The first thing we went to see was London Broil, the 3 man juggling act. Actually I should say juggling and comedy act as they're pretty funny. We've seen them every year I've gone so far. Last time we went was in 2011 and Lyle was chosen to come up on stage where they threw knives around him and another pretty big guy. I have to say I was a little jealous. I'd love to be up there. I mean who wouldn't want a few guys throwing knives at them, right?
We saw Adam Crack Fire Whip Show. He's a guy who uses big whips to whip stuff. He's very good, in fact, he holds some records in the Guinness Book of World Records and he went to a competition in Australia this last year and got 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 3 events he competed in. He used a few different whips for different stunts, but he brings out the big guns for the finale: The Big Bullwhip of Death (Duh, duh, duh- he actually had us make those sounds whenever he said, 'the big bullwhip of death') which is a 22 foot whip which he uses to whip the heads off of roses held in the mouth of an assistant from a really long distance away.
I went to the petting zoo and saw ducks, goats, pigs, a highland cow with horns, little chicks, a draft horse and more. Pretty cute. I made sure to use the proffered hand sanitizer when I left. There was the Barely Balanced acrobats. We hadn't seen them before this year. It amazes me that people have the kind of balance they do. I wanted to get better pictures of all three of them in extremely difficult positions but the camera battery died. Doh! 
I stopped and listened to Sarah Marie Mullen play the harp. She sat in a shaded grassy area and played the harp all day and in full dress renaissance too! That must be really tiring and hot. I bought one of her CDs. We also saw for the first time this year the Falconry Show which was very interesting with owls, hawks, buzzards, and this King Vulture who is preening something from his back. They have camel and elephant rides. I didn't have time this year, but last time I rode an elephant.The Joust to the death is always gruesome yet delightful. There are 3 jousting tournaments through the day the last one is to the death (okay they don't really die they just knock each other off their horses, fight with swords and spout blood packets when one of them is supposed to get hit). Our knight Maximillian the Earl of Something-or-other (who was in fact the bad guy) tragically died in the end murdered by the upright and whiny Sir Brown Noser, favorite knight of the King. Disappointing but, ah well, what can you do?
Other shows we saw: the Knotty Nauticals fire eating (they were supposed to do rope walking too which they didn't do and while the fire eating was really cool, they were too crass for my taste) and the Living Fountain, a new addition this year, a lady pretending to be a statue in ancient Greece who comes alive and elegantly sprays water over herself and an attending satyr. Some of our favorite acts from the past that we didn't see this year: Thom Sellectomy the sword swallower who picked Annie one year to come up and pull a sword out of his throat, Three Guys and a Bunch of Drums which is exactly as it sounds- but they're good and really funny, Cast in Bronze the Musical Carillon, a guy playing what looks like a piano but it's attached to huge bells, the Glassblowing Demonstration, the Wyld Men show which is a couple of half naked guys playing around in the mud (I'm not sure exactly where this idea came from), and Clan Tynker the family circus. Still haven't caught but would like to see: gypsy violinist, knife throwing show, bagpipes and drums, bellydancing carnivale the knighting ceremony and more. I'm not sure when we'll be able to go next, probably not for a couple more years. But it's such a good time! 
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