from LL Bean – they were a bit more expensive than the local options from WalMart or Target, but well worth the purchase price as they lasted all year and they are in great shape to go another school year. I won’t be buying new backpacks, that’s for sure. The girls love these and they don’t really need new ones.

 

• I also bought them lunchboxes to match – and they are not showing any signs of wear from last year’s use, so we’ll most likely reuse those as well.
  I like the fact that they have a mesh pocket outside for napkins, hand sanitizer, etc. and the lid has another mesh pocket inside that fits a drink just perfectly, leaving the entire base for your lunch goodies.

• Bento Boxes from Laptop Lunches.
  Doodle Bug loved having her “bento box” lunches last year – I made up my own by using a large Tupperware-type container with silicon cupcake liners inside. But the drawback was that I was challenged in keeping things separated, especially when something was liquidy (like ranch dressing to dip veggies in) and then we had a mess to deal with – either at lunch or after school. UGH.
  Not this year! These nifty boxes each seal individually and the whole case is insulated.  Additionally, they are PVC & BPA-free  and dishwasher safe!!
  
  So, I will probably add this to the list to purchase – at least for Doodle Bug – and see how they work out. I'll either purchase the entire kit (pictured above) or just the little containers (which is how I may start out and see how it works since I have nice lunchboxes already)
  
  There’s a mesh sleeve on the outside for holding a water bottle – and I plan to purchase this one -
• The FlyLady’s stainless water bottles – I have been wanting to get them for a while now – I love that they are double-walled, have two openings (one large for adding ice, etc, one small for drinking) and the nifty colored loops to keep them identified by owner.
  Since I have been trying to justify buying them for the whole family, I figured this is the year to do it – no backpack purchases to eat up the budget, so I’ll splurge on this!

There will, of course, be the requisite purchase of thousands (it seems) of crayons, markers, pens, pencils, and the like.  The kids are still using some of the things we purchased last year, but it’s hard to pass up the sales when crayon boxes are twenty-five cents each (instead of a couple dollars as they are mid-school year) and so I usually fill the cabinet when we go shopping.

What about you? Are there any major school supply purchases you’re already contemplating?

I’m still on the hunt for a 3-ring notebook that lasts more than three months in a kid’s backpack. If you know of one, let me know!!

 

del.icio.us Tags: back to school,back to school shopping,water bottles,backpacks,lunch boxes,bento boxes

Pit Stop on the way home

Summertime ~ Adventure

We’re on the first day of our holiday weekend – visiting family and relaxing at Mom’s.

We didn’t leave until yesterday evening and what should’ve been a fairly straightforward drive down turned into an adventure in and of itself.

And, actually, that is what I have decided this summer is all about – adventure.  Not ADVENTURE in big capital letters, but the little, everyday adventures we encounter.

I don’t know if it is because the girls are bigger and we’re able to do more things with them (and with less of a schedule to worry about adhering to) or if it is because I’m 100+ pounds lighter and more open to spur of the moment adventures or if it is a little of both…

but that is what this summer is about for me.

adventures

finding the fun in the everyday

relishing the unexpected

embracing the new and unusual

tossing the routines out the window

going with the flow

Yeah.

That’s our summer this year.

And it’s awesome.

So, last night, we headed out around 6ish and SuperMan decided we’d take the “long way” down to avoid the traffic in downtown and on the interstates. The radio stations were reporting it was terrible so we figured we’d rather ride a little longer with pretty countryside to see than sit in a traffic jam.

So off we went.

We figured we’d eat dinner in Athens… which was a walk down memory lane for me.

We drove in circles downtown looking for a parking place and/or a restaurant to eat in.

However, my GPS had other ideas. Every single restaurant I tried to find was either closed or the building was under construction… so, we headed south again and figured we’d just find dinner along the way.

Which led us to Madison, GA. A very cute antebellum town that just drips with Southern charm. By the time we arrived there it was after 9 and we were all starving. We lucked up on a parking place on Main street. Right in front of a Japanese place. Score!

A little sake helped to relax things a bit – and make my eyes blurry…

Little Bit tried sushi and decided she liked it. I was amazed.

The girls had some new flavored “Japanese Sprite” drinks.  The melon tasted like you were mainlining sugar … the strawberry didn’t have much flavor to me… but they loved them.

