My parents then proceeded to break the cardinal rule of festivals, (Rule #1: No Goldfish) and “won” us a goldfish. So Julie bought a bowl, food and some rocks and we were nervous when we read that they can live up to 10 years! Ava named it Goldie, and Cassie was probably the most excited about the newest member of the family. She could spend a solid 5 minutes shouting and waving at Goldie, then come back and do it an hour later.

Unfortunately, Goldie did not make it ten years. He passed quietly this afternoon, and will be buried later tonight after the little ones are fast asleep. Goldie, it was fun while it lasted and you will be missed.

It was crazy long, 3.5 hours and Ava was ready go about 2.5 hours in but they were both troopers and stuck it out. I enjoyed it more than the Ringling Brothers; less animals and more acrobatic and skill-type demonstrations. I’m not a huge fan of the animal tricks, “congrats, you’ve convinced a tiger to jump through a hoop rather than rip your head off!”

The kids went on an elephant ride before things got started, which they really loved!

Turned out the girls loved the boats, as well as the stuffed animals. Surprisingly, they never connected the stuffed deer heads to the deer we see in Hidden Valley.

With Grandpa at the Trout Pond

Surfer?

Nice Boat!

Dad & Lily, Wheeling our Pumpkins

We met my parents at a local pumpkin patch today, and had a lot of fun! Typically Julie and take the kids to a place in Indiana, but mom and dad have been wanting to go with us one year and the place we’ve always went seemed to be going downhill every year.

This new place, Shaw Farms is a really nice place; tons of pumpkins and a real hay ride to boot! It was crowded, but not crazy so the it wasn’t really a hassle. We forget to get pics with the grandparents, which is disappointing.

Greatest Show on Earth!

Julie’s Dad took us and the girls to the circus this morning! It was a little too loud for the girls at times, but we all had fun. We even kept Joe from buying them any exorbitantly priced junk toys, which surprised us. One of the great things about living where we do is that we’re 15 minutes from downtown, so going to these events isn’t a big production where we have to pack snacks or worry about potty breaks. We just put on the coats, hop in the car and we’re there!

Ava watched most of the circus with her hands over her eyes, peeking through. That is, except when the horses and elephants came out and then she was really loving it. Lily liked the horses and the poodles the most, I think. The tigers were kind of interesting, you couldn’t pay me enough money to be the trainer in that ring with them! It was obvious that they were really pissed and not very interested in working. Anytime the trainer got close to one or turned his back they were swiping at him. Lots of growling and the typical “angry cat” look with the head up and teeth showing.

It ran about 15 minutes longer than I would have liked but it was certainly a good time for the girls.

Tubing @ Perfect North

Since Julie’s parents moved to Indiana, they’re about 15 minutes from Perfect North, and of course were excited to take the kids tubing. So they bought a season pass in early January and took Julie and the girls there recently. I don’t think Ava’s officially old enough to do the tubing, but she went down with Joe and had a great time. They both had fun, and it’ll be nice next winter b/c we’ll have the full season to hit the slopes; I’ll even get a chance to go!