At the Circus

So, Brandon came home from work one Friday and said, "Hey, do you want to go tot he circus tomorrow?"... "Sure, why not--sounds like fun!" (we had a jam-packed Saturday planned already, but how many chances do you get to go to the circus?) So, we bought tickets, and we went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey's Circus--"The Greatest Show on Earth!"

It was so much fun! The kids loved it--Ginger especially did, but I was surprised how much Edison liked it too! We had great seats, and we saw clowns, tight-rope walkers, flying trapeze people, elephants, tigers, contortionists--you name it! Ginger's favorite was the elephants--who wouldn't love them! They were so sweet, I loved watching them walk around holding the tail of the elephant in front of them.
I think that Brandon and I agree that OUR favorite was the motorcycles riding around in the metal ball cage! they started out with for motorcycles: they drove into the cage and waiting for the door to shut behind them. They revved their engines, and then all of a sudden the were all driving at full speed in this small cage around and around! How they didn't hit each other, I don't know, but I guess they were all going in the same direction, so that helps. Then they sent two more motorcycles into the cage. So then there were two rows of motorcycles going around (shouldn't their heads hit each other or something?)! And THEN, two more motorcycles drove in, and so there were two rows of motorcycles going around, and then one of the motorcycles started going perpendicular to the others! How did he not die?! It was total chaos in the cage with 8 motorcycles driving around willy-nilly at the end! Those guys were just insane...but it looked so awesome!

Ginger really wants to go back to the circus, and I don't really blame her--it was a lot of fun!

Brandon's Birthday

Brandon just had his 36th birthday! (on April 18th) Ginger was so excited that it was Daddy's birthday, she was telling him "Happy Birthday" all weekend!

We had a few people over the night before to celebrate with cake and ice cream (it took two or three of us to light all of those candles!). Ginger could not wait to sing the Birthday song, and blow out the candles--she's old enough to know how this all works. So, Brandon had to blow them out fast, before Ginger could!

(The apron? Maybe he is really nervous about getting cake on his shirt?)

The next night, on his actual birthday, he opened his presents: some socks, more socks (his socks tend to go missing, because when my feet get cold, I usually grab some of his socks because they are more convenient to access... then who knows what happens to them. You know, the usual sock mystery.), a movie or two, and a new game called "Dominion". He's really excited about the game! And the new socks of course.

First set of socks...

Second set of socks...

And, the game. Edison really likes the box that the game came in!

I arranged for my Dad to babysit the kids so that Brandon and I could go out for the evening (he was under the impression that we were going to dinner...that's what we usually do). My brother Brandon, we call him "Uncle Bud", was in town for the birthday and was going to tag along. So Brandon knew that it wasn't going to be a romantic dinner, but he was a little surprised when I drove South on the highway about 20 minutes, and then stopped at a Wendy's and said "We should probably get some food here".
He just laughed because he thought that I was joking, then realized that I wasn't: "Wait, really?"
Uncle Bud thought it was hilarious, because he knew exactly where we were going.  He patted Brandon on the shoulder and said "I don't think that they have food where we are going." Brandon couldn't be more confused! Where were we going?
We drove down behind an industrial park, and pulled into an alley with a few parking spaces. There was a perfect spot, right in front of the sign for where we were going so that Brandon finally realized what his Birthday surprise was: we were going shooting (at a firing range)! He has been trying to get me to go shooting with him for months and months--it was a great surprise! So, we met up with our friend, Tony, who brought some guns for us to use, and showed us how it's done.
Brandon hadn't shot a gun in over 20 years, but he was awesome! We kept one of his targets as a souvenir, and it has a pretty big cluster on the bulls-eye. All these years, I've been married to a hunter and didn't even know it. Brandon thinks that now that I've been shooting, I'll let him get a gun... Nope. Nope, not convinced yet. He needs to really do some inception for that to ever happen. Although, I will admit that it WAS fun to go shooting.
Happy Birthday Brandon! We love you!