Cold Spaghetti

A 2-year old Toyota Sienna, 20-30,000 miles, some bells and whistles (power doors and chairs, roof rack, ACs in the back, etc.)

OR

A brand new, more basic, Chrysler Town & Country?

Key factors:
– Will be family’s only vehicle.
– Will be street parked.
– Will be beat up with hardware trips, crazy kids, and rough roads.

In the spirit of ‘better late than never’ documentation, here’s some news about Will’s First Trip to the Circus! With his sweet friend, Ana! (This all happened a week ago Sunday.) I didn’t get any super cute moments captured in pixels (like the two of them holding hands and insisting Emmy and I to do the same), but I assure you, they were real and adorable.

The phrase “Greatest Show on Earth” might be a little dated for Ringling Brothers, but they still bring out the elephants, white tigers, clowns in cars, strong man, and the like. My guess is that the whole circus machine is grinding down in recent years… certainly, they do their best to gouge you left and right to pump up the earnings ($10 cotton candy!) There are a few added show events: one is that you can tour the areas where animals are kept and learn about their education and preservation programs (I’m not convinced of how educational or protective this is, but hey, I was just trying to take my kid to a special event.) Below, Ana and Will are contemplating an elephant tooth, which we learned weigh about 9 pounds each and is one of 4 elephants have in their hoomongous mouths. There is also a pre-show where the performers sign autographs and do tricks. Although Will was a bit too overwhelmed to take part, he liked watching it from our seats. The performers invited lots of kids to take part in the tricks, with other performers randomly engaging kids through the audience. This part looked to be pretty fun. Maybe the circus could be fun without animals, then? (Oh, wait. That’s already done… Ringling Bros, you may have missed the boat!)Besides the smoking dragon that appeared at the start of the show, Will’s favorite part of the circus were the sport-bike motorcyclists who ride together confined in a small metal ball, looping around and around and upside-down. I was disappointed that there are no more high-flying acts of yore… stuff like the trapeze act with the family called the “Flying _insertnamehere_” swing and flip and catch each other in acts of greater risk and intensity. Also, no tight-rope walker where people do tricks back and forth on the rope until the final act, involving a guy on a unicycle with a woman on his shoulders juggling puppies. To be fair, there were samples of these types of acts (one woman on a trapeze swing hanging on her knees and a guy walking upside-down on netted handles) but not the classic groups of flyers or walkers. Safety concerns, understandably, have parred down the circus.

It was a very fun outing to do with a friend and nice to have some time with Will alone (no Paul or Kate). Plus (the best part) Ana and Emmy are great company!