Day 72 and 73- 8/19 and 8/20

Well, thus ends the photo a day blog. My summer with smirkus has come to an end. The end of an era, but also the beginning of a new adventure. I am putting these last two days together because the night between them consisted of less than 4 hours of sleep, so they feel like the same day. Our last shows went amazingly well- my best friend Emma got to see me perform in the matinee, and there was an entire alumni section of bleachers at the evening show. I couldn't believe how incredible the crowd was, and of course I cried throughout the whole last show. After a mini teardown, we had a party in the ring and then spent the night adventuring around and making pancakes at 4 in the morning. Pick up in the morning was weird because we were all going to see each other again in a few hours for the alumni show and banquet (both of which were remarkably fun, despite the lack of sleep). goodbyes were hard, but I know I'll see all of my smirko family down the road.
Photos of the day(s): Emma, Magnus and Joel Grey; poster signing in the big top; pie car pancakes at 4am.

Day 71- 8/18

This morning, the senior troupers and I worked to make each first year trouper superlatives (essentially paper plate awards, for all you Y-co folk). They each got one serious award and one silly one, highlighting the greatest parts of having them on tour. These were given out at Final Council just before lunch. Final Council is the most sad and overwhelming part of smirkus tour to be sure, but it is also an important closure for us. Each of the senior troupers got to speak a little bit, and I think I was able to successfully articulate what it has meant to me to be a part of such an amazing troupe. Then, off to do two more shows!! They went well and I took a bunch of photos of backstage for you to enjoy: Gunna, our backstage intern in her natural habitat, and some performers hanging out during the show.

Day 70- 8/17

So on our last jump day (sob) we had the second annual Smirkus Scavenger hunt!!! It included many things, like a pyramid with a stranger and as many 25s as possible. I was on team Vanielle for the second year in a row, and we successfully had the most fun while collecting the most points. No big deal. (we're kind of a big deal). At the end of the day, we saw the Advanced camp show and then went home to greensboro and loaded in to our final site! It was an amazing day and I can't imagine a better group of people to be spending the last few days of my summer with than the 2012 troupers!!

Day 69- 8/16

Today was a fantastic day with some great shows topped off by an incredibly fast teardown!! Notable alumni at today's show included Eric Bates (who now works for the 7 fingers) and Bret Pfister (arguably the best aerial hoop artist of all time). We finished teardown in 46 minutes, which is the fastest time in 4 years (I think). I shed a few tears of joy when we finished... No joke. We got to help tent crew while we waited for our homestays, so here are some photos of the day from that experience, including tent stakes and the empty tent.

Day 68- 8/15

Today was just fantastic. Shows went very well (Olivia, Bekk and Ezra are all back in the show, almost entirely!) and the Montpelier audience was incredible!!! Smirkus camp came to the evening show and brought so much energy and enthusiasm we almost couldn't handle ourselves! We also had a visit from Owen, who graduated last year, which was awesome! It was great having him in the audience!! Also, today was end of tour evaluations, which went overwhelmingly well on all counts. The photo of the day is Owen hanging out between shows

Day 67- 8/14

We had a very long jump to Montpelier today, but it was totally worth it because now we are back in Vermont!!!! The air is cleaner and the grass is greener, and we all feel like we are home again! For our jump day activity, we went to Morse Farm (a maple sugar farm) and had a picnic and maple creemees! Yum! My homestay is with Isa's cousins, so it's a really chill and welcoming family. We watched Meet the Parents tonight after dinner overlooking a giant pasture. There was a special guest appearance by a mama deer and her two babies in the field during dinner! Here are some photos of the day!

Day 66- 8/13

Today's shows went pretty well, except for some reason my 5 clubs was not happening. But I'm fine with that, because it means that our Montpelier shows will be better. In between shows today we played kickball- Staff versus Troupers. Staff won, but it was still fun. I caught two kicks in the far outfield which was exciting. Then, after teardown, Emily and my homestay took us to a little seafood and burger place called Kelly's on revere beach. It was fun and we got to just relax and have fun with our homestay before leaving tomorrow. The photos of the day are from kickball- Keenan running to first base like an Egyptian, and Aly pitching with Magnus and I in the background.

Day 65- 8/12

Our first day of shows in Revere. Bekk is out of cradle again, which sucks, but it's important for him to rest up and heal! So we had an hour and a half in between shows today, and I got to go to Dunkin and to this great Italian bakery also! Here are some pictures from warm ups, because they were the only pictures I took today!

