Robot Ranger and a Free Pork Burger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxr_FlxjvGU&feature=youtu.be
Above is the link to Robot Ranger footage we took today.  We needed it for a couple of customers.

Today we slept late then went over to the fair James will be juggling at tomorrow. We are trying to talk them into doing our tandem strait jacket escape...won't that be nice.   We also needed video of certain stuff, like the robot, so we taped it there.  The fair got a free 30 minutes of T Master Robot Ranger.  Today was also free pork burger day at the fair and we partook. It was great.  I also ordered their deep fried dill pickles, but sadly they can't do it like the south.

Vaughn and his son Joel, Our hosts, took me down to Menards and Home Depot to find something to use for Tator Tots's new trick. We then went to their wood shop where I promptly sliced the finger prints off my right ring finger while setting the guide bar on a saw...not the blade the guide bar is the culprit.

Oh, I finally got to catch Eric, he is also one of our hosts, and his magic show.  He is a good performer. Still I don't enjoy watching magic as much as I used to.  But he is better than many I run across.  His assistant is a very nice girl too.

In Janesville, IA

We made the grueling 3.5 hour drive to Janesville, IA (Northeast) and will make this home post for a few days. James performs and the Breamer County Fair our here for a single day on Wednesday. Fans who have become close friends over the years have once again opened their home to use for our stay. It's either hotels (when we are at an event), RV parks when we aren't, or friends (fans, relatives, etc) homes along the way as well that we park the vehicles and set for a spell.  Eric, Vaughn, Joel and Mary are wonderful people and this is the second year we have stayed with them.  This is where Mami got to drive a John Deere combine last year and became a John Deere Girl. She loves here John Deere hats and shirts.   Maybe I should get her a small tractor.

in spite of sleeping late and leaving the Plymouth fair near noon I still felt wiped out all day. The older kids seemed to be dragging a bit too. But the little ones love coming here.  Eric has a collection of legos envied by any kid on the planet.  Titus gets to watch sports on a big screen and Mami gets to chat with Mary. Mary is a wonderful mid-west mom with lost of old recipes and neat tips. The house we are staying was her childhood home, expanded a bit since then.   We are surrounded, lterally by corn and soy beans.  And the weather here is killing them all. In some areas the corn is only 3 feet high and all dried up.

Imagine anything made with corm is going to be expensive this coming year. 

I noted in the last blog entry that Nick finally made the paper representing the show:

Cynthia tried to nap in the RV but two dogs stayed close by...one found her a comfortable seat.

Before leaving La Mars the kids noticed a wasp of some find dragging the carcass of a cicada away:

Once we arrived in Janesville we noticed a heating and air truck in the drive way.  Their air con died shortly before we arrived...turned out to be the thermostat so all is cool.
Mary had fixed us a wonderful pulled pork sandwich dinner and then she drove Jim, Nick and I to the fairgrounds to see where Jim would be performing. Eric also wanted me to meet the man who decides on the acts so I could pitch our tandem strait-jacket escape for the intermission at their big event on Wednesday. They need to find a crane or boom truck so we will see.

Here is the best part of this fair:

Back at Vaughn's house everyone went off to do their thing while I went into the RV to get some work done.  A secret project I am working on has created a mountain of work for me and I started to wrk on it.  The RV bed invited me over so I lied down and 2 hours later woke up thinking it was 5 int he morning.  I got up and everyone seem to comment on how wiped out i was.  Many had visited the RV while I was out cold and I didn't hear one of them...and that RV door is noisy.

It's about time I finish what I started on that RV bed a couple of hours ago so good night.

Oh, an update. Brandon is doing well....turned out to be three toes...4-12 weeks recovery.  On the last day in Plymouth, However, he was moving around life a pro on the crutches and wasn't in any pain. We look forward to him joining us next year..

We made the News AGAIN......

http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1876299.html

All eyes are on trapeze artist Nick Candlish, performing high-flying stunts as part of the Kent Family Magic Circus, which entertained crowds at the five-day Plymouth County Fair. More than 91,000 people attended the fair in Le Mar

Last Day in La Mars

Perfect weather, fantastic fans, wonderful audiences....can you ask for more... oh yeah, we got paid too. And we are all signed up to be back next year.
Brandon's dad came to pick him up all the way from Ohio last night and they left this morning. He will see an orthopedic surgeon to make sure all is groovy.

We made a lot of new friends today and all week to be more correct. We tool T Master Robot Ranger out and he was a hit. We taped it so I will post a video soon.  

I am barely able to keep my eyes open so I bid you adieu.

Victor Kent has a spectator stand on face whilst he lays on broken glass

Rain Making and a Face of Glass and Ice Cream?

The excitement of Brandon breaking two toes during a routine kept me from sharing a couple of things from yesterday.   I surprised my family and the audience by trying a new stunt. I told Miles to keep the bucket of broken glass out...that's all everyone knew.

 I laid down with my face in the glass.....
I then invited a girl from the audience up and told Miles to place the wood on my head.

She then stood on my head as my face lie in the broken glass.

She even got to keep a piece of glass as a prize...Miles had to pick a couple of pieces off my face.

First time ever for me. Big surprise for the family and audience.

Here is an example of our audience sizes....if they gave us more space we would have filled that too.  It has been crazy cool.

As you know every venue within the drought belt that we have performed gets rains while we are there.  The first day here (after 2 months of no rain) go rain, and last night through to just about 30 minutes ago got rain. Thunderstorms too.

Today we visited the famous Blue Bunny Ice Cream shop and museum. Brandon wouldn't miss it.

It was good but the servings were so big that I am crashing as I write this.  UGH! Notice Brandon handled the trip rather nicely.

