Smirkus Camp/Santa's Village

Our most recent adventure was a trip to northern Vermont. Photos and video are presented in three parts. As always, click on the images to go to a photo album for each story. And don't miss the "video" links below the images.

Photos | Video Smirkus Camp Last August Audrey's classmate Sophia invited us all to her birthday party which included a group trip to see Circus Smirkus. It's a circus that travels around new England in the summer with a cast made up entirely of kids aged 8-17. They also run a summer camp where campers learn circus skills, and campers can audition to join the traveling show. After the show I immediately went home and put a reminder on my calendar to sign Audrey up (Charlotte's not old enough yet). In November I was able to register Audrey. Sophia also registered and Audrey and Sophia requested to be roommates. The introductory camp is called Smirkling Camp and was held this past weekend from 9:00am Friday morning until 3:30pm Saturday. I took Friday off and we drove up Thursday night to a campground in Danville, VT. Friday morning we got up early and delivered Audrey to camp. We got her all settled in her room and met her counselor and she was good to go. We took off to explore the area with Charlotte and Sophia's parents and 4-year-old sister Maya. We returned to camp at 3:30 on Saturday for a demonstration of what the campers had learned. Audrey demonstrated a ton of skills for us: rope climbing, hanging fabric aerial tricks, a trapeze "pyramid" with 6 kids, tumbling, human pyramids, mini-trampoline, plate spinning, tight wire walking and rolling globe walking. I was impressed especially by the trapeze and hanging fabric work. Audrey had obviously been paying attention which can sometimes be a challenge for her. After all the demonstrations it was "Pie Day". The clowning instructor taught us all how to correctly deliver and receive pies to the face. Then the campers got to pie the counselor/instructor of their choice and then they got to pie their parents. Audrey got me good. Audrey obviously had a fantastic time. We look forward to her returning to circus camp next summer, either for Smirkling Camp again or perhaps for a week. Charlotte says she doesn't want to go but she may change her mind.

Photos | Video Santa's Village While Audrey was at circus camp Sophia's parents Marie and Dan and her sister Maya joined us to drive an hour to Santa's Village in Jefferson, VT. It's an amusement park aimed at elementary school kids and was a perfect treat for Charlotte while Audrey was off having fun. Charlotte is always a little wary of amusement rides but she warms up eventually. That's what happened this time, too. For example there is a sleigh ride monorail that traverses the park and she at first wanted nothing to do with it because it travels about 20' off the ground. But after watching our friends ride it and thinking about it for a bit she decided she really wanted to go. She loved it and was proud to conquer her fear. We also rode bumper cars, antique cars, and a gentle spinning ride that she and Maya could have ridden all day. Charlotte even got on the ferris wheel with me, but she got a little scared at the top and we got off early. We also got to pet and feed reindeer with antlers covered in soft velvet and we got to play a little in the small water park ("Ho Ho H2O"). Audrey is of course jealous that Charlotte got to go to Santa's Village. So we'll have to make a return trip later in the summer after our Seattle visit.

Northern Vermont Northern Vermont While Audrey was at circus camp in Lyndon Center, VT we spent some time in nearby St. Johnsbury, VT. St. Johnsbury grew in the mid-1800's as the home of the Fairbanks Scale company. The founders got rich and built significant buildings in the town center including the Athenaeum and the Fairbanks Museum. The museum is pretty cool. A slice of Victorian times, both in its architecture and its collection. The landscape in northern Vermont (the Northeast Kingdom) and New Hampshire (the Great North Woods and the White Mountains Region) is beautiful. Verdant is a good description. It's also pretty remote. As we drove there on I-93 and I-91 I imagined what it was like before there were interstate highways. It takes over 3 hours today from Boston. It would have taken a very long time to travel there in pre-freeway days. Or on a horse. One of these days we'll push on even farther north and visit Montreal and Quebec City.