Big Girl got a case of the giggles at her own silliness when she made this goofy face after getting a steak “kabob” from her sister’s unfinished dinner…

 Kinda scary, huh?

And then, after we finished dinner, we headed out to the car to find a fireworks show going on … which we could see over the top of the courthouse.  So, we ambled along Main Street and watched the fireworks a little.

I browsed the shop windows, only to discover that one of the displays wasn’t quite what I thought --

Hi, Kitty kitty.

So cute. She looked a lot like my Scooby Cat did in her younger years.

And then we were back on the highway for a little while…

Making a pit stop along the way – check out Little Bit’s shoe choices. 

And then SuperMan was too sleepy to drive any more. By this time it was after eleven and he’d been up since four AM. He was fried.  I stopped at the Starbucks to get a little “fuel” to keep me awake for the remaining drive… and as I pulled into the drive through, they were turning off the lights.  But the very sweet, very professional barista was kind enough to tell me that I still had “seventeen seconds” before closing and she would be happy to make me a coffee.

It was the very best coffee I’ve had in I don’t know how long.  It was absolutely perfect. And I enjoyed every single drop.

Thank you, Miss Barista, for being willing to make me a latte in the last seventeen seconds of your shift. I really appreciate it.

So, SuperMan and the chicks settled in to sleep and down the highway I drove.

This lonely little highway with it’s speed traps and varying speed limits – that change from 55 to 65 to 45 about every ten miles… at least it keeps you awake and on your toes.

I drove through these pop-up showers – massive downpours that would last for five or ten miles and then clear up to dry highway only to find me driving into another storm in a few more miles.

All the while I was serenaded by a snoring trio and sipping my absolutely perfect sugar free Caramel-Vanilla Latte.

And I drove

and drove

and they snored

and snored

until SuperMan sat up, turned to me and said

“What are you doing over there?” with much confusion and emphasis in his voice

and before I could respond he said

“Are you making a fly swatter over there?”

Uh, yeah, honey, that’s what I’m doing.

And before I could respond, he was snoring again.

sigh.

We finally pulled into Mom’s around 2:30.

Of course the munchkins woke up and were “wide awake.”

I left SuperMan to take care of them.  I think he ended up sleeping upstairs with one of them, but I’m not sure…

Today, I’m just in a haze. Glad we’re here but realizing that I’m getting too old stay up more than half the night anymore…

Wonder what kind of adventures we’ll get up to today? :-)

if Momma knows everything…

Big Girl and I were riding in the car together last night – headed out to check out some new purchases a friend made – we’re purse-junkies & wanted to see what she’d gotten…

While we were driving, she told me something about birds and flying – can’t remember what it was -  when I asked her where she learned that she said, “Ammi told me”

(Ammi is my mom)

I said, “Ah. Well, she would know. She knows everything.”

To which Big Girl replied, “Huh? I thought YOU knew everything! You mean she does TOO!?!”

And I laughingly responded, “Baby girl, where do you think I learned it from?”

She said (completely straight-faced) “Pop-Pop. He knows everything.”

I didn’t quite know how to respond. You see, in my family, the legend goes that Momma (my momma) knows everything and I have always joked that I’m the inheritor of this knowledge bank, which will then be passed on to my girls one day when they are mommas.

Never in this picture has Pop-Pop, or any male in the family, featured.

Up until now.

What’s cute about this is the reverence in which my girls hold their grandfather.  They think he really does know everything there is to know about everything.

Big Girl continued, “Whenever you ask him about something, he always has lots of wisdom to share. He’s very smart you know.”

Yes, baby girl, I know.

Monday, Monday...

Can’t trust that day….

Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way…

Well… it’s Monday. That’s for sure.

I have another weekend hangover. What a busy summer we are having!  I am not complaining. It’s all been fun.  Just busy.

Mondays roll around and I feel like I’m still spinning from the weekend. I look around the house at the detritus of the weekend revels and wonder where it all came from and who made this mess? Oh, yeah, we did.

I think I may look back on this summer in future years as the summer of the whirlwind. That is what it feels like we are in… a whirlwind. Things happening back-to-back with barely time to catch our breath before the next adventure begins.

But I feel so lucky that we’re having such fun.

