It’s funny, looking at these pictures makes it seem as though we spent any reasonable amount of time indoors this past weekend, when the truth is we are sun-kissed and exhausted from spending nearly every waking moment outside. It was a beautiful weekend to ring in May. 
On Saturday the boys went to circus class at the City Museum. They had a dress rehearsal for their upcoming show and I can honestly say that we’ve seen them progress dramatically this time around. It’s clicking into place just what they are doing, and they’ve picked up on fine-tuning details they didn’t notice before. Milo studied one of his role models Benjamin (an amazing, humble young man who’s only been at it for 3 years) in the minuscule movements that make a good clown a good clown, and we noticed him putting new effort into his act. I love that they are learning all aspects of circus, not just tumbling and trapeze and juggling, etc. The clowning stuff is really special, especially for someone who tends to take himself too seriously. We’ve noticed that Milo has been more able to laugh at himself when he does something embarrassing, to recover quickly, or to make a joke of a situation that would have otherwise sent him running away crying. He’s maturing, in a way, because of this class. 
Oliver has also really improved; for him, the coordination and physicality of circus has helped him with his confidence and dexterity. He is more daring and likely to take risks at the playground after hanging upside down from a trapeze; just this weekend we watched as he encouraged a little girl to do the monkey bars and “bird’s nest” from the rings at the playground. His confidence has grown in such good ways, without turning him cocky.
And Emil, of course, wants desperately to join. Soon enough, little buddy. Frankly, all the exposure every Saturday is probably just what he needs at this age. It’s fun to watch all four of my guys out there in the ring at the same time!
The rest of the weekend we stayed together as a family. We spent hours and hours at the playground, one of us running off to grab snacks and refills on ice water. We slack-lined, played, built with magna tiles in the shade, rested, played some more, repeated, and on and on til we nearly dropped. Sunday we did much of the same. House work can wait, sometimes. In fact, house work can wait most of the time. Lately it just hasn’t seemed important to me. I want to be with these guys and enjoy them. So if you drop by unannounced… consider this your warning.
All fun, all the time. That may just be our May motto.
I just read a new YA called The Tight Rope Walkers (David Almond) that made me think of you guys and your slack lining. Lots of tight rope walking as metaphor . . .
Also, I think Circus class is making a great case for why it is so tempting to sign kids up for extra curricular activities. They get out there in the world and learn so much, and mostly about themselves. I was pretty heavily scheduled as a kid and I wouldn’t necessarily do it the same way over again, but I loved much of it – pottery, violin, woodworking, soccer, softball. The list goes on and on, and I have several wonderful mentors and lots of personal growth that I attribute to those after school and weekend commitments.
That sounds like a great motto! We had our first taste of 80 degree weather today and watching the kids run around barefoot was almost surreal after our winter. I forgot how easy fun could be!