Coconino Fair Day three 300-1000 audience members per show!

Get a good look at this pure white face....by the end of this blog it will "magically" change color.
Olivia is getting better and better on the lyra.
There is a vendor at the fair that I believe is equal to the snake oil sales people of old. The people selling the product are actually showing up all over the US...and its pure crap! There is a Balance bracelet that goes by many different names. They cost anywhere from $5.00 upto $30.00 and they are supposed to realign your protons and give you better balance and make you feel good. The problem is there demonstration is right out of a 150 year old strong man or hypnotism act. I demonstrate it on stage today. (I will post the video of it soon.) Simply have the person stand like the boy is doing in the picture. The charlatan then puts his hand on the victims elbow and pushes down...the victim loses balance. They put their bracelet on the victim and do it again. This time he doesn't fall. Wow, it's a miracle..he has gotten balance from a piece of plastic with a metal or magnetic strip in it. Baloney. Here is the secret. The first time the creep puts his hand on your elbow he applies a downward and slightly outward pressure, you loose balance. The second time, when you wear the bracelet. He simply pushes straight down or slightly inward. Since you are instructed to push up against his pushing down you can't feel the difference. Don't be scammed. I will repeat it in every show tomorrow because I can't stand people intentionally ripping people off like this.
A shot of the new backdrop.

Studs. Might look better if Miles wore one his size instead of Nicks backup unitard.
Victor made a chess set from water bottle caps and duct tape. Miles and him played chess.
Mommy and her baby!

OK, now these are real fans...I mean stalkers. They were great fun. Chatted with their whole family afterwards.
Haven't posted this style pix in a while so here it is.
Samoan Fire Knife dance.
The new fire cage...a great way to introduce Belle and Her trainer while CC is away.
OK. I know I shouldn't be doing this stuff with a back in my condition ....I just can't resist.
A burst from Miles' new fire whip...it is a big hit.
The parents verses kids ring toss onto Jim's Head.
OK...guilty dog got into the garbage and had spaghetti ...then she got a bath at the hotel .

Our good friend Wade Henry is performing out here. Haven't had time to spend chatting with him but we hope to....we will work with him in Texas in a couple of weeks.

An old Circus stage hand from the Carson show and one other show watched our act with tons of compliments. He regaled us with many stories from the road. He was a lot of fun....should've taken a picture with him. Oh snap!

Nick is thrilled with the new weighted trapeze bar. he is adding some very daring swinging stunts into the act. He finally took the safety harness and showed them to me today. Folks are going to love it.

Coconino Fair...love this fair!

Sporting a look. I rotate three looks at most fairs.

A backstage moment.

Studying? Drawing? Love letter?

Getting ready to go on stage. Amelia has been doing some of CC's work since Cynthia ran away from the circus to join a college.

Peace, love and cheesy smiles!

On stage! Love that new backdrop!

Lyra girl!

Midori with her new Lyra routine.

Nick gets a little frustrated with Victor. HEHEHE
Pink Gorilla gives Super Penguin a trapeze ride.

Yeah!!!!
Here lies Nick ...No he isn't dead, he is sleeping in the BMT crate. we couldn't afford a hotel room for him.
Hmmmm
Double HMMMMMM!

Where is Alf?

Victor goes for it again!
Trapeze hands. Very normal for that line of work.

The crowds have been awesome...over 500 per crowd at least. The shows have been going great too. Titus and Mami nailed their parts today.

Dinner was a fabulous stew, MMM.

The weather was mid 70s but we were hit with sprinkles a couple of times...no biggy. it is hard getting used to the dry heat. Dry hair, skin, cuticles, etc.

Where is Alf?

Birthday and crushed hats....Coconino part 2

Olivia had a blast with her new bike (see part one of this blog) riding it all around the fairgrounds. Mami made a strawberry cake with chocolate icing. Ice cream was on hand too. We enjoyed it all after our last show and after a dinner of chicken, broccoli, corn, and rice...oh, and cheese sauce; Olivia's choices.

All three audiences were packed. We haven't seen crowds like this since Iowa. We had more than 500 in at least two of the shows. Even though James and Nick had to go to an event downtown to promote the fair we pulled the crowds in and kept them. Afterwards soooo many came and got wands and learned wand tricks.

We did the new fire cage illusion to just practice it. In the first show we made two of the girls appear and in the second we made Amelia and Belle appear.

Bad news of the day is UPS sucks. The new top hats came in but the box and hats were crushed. The store I bought them from told me he had four similar complaints about crushed hats from UPS in the last two days. He will send out new ones next week. A shame too. I wanted to use the short top b lack one in the shows this week. The blue one is for next year's costume.

