Send in the Clowns

We went to the circus! It was a Mama & John date that we had been looking forward to for some time (Betsy opted out because she's too young, and Tommy opted out because he has a thing about clowns.) And as a special treat, we managed to convince Dawn and Victor, our favorite partners in crime, to join us for the adventure.

First stop was the (new) Kerbey Lane for breakfast. All things considered -- including a new location without the beloved red door, a really long wait, and a wobbly table -- the boys behaved beautifully and we were soon headed to the show.

First highlight -- close parking, a special feat considering that we didn't realize that it was dorm move-in day at UT. Second highlight -- extra seats on our row, meaning that Dawn and Victor got to sneak over a few sections and join us.

John was mesmerized. A little scared, even. He sat there like a statue, eyes as wide as they could be, taking it all in. Every once in a while he would whisper something like "I don't want them to fall!" But he seemed to like everything. Even the clowns. :-)

Note the picture of him with his cotton candy. The cotton candy will go down as my lesson in why you should always know what something costs before you offer it as a reward. During intermission, I took John to the restroom. I told him that if he waited in line patiently and used the potty (crowded public restroom with auto-flush toilets!) he could have some cotton candy. I thought this would be the cheap way out, since what he REALLY wanted was the light-up spinny wand they were selling for $25. But no. The cotton candy was $12. Because it came packaged in a hat. TWELVE DOLLARS. And because I had promised, and he had delivered, we now are the proud owners of a really snazzy Ringling Brothers top hat. But better than a plastic chomping tiger mug, I say. ;-)