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!!

Day 46- 7/24

Today was the first of two jump days before our shows in Waltham. Besides finding out that I have lost my wallet somewhere, today was a good day. We are staying at Willow's lake house, so we spent the afternoon adventuring around the house and the lake. Here are some photos of our exploits.

Day 45- 7/23

Today was our third day in Hanover and we were all a bit tired. However at the wire rehearsal today, I was able to do a bunch of tricks that gave me problems during training and it was very satisfying. We had some more special guests from ENC- three smirkus alumni and their friends! I also had my midtour, which went very well and was very useful ultimately for me as a person. At the second show we got a standing ovation which began at the beginning of finale and lasted until our final bows. It was incredible! A great way to leave Hanover! During tear down there was a crazy thunderstorm and we were forced to sit in the vans for at least ten minutes as it passed over us. Craziness!! Here are some pictures of my friends training between shows!!

Day 44- 7/22

Today we had a weird schedule- first show at 11am, so breakfast happened at 8. I woke up at 6:30. Ugh. The shows were both great though, and we had special guests at the first one! Tischler, Stubbs, Mason Ames (alumni) and Jessi (a cook during training) all came and saw us which made us work extra hard and gave us a lot of energy! Also, today was the first day of mid-tour evaluations, and everyone gets a little nervous about what the counseling staff and director are going to critique them about. Mine is tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it goes. Tonight we had two other homestays over to our house for dinner and then we had a bonfire with s'mores! You get four photos today, but two of them are actually from the jump day. I took them on Aaron's phone and he had to send them to me. So there is one picture of Stubbs visiting us during lunch, one from the car ride to our homestay with special guests Ezra and Brin and two from blueberry picking two days ago (in no particular order because this blogger app does not like me or let me rearrange the photos)

Day 43- 7/21

Today is Olivia's 19th birthday!!!! Yay! In true smirkus tradition, she received a pie to the face and also an incredibly awesome gluten free cake!! The shows in Hanover are going very well, it's a new site for us, but the house has been surprisingly full! Here are pictures of the sunset over the tent and some hippies warming up.
I almost forgot the most important thing that happened today- Anais and Autumn Lake came on a surprise visit!!!! They are both working at F&Dubs this summer and it was changeover so they got to come see me!!! I had a great time hanging with them between shows!

Day 42- 7/20

So today was a jump day in which we went "thrifting" (in other words, we go to lots of different thrift stores) and then we went blueberry picking!! It was incredibly fun and I don't even like blueberries. I ended up eating a ton off the plants and really liking them- I think it's something about them being fresh that made them so delicious!! Also, our homestay took us into Hanover and we got to hang out on the Dartmouth campus where there was some live music with some other homestays!! Here is Aaron holding a puppy at the blueberry farm and also a pile of smirkos on a bench in Hanover.

Day 41- 7/19

The weather finally calmed down over here! We had a great set of shows today. Julie Zelle and Charlotte came to the second show, which happened to be one of our best, especially in terms of energy! The photo of the day is the sunset during the show- it was incredibly beautiful! The whole sky was pink at intermission!

Day 40- 7/18

Shows today went well!! Brattleboro is really dry and there is a lot of grass and grass dust in the air, so I've been allergic all day. Or I'm getting sick, but I don't really think that's the case. Brattleboro is incredibly amazing because the audiences are crazy about us! This evening a group of exchange students came to the show and they are the best audience members ever!!! We took lots of pictures together after the show. The photo of the day is jJan Damm, former coach, from afar. He visited during the second show.

Day 39- 7/17

Today we had a long jump but we got to go to Hank and Toby's. They are long time fans and friends of smirkus. They are awesome and their house is incredibly wacky and cool. We swam and ate lots of ice cream there before meeting up with our homestays. I am with seven other smirkos at Emma's house. We had many late night adventures. It was a blast! Here are photo of Hank and Toby's.