I’m working this morning (in between my real work) on the photos from our adventures this past weekend – especially our mini-vacation-crammed-into-one-day Father’s Day extravaganza.  If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you’ve seen a few of the photos already.  There were massive quantities of food, horses, waterfalls, rapids, walking, shopping and mountains in our day. It was awesome… and we are all wiped out today from the fun. But it was oh, so worth it.

Today will be quiet – nothing big – some conference calls for work, maybe a trip to the grocery and the bank – a good recovery day.

Oh, and no, no menu plan yet  this week. At this point, I only know what we have planned for tonight. The rest of the week will come later.

What does Scarlett O’Hara say?  Tomorrow is another day? (is that right?)

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What a night!

We’ve been wishing and hoping for rain for weeks – and the storms have been all around us and never made it to our little corner of the county. Last week we watched the storms pass all around us (watching on the radar) and never make it to our house.  We could see the storms, literally, on the other side of the highway and yet we never got a drop of rain.

My theory is that the mountain messes with the air flow and it has to be a pretty strong storm to have the energy to go over the mountain and reach us. I’m not a meteorologist by any means, but after living close to the mountain for almost 20 years and watching the storms do this little dance around the mountain, that’s the theory I’ve come up with.

 

 See the ridge of the mountain there above my neighbor’s house?

Last night, we got “the big one.”

It was a heck of a storm… or series of storms, I guess. It started around six in the evening and when I finally went to sleep around 3:30 it was still raining, although the energy of the storm had diminished and it was just raining instead of the light and wind and sound show we’d had for most of the night.

We had hail, (lots of it) wind, LOTS of rain, thunder and lightning.  The dogs were scared to death, the kitties were hiding under things and the kiddies were not much better.  Our power went out around 7ish and didn’t come back on until around 3:30.  (which is why I kept waking up off/on until then – I was on “alert” in case it did come back on and worried SuperMan would oversleep and miss work, too)

We pulled out the kerosene lanterns and ate dinner by candlelight.  Cleaning the kitchen afterward was a bit of a challenge – how can you tell if the dishes are clean when it’s 80% dark in the house? – but we managed.  I can’t tell you how happy I was that I’d already cooked dinner in the crock pot and so when the power went out it was no big deal. All we had to do was plate up the food and eat. See? Planning ahead is a good thing.

Then, because we couldn’t do much else, we headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

The girls were a mess – Big Girl was traumatized by the no power thing. She railed against Mother Nature messing up her nighttime routine and how would she ever sleep without her fan and the “night light” of the neighborhood street light?  Little Bit was hot, tired, cranky and had leg cramps.  Poor SuperMan and I were just so tired we were ready to collapse with or without the kids joining us in sleep.  Finally, around 11, I put them both in bed with me and while SuperMan took a cool shower the girls fell asleep.  He escaped to another bedroom to sleep and I “slept” with the two whirling dervishes all night.  It wasn’t too bad, heat-wise, because we had the bedroom porch door open and a nice cool breeze was blowing in. It was humid, of course, but not intolerable.

When the power came on at 3:30 it woke me up when all of the electronics in the house came on in a simultaneous “whump” and surge of power.  I got up and turned off all the lights we’d left on and re-set the clocks and thermostats in the house.  Then I snuggled back down and tried to go back to sleep.

This morning, our yard looks like, well, like a storm went through (duh) – lots of limbs, leaves, etc. are down. But my flowers are happy little campers. They loved the rain.

The hydrangeas are a little bruised from the hail, but pretty still

The lilies are happy, too. Lots of new blooms today

So, for now, we’ll just say thanks for the rain, the cooler temperatures, and the adventure of “camping” in our house last night.  I’m just glad no trees fell in our yard and no one had any serious issues.

 

del.icio.us Tags: rain,family stories,parenting,storms

rain,family stories,parenting,storms

 

Sometimes you slow down...

… and enjoy the little things.

We spent the weekend at a little slower pace than we have spent the past few weekends.

Partly because Little Bit was feeling under the weather. Partly because I was just tired and ready for a break.

It was nice.

Saturday, I spent some time catching up on my reading/homework for my bible study class.

And helping Big Girl learn how to fold those silly fortune-teller thingys all kids seem to get hooked on making at one time or another:

 

Of course, Buster Dog was at my feet – which is where he would prefer to spend 90% of his lifetime (the other 10% would be spent eating or chasing squirrels, I think)

And Little Bit ventured outside for a little recreation for a few minutes:

SuperMan cut the grass (I was “helping” him while I read)

 

And then we started on THE BIG PROJECT of the weekend – My Easter/Mother’s Day vegetable garden. I’m so excited!