Day 64- 8/11

On our jump today we went to the movies!! I saw Moonrise Kingdom with a bunch of other people, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was fun y and creative and heartwarming all at the same time! When we got to Revere, we had a big party at the school, complete with pizza and square dancing! Here's Nick at the movies, and some square dancers!

Day 63- 8/10

Today I found out who my roommate for college is, and my house!! It was very exciting! I am in Baldwin house and my roommate's name is Sara. Also, today my mom and I went out to lunch in between shows because it's the last time she'll be here before Greensboro. The photo of the day is from our lunch at Alisson's in Kennebunkport. In the second show today, we put in a new (harder) version of a trick, AND our act was dropless!! Woohoo!

Day 62- 8/9

This was the first day of shows in Kennebunkport. This site is great, and I love my homestay, plus it didn't rain today as we had expected. Troy gave me the job o keeping back the rain, so in pretty proud of the way the weather worked out. The photo of the day is the youngest of my homestay's kids (they have four kids and 5 dogs) after the show. Her name is Annie and she is 3!

Day 61- 8/8

On today's jump 9 of us smirkos went to Maine medical center and put on a show for the children's ward. It was really fun, and afterwards I made a friend named Caspar. He was probably 6 and we played catch with a ball and then a club for what felt like hours. (it was probably closer to ten minutes). He was so smiley and wonderful and he really got into the games we were playing. I am so happy I got to brighten his day in such a fun, silly way- and he has no idea how much he impacted me. It was an incredible experience!
I got to spend the second half of the day with my homestay family in Kennebunkport. Magnus and I were alone for a while while Nick and Jesssica went to perform at another PR event. We went out on a boat and even caught some lobster for dinner! Here are some photos from the day's adventures (all out of order, as usual)

Day 60- 8/7

Today, after a restless night sleeping in the ring, my mom came to the show!!!! It was amazing to have her in the audience! There were 450 camp kids at the first show (a very quiet audience) so it was nice to have my mom there supporting all of us!!! She got to see the second show as well, and I am just so happy that she is here! Apparently I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures today, so I will post a picture of my mom and I (and emma page) from a while ago. Love you Mama! :)

Day 59- 8/6

Our first shows in Freeport went very well. There is a swing set behind the prop tent, which we took advantage of during the time between shows. Tonight is the tent sleepover, so we are all staying at site tonight in sleeping bags. The evening activity was the Haus of Magnus Fashion Show, which was a smashing success by all accounts. I participated in safari chic and out on zee town with my new thrift store purchases. Here are some photos from the day/night!!

Day 58- 8/5

Today we jumped to Freeport, in which we did a whole lot of thrifting in preparation for the Haus of Magnus fashion show which takes place tomorrow night. The themes for this year are: safari adventure chic, trash'n fashion, and out on zee town. When we got to site in Freeport there was a big potluck at the Waldorf school for us and we drew on the tables paper with crayons. We drew an impossible pyramid of people, which is turning into a tradition, as we did the same last year. Then, Robbo did a bubble show for us which was awesome and fun. Here is a picture of our pyramid, Robbo's bubble magic and also one of nick smothered by his thrift store purchases.

Day 57- 8/4

Today was Ezra's birthday!!! It is also the last day he is with us before he heads off to ENC for orientation. Bekk was back in both shows today which was a huge relief AND there was a new clown gag in, which is somewhat of a parody of the Olympics and racing :) it is going very well so far! In other news, tent crew and various staff pooled their money and bought a go-kart at a garage sale across the street from site. It is hilarious and unbelievable. I have no idea how they are transporting it to the next site, but tent crew is already having a blast trying to do all sorts of crazy things with it including pulling a cart full of people around site. Here's a picture of the purchase as well as one of the birthday boy!

Day 56- 8/3

Two more shows today without Bekk and Ezra! Yikes! It was pretty tiring for me because I am doing a lot more in the second half of the show now. There wasn't anything particularly spectacular today... It was very hot and humid, so we were all a little wiped after the shows. My legs sort of stopped working after the second show which was not so fun. Here is a photo of the flag I made tonight at my homestay for the new clown gag whig is going in tomorrow's show!

Day 55- 8/2

Today was a jump day from Sandwich to Newburyport. We went to boston and hung out for a while, as well as seeing a street performance by two former Smirkos- David and Tobin. When we got to Newburyport we had a potluck with the homestays and our presenter- Theater in the Open. It was really fun and I have an awesome homestay family in a giant house with Olivia and Emily G. We went to this bizarre thing called bed races where a bunch of groups from the town make beds with wheels on them and decorate them sort of like floats and race them down a hill. Here is a photo of David and Tobin as well as the Theater in the Open bed with an advertisement for our show!!

