Circus Circus

Somehow, between the wife and myself, we always managed to elminate any potential for free time. For this past week, our daughter has been going to a soccer camp in Alvin in the late afternoons. She really enjoyed her first season of soccer last year, and the wife thought this looked like a good opportunity to help her get ready for the new season. My daughter has definitely benefitted from it and I hope she'll have fun again this year. We want to to do her best, but I refuse to become like those parents that over drive their kids at sports and embarrass them by getting into shouting matches with coaches and officials. I'm sure I will do enough to embarrass my kids as they get older without having to throw tantrums on a soccer field.
And today, instead of hanging around the house and relaxing, we went to the circus. My wife and I took both the kids along with my sister-in-law and niece. All in all, we had a good time, but boy did I pay for it. Between the tickets, the food, and of course, some sort of light up gizmo toy, I don't even want to add up what we paid for this couple of hours of entertainment. But, the kids enjoyed it and it was a good show. Definitely not something I plan to do every year.
This afternoon, I took the kids to a bowling party for one of my nephews (while the wife recovered at home from the circus trip - yes, I am superman...). The party was fun, although my son was getting grumpy since he never went down for a nap in the afternoon. The kids bowled on the bumper lanes and I bowled with some of the other adults on another. I forgot to bring my ball (a gift of inheritance, I've never actually bought a bowling ball). That and the fact that I had to take most of my shots while holding my son in my non-bowling arm made for about the worst performance I've ever had. But, fun none the less.
My daughter went over to another cousin's home for a few hours and my son fell asleep on the drive home, so the wife and I actually were able to have some time without the kids while the sun was still up. We usually don't get that until after 10 when our daughter finally gives up fighting and goes to sleep.
And, it rained heavily here this afternoon, which is always nice for those like me who have a house and a yard. Free water is your friend.