Ducks at the Circus!

While we're in Vancouver, we decided to run away with the circus and join the Vancouver Circus School. When we first heard about it, it was from seeing the Rick Mercer Report and his being at the School with his blind friend. In the show, the owner Travis Johnson was bouncing on the trampoline and climbing up the wall, which seemed really fun. Rick and his friend were also on the silks and trapeze. At the start of the show, Rick said, "My friend is blind and I have no skill - what can go wrong?" We figured that our gymnastics might give us some skill at least!

All wrapped up!

Thanks to Uncle Ken and Auntie Elizabeth, we signed up for trampoline and silks classes, each an hour long on Mondays and Wednesdays while we're here. In gymnastics, we do a lot of rope climbing. The silks are actually a lot harder than it looks because they are very stretchy and squishy, and they can get you all tied up in knots. Our hardest skill that we have done so far is called a revolution - we need to start by hanging upside down, pull ourselves up as if we're sitting on a trapeze, then roll and fall forward in a

circle. It feels like you're going to fall flat on your face!

The Circus School is in New Westminster at River Market, right next to the Fraser River. Outside the market stands the largest tin soldier in the world. How big is this soldier? As you can see from the picture, we're standing on its feet and we don't even reach his knee caps! Inside him is a time capsule from November 2000, which is planned to be opened in 25 years. Since that's the year I was born, maybe we'll return for its opening so that I can laugh at all the crazy hairstyles and clothes people wore back then!

Before Circus School, we walked from home along Burnaby Lake to the Piper Spit, which has a lot of ducks and geese. There were also frogs, slugs, fishes, and pretty flowers.