Big Girl even recruited the neighbors to help dump the bags of topsoil.

It’s a raised bed on the sunny side of the house. I absolutely can’t wait until things start popping up!

Sunday, we went and got the last of the dirt – and the most important thing – plants & seeds!!

*cue the Green Acres theme song here*

It was an awesome weekend.And it’s an awesome Mother’s Day/Easter present.

Thank you, SuperMan.

More than just baking bread

Wednesdays are usually the days I post a recipe, but today I wanted to share something a little different with you.

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be able to attend a very special event put on by some very special ladies.  It was a fundraising function but the event itself was focused on bread making and other baking tips/techniques. 

I learned a lot about grinding your own flours, what tools to use, what to do (and not do) and I got to taste some really awesome food. 

But what struck me the most was the lesson-within-the-lesson of the day. I’m not even sure the ladies who were organizing and teaching really had this in mind when they planned things, but it was what stuck with me.

Mixed in with all the tidbits of information about healthy cooking habits and how to prepare food that is not only good for you but tasty, too, was this overwhelming sense that it’s not just about the nutritional value of the food.  It’s about the love and care that goes in there. It’s about taking the time to prepare food from your heart – food that will nourish your family’s bodies and souls. 

It struck me, as I was there, that this is our job – as mothers, wives, homemakers – to make a home for our family – one that is welcoming, loving, nourishing and enriching of their hearts, minds and souls.

I think we all get so caught up in the day-to-day rush of life that we sometimes forget this.  This morning was an opportunity for me to remind myself why I am a mom… why I chose to marry and have a family. It wasn’t so I could spend my time rushing from school to dance practice to girl scouts and home again. It was so that I could share my life with people that I love – and give of myself to them.

It really helped to reset things in my mind.

So, that afternoon, as I tidied up the house and planned dinner, I rejoiced in the fact that I had a house to tidy, I had kids to feed and dinner to cook.  I gave thanks for the many blessings I have been given and let go of some of the little frustrations that normally get me down (like shoes and book bags and Barbie dolls scattered everywhere). 

I learned a lot more than just how to grind my own wheat and get a good rise on my bread… I learned to remember why I am a mom and to focus on showing my love for them when I’m doing even the most mundane things for my family.

And that makes all the difference.

Saturday Fun

We had a change in plans on Saturday but the afternoon turned out to be absolutely wonderful, even if it wasn’t what we thought we’d be doing when we woke up that morning.  Little Bit was supposed to have a sleepover, but her friend woke on Saturday with a case of strep, so the sleepover was definitely out of the plans.  One of our friends invited us up to their house (in the mountains) for the afternoon when she heard how disappointed Little Bit was about the canceled sleepover.

So, after lunch we drove up to Blue Ridge.  We had the best time tromping around in the woods, grilling dinner on their deck overlooking the lake, and roasting marshmallows by the fire.  Such a fun, relaxing afternoon and evening in the company of some really sweet friends. We’re so lucky.

Here are some pictures I snapped during the day:

Walking down by the lake – the water was really, really low – we had fun throwing rocks and walking along the edge.

And balancing on trees…

And I found a “rock” I wanted – I think it was marble or quartz, or a little of both – but SuperMan said he kept digging and the “rock” kept going so I had to leave it behind.

I did find a smaller one which SuperMan graciously carried all the way up the (steep) hill for me.  Only later did I try to pick it up myself and see how heavy it really was!!  IF I’d known that I would’ve never asked him to carry it. But it’s in my garden now and I love it.

I also loved these mushrooms and lichen.

Roasting marshmallows by the fire and relaxing in the hammock

We were exhausted when we got home but we had such a great day – it was the best kind of exhaustion – born of fresh air, fun times and great memories made.

Seeing the sights

During our spring break this week, Mom and my step-dad wanted Big Girl to take some pictures of the historic buildings downtown. So, we headed downtown to take some pictures on Wednesday.

Big Girl was the “official” photographer of the day…

  

We also went into the Cathedral – she took some great pictures:

We’re headed home tomorrow – hopefully to have some fun with SuperMan this weekend before we come face-to-face with reality on Monday morning.

