Birthday circus

Do you know what Fiona really needed today? More birthday! Really, she DID need to spend time with Grandma, Toot Toot, Uncle Eric, Aunt Carrie, James, and Luke, so it's quite convenient that we had a reason to gather and celebrate. Thank you, Fiona!

Today we had a backyard circus. We knocked down milk bottles (special thanks to Abby and Marra for collecting them!), walked a "tightrope" board, listened to calliope music, watched eight cicadas molt on the fir tree, decorated party hats and wore clown noses, played pin the tail on the donkey, decorated clown cupcakes, and enjoyed a circus lunch which included-- amidst other, slightly healthier fare-- corn dogs, soft pretzels, lemon shake-ups, cotton candy, candied clown cupcakes, and homemade vanilla ice cream freshly made by Eric right on the back deck.

Hold on a minute... did the list above actually say, "watched eight cicadas molt on the fir tree?!" Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it did. It was so exciting we had to call Paul, Helena, and Ada so they could witness the spectacle with us. Talk about the greatest show on earth!