The circus is back in town!

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I won ringside seats, so we went last Saturday.  We went last year also, but D was not able to go since he was travelling for work.  This year we were able to stay for the whole show since it was not a school night.  I thought they did a good job of changing up the show; it did not seem repetitive even though there were some common elements.  It was also not as stuffy as last year, so that was nice.

As you can see, the venue is pretty small, so I do not think there were any “bad” seats in the house.

We were close enough to see some of the “behind the scenes” preparation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVLwrTWHEyV/?taken-by=derek.cal

The main clown was back.  His juggling skills are astounding!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVN_5N4HdPY/?taken-by=derek.cal

The trapeze was directly over our heads.  My neck was getting sore!

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BVOMQyun58k/?taken-by=derek.cal

These guys are crazy!

Only one more day of school, and I can hardly wait.  Summer vacation has taken on a whole new meaning now that I am working at k and n’s school!

Last month k played the violin with her class in a mini-recital.  They had one trimester each of keyboard, voice and violin.  It is nice to see that some sort of music education is still being offered in school.

k was disappointed that the teacher did not let them use the bow during the performance; they only “plucked”.  Maybe next year!

Before May slips away, I guess better post about Mother’s Day.

As you can see, we ate well!

We had reservations, which I highly recommend.  It is nice that Costco sells discounted gift cards, too.  D and my dad planned it, but D is terrible at keeping things surprises.  I am so grateful for my mom and to be a mom to k and n!

Last month n’s Cub Scout den had a field to Fullerton Arboretum on the Cal State Fullerton campus.

We split up into two groups and went on a tour led by volunteers.

Broccoli!

Artichokes!

There were turtles and a koi fish in the pond.

Afterwards we stopped by Mr. Katsu, which is just down the street.  Love that cute mustachioed cat character!

The restaurant is quite small.  We placed our order to go.

We shared an original pork tonkatsu sandwich (and brought some home for D).  This was SO good!  n said it was the best sandwich ever, which is high praise from someone who usually does not care too much about food.  We will have to return to try the potato puffs.

After camping for two nights, it was a relief to be back in a hotel with hot showers and soft beds.  We spent our final night at Towneplace Suites in Henderson, which we had stayed at before.  It is a nice stopping point without having to deal with all of the Vegas craziness.

After washing up we treated ourselves to dinner at Sushi Café.  Ahh Asian food, how we missed you so!  The shrimp tempura monster roll was yummy (basically a sushi burrito).

I’m 99% sure this place is run by Koreans.  When we first arrived there was no one else there, but by the time we left they were having difficulty keeping up with their customers, a lot of whom were for take-out/delivery.

For dessert we went to Hi-Coffee Café.  We picked up a mango bar and guava cake and brought it back to our room to enjoy with the complimentary coffee and hot chocolate from the hotel.  Both were delicious!

On our way out of Canyonlands, we passed some cattle.

Dead Horse State Park is not too far away.  We had to pay the $15 entrance fee since it is a state park, and not a national park and k’s 4th grade pass did not apply.

None of the national parks we visited this trip had any food available.  I was thankful that my research showed that this state park had a Pony Expresso stand just outside the visitor center.  We ordered two roast beef sandwiches and supplemented with our own drinks and chips.  We were looking for a picnic table when k pointed out some tables on the second story balcony of the visitor center.

The sandwiches were just ok…the bread was way to thick so the kids and I opted for open faced sandwiches.

We did not do any hiking here, but we did drive to the overlook where Thelma and Louise drove off the cliff.

It was neat to see this horseshoe in the Colorado River.

It’s so nice that n still smiles on demand.

In hindsight, this was probably not the safest resting place for n.

This is the point where I made D take pictures of me since there is no photographic evidence that I was in Capitol Reef!

These ATVs were everywhere.  I can see how they would be fun to ride in this desert environment.  Even though it is “only” a state park, Deadhorse was a worthwhile stop on our itinerary…especially since it was essentially on the way to our next destination, Arches National Park.