Mami and Titus performed at the second show today and did well. Titus acted a little reluctant and was more happy just staring at the audience. Mami nailed her juggling act.

Miles got to use his his new fire whip. It is awesome. A 20' ball of flame was produced by the whip with an awesome crack.

Miles' Fire-whip.

Happy Birthday Olivia - Leaving NM - Coconino Day One Part 1

Olivia made a birthday mask for herself...
Riding her birthday present. Very Happy Girl!
To add to my Cincinnati and Las Cruces Tea Party T Shirt collection. It's not a political party. It's a believe in small government, lower taxes, personal responsibility, and honoring the constitution.
Cleaning up in Amarillo the girls discover a new game....turn the tent canopy into a parachute.
In NM our Rv park didn't have much of a playground...but that didn't bother my kids.
Roasting jalapenos in NM.
Midori takes a taste...a few minutes later she turns red.
Lukas reacting to the roasted jalapenos after nearly eating the whole thing.
Oliva get's Olivia books from Grandma and Grandpa.
Here's my new bike.....
Our new backdrop on display.
CHEEEEEESEcheesey
Wand power....
The crowd at the first show.
more of the crowd
After the show I teach wand tricks...look at those who stuck around...it was packed.
A shot of tour layout from above.


AWWWW
Ollie and Buttercup!
Stinky cheese.
This is a panarama pix of the crowd....

It's only 12:30 when I am typing this...more stuff to come tonight.

Gettin' our Kicks on Route 66

First let me say I am sorry I am not posting pictures today. I have a whole bunch but I left my camera at the RV at the fairgrounds and we are in a hotel tonight.

There has been a buzz in the air since arrived today. Everyone seem so incredibly happy to meet us. Apparently we have been greatly anticipated, or so we were told by a couple of people at the fair. All the fair folks have really gone out of their way to make us comfortable and provided for. If the crowds are half as good as the fair folks then this is going to be a great gig.

We left Grants, NM this morning around 9AM Mountain time. The RV camp their was old and dusty, though the facilities were good. The two older men who work or own the place were extremely nice. They gave the kids knick knacks from their store. It's a called Lavaland RV and though it doesn't have a pool or much more than pull-up bars as a playground and inventful child can have lots of fun...but you have to remember you are in NM and that means scorpions, snakes, spiders, and ants....mean ants.

We pulled out and had a nice 4 hour drive to Flagstaff, NM. The trip was mostly uneventful except seeing the look on Midori's face who has never seen the Southwest. Oh, and the stop at the gas station outside Holbrook where there were 12 Christian motorcyclists gassing up. They saw our Anti Monkey Butt decals and we gave away a few samples. A couple of them had interesting stories to tell. Seems this group was form California and they were on their way to Colorado for a "Soldier's for Jesus" Motorcycle group national meet. They will be riding easier now due to the Anti Monkey Butt Powder. Seems every motorcycle rider that passes us waves to us and one in every 20 trucks will honk and wave. I didn't tell anyone else about this but one young lady flashed me...not sure if she was just trying to get a raise out of the old man driving the RV or she likes the powder and was showing me where she uses it. Sadly or mabe not sadly, I actually missed the big moment, just caught it in the corner of my eye, and by the time I had full vision I was getting a wink as she adjusted her shirt. Yeah, I'm pretty glad I didn't get the full look.

The nice thing about being in this area this time of year is that it is now in the dry 80s. The nights are crisp. And Flagstaff is surrounded by wonderful smelling pine trees.

When we arrived there was a constant breeze with a few gusts and that means setting up the banner line, which surrounds the RV, trailers and backstage, was like fighting a windstorm on a schooner. The banners were like giant sales. We ran metal stakes and use over 20 cinder blocks to hold the line down.

When we arrived I was informed we had a number of packages...this is one of our big mail stops. While traveling we have to choose spots where we have goods to sell, parts for cars or tricks or props, private mail, etc are sent. Today it was two new banners, a 20' pipe and drape set, wands, private mail, a weighted trapeze bar, a fire-whip, flea meds for Belle, and more.

At, this writing we are back on the same time as California since AZ doesn't do daylight savings, and we have a 10:30 AM show (I assume for schools). So bed is essential, especially since we aren't used to the time. Just 4 days ago we were all settled in eastern time.

For dinner it was pizza....one was called the Flagstaff. It had ricotta cheese, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, and lots ob basil.