Bryn also tried her hand at a game in which she tried to lob a ping pong ball into a small fish bowl. Though unsuccessful, she was still awarded the prize -- a goldfish. Luke got one, too, and they were both named Dorothy, like Elmo's pet goldfish. As soon as we got home, I went to PetSmart to get spring water, fish bowls, fish food, and a net. One of the employees at Pet Smart told me that goldfish are extremely dirty fish -- they poop five times more frequently than tropical fish. Great -- more work for me! By the time I got home, we were down to one fish, which is fine by me. The remaining Dorothy has been hanging out at the bottom of her bowl; I wonder if she'll make it through the night.



Now if that weren't enough excitement for one day, we went to a small-circus this afternoon in the baseball field next to the Narberth playground that we always go to. The tickets were just $7 apiece, and the show seemed to be the right scale for the kids. There were some acrobats, though their performance was brief,

and the best act, hands down, were the trained dogs.


For the finale, one of the smaller dogs climbed a 12-foot ladder and jumped into the trainer's arms. There was something a bit depressing, though, about this circus. It was a small-scale operation, and the performers played multiple roles. Their costumes were tired, and the event through I couldn't stop thinking of the engrossing book I'm currently reading, Water for Elephants, about traveling circuses during the Depression area. We left at the intermission and joined our friends with twins the same age as Bryn for a pizza picnic at the sandy playground. It was a fun, action-packed day; there's no doubt that tomorrow will be much quieter!