ER Again!

The weather today could not be beat.  The kids came in early to the grounds and practiced hard until showtime. We even had guest from over 3 hours away come for a visit, Eric and Vaughn VerSteeegt. Great folks. 
It was at the last show that the day got weird.  Jim and Brandon were performing their old "Peck's Bad Boy" routine and then Brandon got....two broken toes on the left foot...while doing his old routine with Jim they used a taller ladder and Brandon missed Jim's back and came down on his toes (we had his toes rolled in instead of being flat footed) He kicked his shoe off and immediately told Jim he couldn't walk...Jim put him on his shoulders they both put their hands out, smiles and exited....backstage there was no doubt he was hurting. The fair board got us first aid helpo right away but there was a little lump that should not have been there (his toe bone) and so off to the ER. Victor Jr stayed with him the entire time and even played cards with him at the hospital (which was only 1/2 mile away) Mami, and I went too. The staff and doctor were great. His toe was reset, the other toe didn't need setting. In spite of all this Brandon still wants to go to the Blue Bunny Museum and store tomorrow......kids! He is back at the hotel with pain pills (if needed) and his foot propped up. He said on his way out of the hospital that he always wanted crutches. LOL. He was in great spirits at the hotel.

Beautiful Day at the Fair - SRO shows

First James made the fair highlights page of the local paper:

We drew great crowds filling the seats at every show.  Last year they had to keep adding bleachers, This year they fit in a s many as they could but even that wasn't enough.  There were hundred of people watching, particularly at our last show.
Even our practices drew crowds.....Here Brandon is at work:

The people hare are extra nice too. Many of our stalker friends from last year are back and the kids are having great fun playing with them. They are great cheerers too.

 A favorite of the crowd...hot dog roasted on Jim's face.

 The legendary park bench on Jim's Iron Chin.

 Jim being Jim...look at the crowd..they surround us on all sides.

 Victor enjoying a 5 minute tie-up only to escape in 35 seconds.

 Olivia and I doing our exaggerated magician moves in the vanishing dove trick.

 Mami trying to get The Sultan to jump through the hoop.

Amelia doing part of her hula hoop routine.

 A question mark butterfly , looks like a leaf, hanging out at our RV.

Jim teaches the diabolo to fans.

Mami and Titus performed today. It was very cool though Titus took a few minutes to get into it.

After everyone left and I was alone at the RV I did some clean up and doggy care. I noticed some teens sitting on a bleachers launching spit at our pennants along our safety line as though they were targets. I called them on it. They said they were sorry but they didn't offer to clean them up....I suppose Lysol and I have a date tomorrow.

I also discovered our Zibit (Strange thing) tent was open in the back.  Everything had been put away by then but still....why do people do this?

Mami server a great Beef Strongenoff tonight. Home made is so much better than fair food.

The heat being what it is we bought a cheap air conditioner for the animal tent. It does a great job and they animals seem to enjoy it. Especially the new Flemish Giants.

Rain Masters

First, we made it. We finished our 2 days at the Goshen Fair: the last day started with terrible thunderstorms. The plan was for us to provide entertainment for the seniors morning event and then do an afternoon show. But storms came rolling in. The funny thing is that didn't keep around 200 seniors from coming.
So we put the kids in strolling costumes:

Miles was there as the Penguin as well...but we had to stand around a long time as various people gave speeches and he eventually overheated and nearly passed out so we had him get out.  The tent next to this one was the medical check up tent where the kids dressed for this event and there was a nurse there who gave Miles a once over just to make sure he was ok...he was.
Oh, and I took a Cholesterol test while there (my January test showed it high) but traveling and eating better has got it int he healthy range!!!!YAY!

Our last show in Goshen was remarkable. SRO.....people standing sitting everywhere. And the show went off beautifully  The clients were very happy.

It was amazing how fast the kids packed up. We were done and out of there by 7pm and on our way to Iowa.

But before I get to that I have to mention three things.  First, there were a lot of Amish in Goshen. I never thunk it.\:

Second: we love to try local food and this fair treated all 11 of us each day to a local vendors' food. The first day was a chicken dinner and Pit-atoes... outstanding:

 The next day they served us an Amish meal called a "Haystack"...it was a lot like a nacho supreme kind of meal but with green and black olives, saltines, meats, vegies, and more all in a big stack. It was fantastic.  (Sorry no picture....I was too hungry)

I am not as young as I used to be and these over nights after doing shows all day are hard. We did it though. We arrived in La Mars, IA at 5:30 Am Central time and Nick and I were wiped out....me more than him.

Still while I slept or tried to the kids set up the whole show banner line, trapeze, and all and got everything looking great. (I will post pix tomorrow). As we set up well over 50 different people from last year came by and said hi and how much they were looking forward to us being back. We have a lot of fans here. Over 150 of my facebook fans are from this area.

Now, every venue we have performed at on this tour has been suffering from the big drought. And within 48 hours of our arrival rain comes.  It happened AT EVERY VENUE so far (go back and read the blogs....
Guess what....at both our second and third show, after over 2 months of no rain it started to sprinkle, the shower, then it stopped. Then it opened up. During our last show, in spite of the rain folks sat in the bleaches, on the sopping fomrally dry grass and watch us put on a "rain" version of our show. I even had a small 6X6 canopy put on stage so I wouldn't damage props and mics.

We are the rain makers!

A couple of notes: Brandon Parker our cousin has joined us and Jim and he did do a new routine today but the weather kept us busy and we missed getting any shots of it.  He's a good kid and is very helpful. eager to learn and eager to help[ out.  Him and Victor are the same age so they buddy around all the time.