Right now the kids are in a practice mood — for the past week I’ve been hearing a lot of drops from upstairs (my office is in the basement) — and drops are good because it means they’re working on it.

Chelsea’s club juggling has gotten a lot smoother and she can pass clubs for quite a few passes in a row — next we’ll start working with her on catching and throwing tricks.

Tom’s club juggling has started to settle down — he’d been throwing lots of high-loopy throws. He can also do kick-ups better than anyone in the family and last night we tried passing for the first time — and we had a nice little run!

As soon as he’s a little more stable with passing we’ll be able to start working on a feed, a line, etc. With four club jugglers in the family there are a lot of options for tricks we can do.

Here’s a link to a video showing Tom’s juggling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxUbAsjD3d4

Earlier this evening Chelsea and I performed at the Church on the Rock Chili Feed and Talent Show — we did a 3-minute juggling routine.

It was Chelsea’s FIRST TIME on stage in a starring role and she did awesome. Even with more drops than we can count, we took first place and got a $50 gift card at Sears as a prize.

Tom was our cameraman and recorded the following video:

Chelsea and Dad’s Routine

For me it was a little disappointing because we had done so good in practice and for some reason (nerves? too much chili beforehand?) we just had a whole series of drops in the middle of this routine.

However, we’re going to continue working on it because it’s a good solid little routine that Chelsea and I should be able to build on.

I’m also planning on working up a routine with Tom so that no matter which kid is with me, we can have some stuff all ready to go.

And, of course, I’ll work up something with me and both kids (and Wanda, too, if we can get her to join in) so that we can put on a good 20-25 minute show in the future.

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Okay, I grabbed another piece of video from the awesome family time we had last night and put it on YouTube for everyone to see:

Tom and Dad Juggling

I’ve been asked a dozen times today, “Dad, you wanna juggle?” =:)

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Tonight we had a really cool family juggling session. Chelsea and I are getting ready for a talent show a the church on Saturday, and Tom’s working really hard on getting his 3-club juggling stable…

…and Wanda was sitting in the living room dodging the missed projectiles. She decided to get involved so she and Tom practiced running three clubs while Chelsea and I practiced our routine.

After a little bit Chelsea had the bright idea that we should try actually passing clubs instead of just running them — so we tried — and everyone was really amazed at how good Chelsea got in about 30-40 minutes!

Here’s a video clip of probably our best run:

Chelsea and Dad Juggling

Tom and I did some “sharing” juggling — he was the right hand and I was the left and and we juggled clubs. I’ll put up a video clip of that tomorrow. His club juggling is getting a LOT better really fast, so I think within another 1-3 weeks we could have an entire family of club jugglers!

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In our family when you can juggle balls for 10 throws and catches, you get your own set up juggling clubs (what some non-jugglers refer to as bowling pins).

Chelsea (now age 11) earned her clubs last winter when there was still snow on the ground, but due to one thing or another we never got her clubs — until this week.

She’s been practicing with the “family clubs” for the last couple months, but here’s the first video of her (no audio, don’t turn up your sound) and her new clubs:

Yeah, I’m a proud father! =:)

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The juggling practice has been hit or miss, but I know the kids have been practicing several times a week because of two things:

1. I hear lots of thumping coming from above (my office is in the basement) and nobody’s coming down crying, or telling on someone, so I think it’s juggling practice.

2. Both kids are getting good!

Chelsea is really solid with 3 clubs — so much so that she’s starting to work on her first trick (a double throw in the middle of her pattern).

Tom isn’t practicing as much, but I can tell he’s been putting in some time — he’s just about to turn the corner on club juggling. Once he’s solid with three clubs we’ll all start working on passing.

Four club passers in the family is going to be really awesome! =:)

There’s a chili cookoff and talent show at our church this month — we’re thinking we should put together an act and enter. We’ll decide on that in the net few days and let you know what’s happening.

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I’m starting this journal today, although to be honest, all four members of the family can be considered “jugglers,” so we’re not starting from scratch.However, it looks like every member of the family has a renewed interest in the sport/art at this time, and so this site will follow our attempts to…

…well, we all don’t have the same goals, but my goal (and as Dad, I get first vote!) is to get us to the point where we can do a really good show for people. Whether we explore “professional” performing or not, I don’t know yet, but there are several times each year where a good family show would come in handy.

Here is the cast of characters:

Jay (that’s me) - I’m the Dad and have been juggling since I was 13. I keep thinking I should be better than I am when I look at how many years that’s been, but I’ve gone through phases of not juggling for years at a time. I can do at least some of most juggling equipment and can do 4 clubs, a few seconds of 5 balls, and have passed 7 clubs (with a brief flurry of 8 clubs once with someone who really knew what he was doing).

Wanda - She’s the Mom and has been juggling for quite a few years (she and I met at a juggling club meeting in Seattle). She does ball and club juggling and passing, and doesn’t really work on numbers juggling at all. She’s the one who taught the kids how to do a kick-up since my legs don’t seem to work right for that.

Tom - He’s the son and does more with the diabolo than anyone else in the family. He does 3 balls right now and just his afternoon did 2-3 throws/catches with clubs, so he’s on the way.

Chelsea - She’s the daughter and has a good solid 3-ball pattern and is up to 22 catches with clubs. She’s also done a little bit of ball passing with me.

The last couple days the kids and I have been practicing a “reduced feed” — they each have one club and toss it from left to right, then pass it to me as I pass them a club. It’s getting them used to the correct timing for passing but they don’t have to think (much) about the actual juggling.

My thought is that by the time they have their 3-club pattern solid, they’ll be able to move right into passing. And when all of us are able to pass clubs, watch out! That’s going to open up an incredible array of tricks we can work on.

I guess that’s about it for an introduction. If you’re interested in juggling - with or without a family - I hope you put this site on your regular list of places to visit.

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