The circus

We have had a busy weekend with the girls. We had taken them on Saturday afternoon. We came here again. We had pizza, but none of them ate much; they seemed more interested in the hot sauce than the pizza. We got them into their bathing suits, but the wading pool seems to be waning in interest. They spent more time running around with the hose, spraying each other and a great deal else. However, we heard that Tobolandia (a water park just 4-5 blocks from us) not only has a big pool and water slide etc., but also has a pool for little kids. Alternately, we may get plastic air bags and use the pool next door. Steven has left us the keys and is urging us to use his pool. We are planning to do so and maybe the kids would get used to it. On Saturday, after the water games and ice cream, we decided to take them to the malecón (water front). Barb suggested that we take them to the malecon in Jocotopec as it would take longer and would be different for the girls. It is just over 20 kms. However, by the time we got to Jocotopec, Fátima was asleep. Barb took the twins for a walk while I stayed with Fatima. On the drive back, all 3 fell asleep.

A circus is in the area; in fact it is just on the Libramiento (the short highway that we take to get to the highway to Guadalajara) and thus about 6 blocks from us. They were giving a special deal for kids from Love in Action--two free tickets for kids with each adult ticket. However, initially we heard that the shows were at 6:30 and 8:30. We thought that that would be a little too late for the little ones. We then found out that there was an afternoon show at 4:30 on Sunday. Thus, we called to say that we would take 4 kids (our 3 and another). Eventually, we ended up with 5. A couple of guys from Canada, who are godparenting 2 boys in the 6 - 9 age group, had taken 6 of the boys to swim at Tobolandia yesterday. They said that they had been determined to take only their 2 to the circus today, but when they got to LIA, the others wanted to go so badly that they couldn’t refuse and ended up with 8! We all sat together so there was a small LIA section. The circus was quite good. I’m sure that it is not as spectacular as the ones in Las Vegas, but the kids were enthralled and Barb and I enjoyed it too. Of course, watching the excitement and enjoyment of the kids was a pleasure in itself. There was a little rough spot at the beginning. Dariana, who is the shiest, was upset and started to cry at the beginning. I think the loud music and voice of the announcer, plus the lights, frightened her; she is the one who cried at the puppet show also. However, Barb held her on her lap and gradually she got calmed. There were an elephant and a tiger as acts; the kids' eyes were as big as saucers. Surprisingly, all 3 girls rushed forward (we were close already) to get a closer look at the tiger. It was a very successful outing.