This is what happens, boys and girls...

… when you don’t watch your taco shells as they warm in the toaster oven.

Good thing Big Girl is so observant!

She was helping SuperMan get dinner on the table Friday night – we were having tacos and fajitas and he was busy finishing up dinner on the stove.

All of a sudden, Big Girl shouts, “Flames, Daddy, flames!!”

I came running and threw open the front door. (not to run away, mind you)

SuperMan carried the (burning) toaster oven out to the front porch.

The shells were toast – literally.

As was the toaster oven.

Thankfully, nothing else was harmed, the fire was contained to the inside of the toaster oven, and we had more taco shells (I know you wondered) for dinner.

Never a dull moment around here, I tell you.

a History lesson

It is always so fun to see life from the perspective of my children’s world… to see how they interpret things they experience and things they are told.

Little Bit (who isn’t so little anymore and may need a new name soon) has been learning about our forefathers in honor of the recent President’s Day celebrations. She brought home her “report” to share with me.

It is absolutely adorable on so many levels.

It reads:

“Harriet  Tubman was a slave and was forced to sweep and clean.
George Washington went down in history (continued on the back)
and was very tall.  Benjamin Franklin was reading all day.”

I love her phonetic spelling.

I love reading what she learned about these historical figures.
(interesting perspective, isn’t it?)

I love the summary at the top (“All Good”)

I love all of it.

It makes me smile. 

:-)

Living with a pre-teen

One of the ongoing battles I'm having with my Big Girl these days revolves around getting her to put her clothes away - she can't be bothered with taking the time to put them away and then gets frustrated because she can't find anything when it's time to get dressed for school. (or dance, or whatever)

My mom saved this cartoon for me - and it is so appropriate for the current situation:

Can you relate?

:-)

Circus (pt 2)

Since I had quite a few pictures to share, I decided to split into two posts. Here are some more from our trip to the Circus last weekend.

They opened with an “All aboard” type of number – reminiscent of the circus trains of yesteryear.  The theme was celebrating the 200th anniversary of PT Barnum’s circus, so it was a retro/modern-themed affair. They did a really good job of paying homage to circuses of the past while incorporating technology and new things into the show.

See the little guy with the yellow vest? He was riding a Segueway without the handles. It was really cool. They had about 30 of them and they rode them all over the place steering with their legs.

Some of our favorite acts:

Of course the elephants. Love them. Didn’t quite get the whole laying down part of the act, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be the poor guy on the bottom here.

These guys, in their motorcycle-sphere-of-death act scared the snot out of me (literally)  I kept holding my breath the entire act waiting for someone to fall and the whole thing come crashing down. Leave it to the mom in me to be worrying about how they would get them all out and how the EMTs would take care of them if they crashed rather than enjoy the act. I was scared to death. 

There were SEVEN motorbikes in there at one time! SEVEN!

And one was a woman! You would think SHE would have had better sense than that.

The high wire guys.  The act was actually a little boring.  But I liked their costumes.

But the acrobats, now they were phenomenal.  These two brothers were just incredible. Not an ounce of fat on their bodies – they were ALL MUSCLE and they had the most amazing control I have ever seen. I was in awe watching them.

And I kept thinking about them at age 10 or 12 practicing - “Get off my head, dude!”

LOL SuperMan and Big Girl were in awe of these gals. They decided they have probably been practicing since they were little bitty girls, too. 

At one point they were all three crammed into a box that was about 3’ x 4’ x 3’.  THAT was amazing. To watch them unwind and come out of there. Made my back hurt just to watch!

And my favorites, the tigers. Although they seemed a little cranky to me. Not really interested in participating in the show.   There was what I think was a mommy/baby pair, too. When the younger one came down, she gave him/her a little lick to reassure him/her that all was OK. Once they finished their part of the act they left and the little guy seemed quite happy to be out of the spotlight. I’m sure it was overwhelming to be out there  And these guys were awesome. See those little sticks they were jumping on? Wow. Just wow.

Circus (pt. 1)

As I mentioned, we went to the circus on Saturday.

It was the last part of Big Girl’s birthday celebration. Her gift, so to speak.

We got there early and were able to join in on the pre-show activities.     Like watching the elephant paint pictures…

And posing with the clowns

Of course, Little Bit and I live with two clowns all the time…

So that wasn’t really a big deal.