Day 38- 7/16

We had so many exciting things happen today!! Nicole and Alana Feld, the producers of Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey, came and saw our afternoon show and had nothing but good things to say about our show. It was an honor and a pleasure to have them there. Merril and Julia and Merrill parents came to the second show which was a treat, especially since they got to witness our second dropless clubs act!! Teardown was a huge success, with no tears or hurt feelings and all body parts intact. We came away smiling with a time of 1 hour and 14 minutes. More adventures after the show- I took an outdoor shower and then witnessed Marieke cutting her hair with some kiddy scissors (dont tell her mom though) It turned out remarkably well!! Here are some photos of the day- the Felds and Marieke's haircut

Day 37- 7/15

It was incredibly hot and sticky today in rhode island. In the afternoon it rained but the humidity did not go away and we were exhausted by the end of the two shows. Luckily our homestay had lots of good food and ice cream waiting for us at home! Here is a photo of chase waiting for his entrance backstage today :)

Day 36- 7/14

For our jump today, my van went to Mass MoCA. (Massachusetts museum of contemporary art). It was a lot of fun and some of the exhibits were pretty bizarre!! We drive right by Smith on our way from there to site!! Upon arriving at the Meadowbrook Waldorf School in Richmond, RI. we found the coolest swing/ teeter totter which was incredibly fun and crazy. Then to top off the day, Marieke and I went I a 25th anniversary celebration for some friends of our homestay. There was a huge chandelier in a barn. The end. These photos never seem to be in the correct order, but here you go...

Day 35- 7/13

Nothing extraordinary or unusual happened today. We had two more very hot shows in Manchester (around 92 degrees in the afternoon). Here's King Louis in the latest fashion... Sunglasses!

Day 34- 7/12

Today we had our first dropless club act!! It was incredibly exciting and our second show we only had one drop! It's shaping up to be a fantastic summer for juggling!! Here are pictures of Nick and I on the tractors that line the field at site.

Day 33- 7/11

Have you ever gone swimming in a quarry and ice skating in the same day? Well now I have! Today's jump took us to Manchester Vermont and we had many exciting adventures including jumping off tall rocks into water (we are apparently not supposed to use the term "cliff jumping") and also spending two hours in an ice rink (we were told it was going to be roller skating... Oops!) my homestay is very nice and her daughters are hilarious. One is very hyper and attempts to mother us in every possible way. (cute). Here are photos of the day's adventures!

Day 32- 7/10

Today club juggling was almost dropless in both shows!! It was fun and we were all really proud of ourselves! Also, today finale got a complete overhaul and we have a brand new finale that works a lot better! Another thing to note is that there was a random heavy rain that passes through for 10 minutes between shows and caused chaos. Teardown only took one hour and 27 minutes, a half hour less than last site! I somehow managed to not take a single photo today which is crazy an unacceptable. I will give you a few photos from yesterday and hope they will suffice. Liam on the trampoline and Aly on the practice wire

Day 31- 7/9

First shows in Saratoga went pretty well! Our homestay is nice and very accommodating and was only a half hour late for pick up... Oops. Today at site, out counselor from last year Andrew hung out with us all day. It was super fun. He and Parker the drummer invented a game (called a "go") named Pop-Cup. It involves a table and cups and much hilarity. My attempt to go on vocal rest was a bit of a failure, but my voice is getting better slowly but surely.

Day 30- 7/8

We jumped from Essex to Saratoga Springs today. We stopped at church street in Burlington to buy thrift store clothes and ride kiddy rides in the mall (and promptly get kicked off). I had my first Starbucks drink since I left Seattle and I was feeling good. So far I really like my Saratoga homestay and I hope to have a good nights sleep after a long(ish) day of travel (3.5 hours in a van).

Day 29- 7/7

Today Jesse (our creative director during training) visited the show (a surprise for us troupers) and brought along a special guest- the one and only Daniela Arendasova, director of studies at Ecole Nationale de Cirque. Ahhh! Many of the troupers aspire to go to ENC, so this was a huge deal fir a lot if people! She loved our show and afterwords gave us some words of wisdom.
I am really proud of our final show, and especially of the tear down we did afterwards in only 2 hours. The truck was packed so nicely and was much safer than our last pack :) here are some pictures of our special guests after the matinee show: Daniela (right) talking to Nick and Morgan, and Jesse (right) talking to coaches Chris and Sellam.