Before the show, people had indicated that this circus was inferior to the Barnum & Bailey circus, and that we may not have a good time. Some even called the circus "poor". However, we had also heard that there would be an opportunity to ride an elephant at this circus, so we didn't care what else happened as long as we could get a fantastic photo of us on the elephant!
Now, the first half of the show was great. It started off with a man on a motorcycle way up in the air going round and round, and he was attached to this pole, which on the other side swung a woman from a bar that she hung from. They both took turns turning round and round going up and down, all hanging high up in the air. Pretty impressive. There was also a tiger show (which leaved something to be desired to be honest), but there were some great drummers, really cool acrobatic tricks, the hula-hoop lady, etc. By intermission, we had decided this circus was great!
So during intermission we rush down to center stage to get in line for the elephant ride. Literally, picture 7 of us fully grown men and women running across the floor to get in line. I guess I should back up and tell you that we had also picked our seats at the beginning of the show accordingly so that we would have the easiest and quickest access to the floor as possible to get in line easily during intermission! So we get in line and are told that tickets are required. We send a few of the group to get tickets but in the meantime find out that it is not $7 per ride, but $7 per person!!!! We decided that we would not pay $50 for our group to ride on the elephant for 3 minutes. But we also realized that this circus was making LOTS of money, and maybe we were in the wrong business! Maybe I'll talk to my boss on Monday about investing in an elephant...
So needless to say, we did not get our cherished elephant ride in, but we got some photos pretty close to the huge animals, so we were still happy.
After intermission was our absolute favorite act! The elephants came out in two rings, 7 total. There were 6 adult elephants and one baby! They did great tricks, like spinning in circles, "holding hands" which was done by using their trunk to hold the next elephant's tail, laying down on their sides, getting up on their hind legs and putting their paws on the next elephant in line to form a train, sit on a chair, etc. It was soooo cute!
Just kidding!! We all know who the true angler is!! Now, Phil wants to debate what the true meaning of a great angler is. The dictionary definition is "a person who fishes with a hook and line" so I guess rather we are debating the true meaning of "great" when in relation to angler. While I believe in quality (i.e.- size) of fish caught, Phil believes sheer number is what creates a great angler. Honestly, doesn't he know who I am?! Fishing runs in my blood! I know it's a bit cliche, but fish really do fear me. Check out the delicious bass below. (Note, it really is a redfish and if you haven't seen Napoloen Dynamite, you really should!)
We had a really great time, despite the fact that we had to leave the docks at the outrageously early hour of 6:30am. We headed towards the bridge where the bait was really schooling. We could see little mullet (or other bait) jumping in and out of the water all around us, which indicated to the cap'n that the fish were near. The sun had not even come up yet when we began to catch. Phil fished with artificial lures the whole time and when that wasn't working for me, I took "the easy route" and switched to frozen mullet. That made me happy because I caught the huge redfih seen above on my first cast with mullet.
We did not keep any fish all morning (catch & release) but had we kept them, we probably would have had our limit by the time we headed in by 9:00. Dad did a wonderful job guiding us to the fish, and even though Mom could not fish due to her still-healing wrist, she was a wonderful cheerleader.
All along the river, different property owners have installed rope swings from their trees which we had lots of fun swinging from. They installed ladders so you had to climb up onto the tree and swing off of it. And let me tell you, it seems much higher when you're up there than it looks from the ground!! It was very fun... luckily Floyd happened to know the owners of this particular property because they came over to find out why we were using their swing!! Turned out that since Floyd knew the guy, we all ended up swinging and hanging out, so what could have been a sticky situation turned out just fine! Hopefully you can see the blur that is Phil swinging into the water in the photo above.
Phil also got to try water skiing for the first time. Turns out it's a pretty fun sport, and much, much easier to be successful at than wakeboarding. I think he did pretty great for his first time!! Then again, what are wives for if not to be their husbands' cheerleaders from the boat?!
Felicity sent the coolest website, where you upload a photo of yourself and you get a list of matches of which celebrity you look most like. My best match, surprisingly, was Demi Moore (73%)! Who knew?! I thought it was going to be one of those joke websites where it comes up with a picture of some monkey but it's not, and the results are cool! My other matches include Shania Twain (64%) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (53%).
In response to recent comments about our need to update our blog, we have conducted a statistical analysis of blogging in the family over the past five months. As you can see from the data chart above, our hypothesis has been proven true. (Hypothesis: Lauren & Phil's blog has been updated much more frequently than the others, as a trend & total over time.)
Next we drove around and it turns out that it was only raining in parts of the city. We ended up driving to the Capitol and walking around on the very beautifully landscaped grounds, and while it was extremely humid and hot, at least it was not raining! Logan loved playing in the grass and chasing the birds, and then Stacy played peek-a-boo behind a tree with her. So cute!!
The day also gave Philip an opportunity to prepare for fatherhood. Note how cool he looks with the Starbuck's beverage in one hand, and stroller in the other. Just five short years from now, we can start thinking of having one of our own! 
On Friday evening, we traveled to Austin to attend the wedding of one of our high school friends, Cuca, and her husband Joseph. The ceremony was held at St. Edwards University's church and the reception was at the Hilton. Everything was beautiful, as to be expected, and Cuca, who was voted Miss Photogenic in high school, was of course radiant. No need to sort through photos for the good ones of her!
It was a wonderful evening, and we were able to reconnect with friends we had not seen in a while, which was especially nice. Thanks, Cuca, and congratulations to you and Joseph! We wish you a lifetime of happiness together!
Last night, we saw Kevin Fowler in concert at "world-famous" Floore's Country Store. It was a very Texas evening-- Floore's is a Texas dance-hall where Willie Nelson used to play every Friday night, but now all the famous Texas music artists like Pat Green and Robert Earl Keen play here. Actually, both of the aforementioned are playing later this summer and we hope to attend those concerts too! Kevin Fowler is an artist we found out about at the last Pat Green concert we went to back in October, and his songs were so catchy, and he had a great voice LIVE that we decided to make a CD of some of his songs, and there has been no turning back! Some of his famous songs include "Beer, Bait, & Ammo," "The Lord Loves a Drinkin' Man," and "Hard Man to Love."Let us know if you want us to make you a copy of our Kevin Fowler mix CD. 