Day 54- 8/1

When we got to site this morning, we had to rewrite the show without Ezra. He has a bruised/possibly pulled muscle in his hip and he needs to rest it and heal before he goes off to ENC. So there were a lot if changes to the morning show, including cue changes, a new wire act and no rope. Just as we finished our first show (rewritten in just 1 hour) we had another injury- Belk's neck got tweaked and he could not support weight or turn to the left. So in the next half hour we had to completely rewrite the show without Bekk and Ezra. It was incredibly stressful, but we pulled it off and everyone was extremely proud but very tired. The supportive and caring community here is really what gets us through these days and I wouldn't trade the experiences I have here for anything else. On a happier note- Jenny visited us today (she was our coach last year on tour) and everyone was very excited to see her. She hid in a box and as we opened it she and the counselors pelted us with water balloons and squirt guns in classic smirkus "water council" tradition. Also, we celebrated Ezra's birthday (early) with the Zelle's and we had cheesecake and presents for everyone after teardown at the beach house. I got a Totem mug and and a mattress cover that protects your bed from allergens and bed bugs for college! The photo of the day is the fabrics drying on the aerial rig this morning, because the rest of the day was so eventful I forgot to take pictures.

Day 53- 7/31

Well we had some crazy rain today. During the first half of the 2 pm show it started raining and by the second show everything was drenched. That includes crucial pieces of our sound system- we lost power during the second half of the second show and trampoline went on to the sound of a few lone drums. They did amazingly well and the team of technicians got the power back after that. Surprisingly in both shows we had flawless juggling acts (one was dropless, the other so close that it felt dropless). Here's a rain photo for you all.

Day 52- 7/30

We jumped, set up AND performed a show today. Before we got to site at 3:30 we went to visit Julia Greenberg and we got to relax and watch the Olympics while chatting and eating great (catered) food. Una and Ezra's parents surprised them by showing up a full site early!! We all then walked down to the beach where rocks were juggled, stacked and artfully arranged. Our evening show went well, juggling was nearly dropless- the only drop was when my knee hit a club out of my hand while I was walking. I am staying at a homestay with the Zelle's and it feels like going home. I love smirko families and how welcoming and loving they are towards all of us. Here are some photos from the day:

Day 51- 7/29

We had some awesome shows today, but even more awesome people in the audience! Al and Zoe came to visit (an helped us with our newest clown gag- which is almost ring-ready I might add) along with incredible circus mom Gina Mireault. Other than that- we had a great teardown after our 4pm show- 1 hr. 1 min. Woohoo! One of the photos of the day is a bunch of troupers attempting to help out tent crew... The other is out cook Katie playing a game with us to get us to give back the cups we toon from the pie car- we had to throw them into the highest stacked milk crate!

Day 50- 7/28

Today we had a very muddy second show... everyone was soaked before it even started, but we handled the weather with remarkable grace, in my opinion. I also met a girl who is going to be in my class at Smith and is a juggler! Most importantly, today I found my wallet which had been missing for 8 days. I am still overjoyed and I keep taking it out to look at it and exclaim over how lucky I am to have it back. So today's photos of the day are Magnus in his raincoat and my dear dear wallet. Silly, I know.

Day 49- 7/27

Both shows today went very well. We had a special guest at our first show- Barry Lubin. He is known for being the grandma clown in the Big Apple Circus for the past 25 years. He loved the show and afterwards, he spent an hour talking to clown alley and telling all sorts of stories to us!! Here is a picture of the full cast surrounding Barry and another of Barry's back as he talks to us after the show.

Day 48- 7/26

After two days off, it was pretty hard to get back into the swing of things. Plus, everyone is very tired from seeing Totem so late last night. Our first show was pretty shaky, Olivia fell from the wire and dislocated her elbow, which has caused some rewrites to the show, and is kind of a big deal- she will be out for three weeks. It's pretty shocking and upsetting to have a big injury like this, but so far everyone is being incredibly supportive and positive. The second show went a lot better and we pulled off all of the changes seamlessly. The photo of the day is Olivia coming back from the hospital still in her military costume. We are calling her the wounded soldier from now on.

Day 47- 7/25

Our second jump day was spent hanging out at the lake house and then at an ice cream party in Waltham. n the evening we went to see Cirque du Soleil's Totem in Boston. It was a ton of fun and we got to go backstage afterwards. Here are a few photos of us at Totem, including Sarah and I In The performers' bathroom backstage!!