With Childlike Wonder

Family and friends are the most important parts of anyone’s life.  It doesn’t matter how rich you are or how poor you are.  It doesn’t matter if you have had a terrible day…or week.  It doesn’t matter what type of clothes you wear or if you drive the latest car.  What really matters are your family and friends.

This past weekend, Lisa and I had the chance to spend some time with our friends, Rod and Corrinna Middleton and their daughter Hailey.  Rod is the director of the Fish Hatchery at Cave Run Lake and does an excellent job.  Corrinna works for the Dept. of Water and Sewage.  Hailey is just entering the first grade….and it seems like only yesterday when she was born!

We spent the weekend together doing what we do best….namely shopping and eating…LOL!  Lisa and I went to visit them at the Fish Hatchery on Friday night.  We played on the trampoline with Hailey and also played ball and with the Frisbee.  It was a great afternoon to be outdoors.  Later on, the grownups had some time to play cards.  We love to play Canasta…a popular card game from the 1940s!  We are just keeping traditions alive and well!  HA!

The next morning, we all woke up early and got ready for our day of fun in Lexington.  Of course, the drive there was easy thanks to the wonderful built-in DVD player in the Toyota Sienna.  I’ll be the first one to admit that I love these vehicles.  It will come in very handy when we get Jacob!  There is tons of room and with the built-in entertainment center….they are very child-friendly!

Once we were in Lexington, we took some time to shop a little.  What is trip to Lexington without a little shopping?  I’ll admit that I didn’t really need anything.  I ended up purchasing two cool t-shirts.  One of them was a Goonies shirt from that 1980s movie.  I loved that movie when I was young…and I still watch it today, thanks to the magic of DVD.  The other one was a Sesame Street shirt.  I’m a huge Muppets nut…as some of you know already!  LOL!

Finally though, we headed to Rupp Arena for the main attraction of the day…the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus.  We had all been looking forward to taking Hailey to the circus.  She was very excited to see all the animals and clowns.  Plus, I have to admit, I was very excited to see the circus because I had never been to a BIG circus like this before.  It took up the whole floor at Rupp!

The show was amazing.  There were all sorts of trained animal acts.  We saw dancing elephants, trained tigers, and prancing zebras!  There were cool dog tricks and neat ponies and horses.  One elephant even painted a picture!  Hailey loved all the animal acts.

The rest of the circus was indeed magical.  There were several acts of illusion throughout the show.  For instance, they were cutting people in half, turning clowns into tigers, and even making elephants disappear!  I thought that the way that they incorporated a magic show into the circus was a great idea.  Zing Zang Zoom were the magic words that transported the entire audience into a fantasy world for two solid hours.  I can see why they call it the Greatest Show on Earth.

One of the scariest parts of the circus for me was the trained tiger act.  I’m sure that this man was a trained professional, but those tigers were snarling and clawing at him like crazy!  I just knew that we were going to experience one of those “moments when it all went bad.”  I could picture myself on the news saying “I saw the whole thing.  It was awful!”  But…the man looked danger right in the face and went on with the show. 

It was great being at the circus with Hailey.  Lisa and I are looking forward to being able to take Jacob to the circus next year.  We are still planning on hopefully getting to travel to Russia for the first time sometime in September.  Keep praying for us!  We appreciate all of the positive words and comments from everyone.  Your love and support is much appreciated!

Looking back on this weekend, I can honestly say that I had a great time.  I hope that everyone was able to take some time this past week to enjoy time with their family or friends.  I want to end this article by wishing my mom and dad a happy 43rd anniversary!  They celebrated it on Monday, August 30th.  We took them out to eat at Long John Silver’s (their favorite place to eat!).  Then we had some ice cream and cake and gave them their presents.  They are the best parents anyone could ever ask for!  I love you Mom and Dad!

Until next week….class dismissed!