One of the things I remember doing (OK, I still do it 😉 ), was talking to the animals at the fair in their own language. Yes, I would snort and grunt at the pigs. Moo at the cows and steers. Neigh and bray with the donkeys and horses. And of course baah with the sheep and quack with the ducks.

Of course, I would then tell my children exactly what the animal on the other side of the conversation said. I don’t know if I ever convinced any of my girls that I was ‘talking’ to the animals, but I had fun doing it. Still do.

This year at the fair, I heard an animal sound that I never heard before. Llamas in my experience were always very quiet. I’m not sure if this is a normal case, since I only see them during the fairs, and they are not very common at our little fair. It was an interesting sound and I got curious as to what type of vocalization they do. So I found this site that had a sound close to what I heard. Check out the humming vocalization. When one llama made this noise, the other responded. It was cool to see and hear them react to each other. It will take some time listening to the llamas to be able to converse with them, so I will have to wait until next year.

And for those who had a movie come to mind with this blog post, I will leave you with this.

My first night in Orlando was spent at a dinner theatre entitled Arabian Nights.  The theatrical portion was a charming story featuring a female genie in training.   However, the story took second place to the real stars of the show: a group of beautiful horses and their acrobatic riders.  There was daring stunts, magical scenes, a chariot race, and (my favorite part) the antics of the clownish rider.  Amazingly enough, the riders were varied in terms of experience although they all seemed to have been riding since birth.

The activity was not limited to the stage. The two year old member of our group decided that she was going to venture out on her own.  “I’ll be right back,” she said.  Fortunately, her escape was thwarted and all was well with our band.

Following the show, I got my first glimpse of the accomodations I would be using AFTER we made a slight detour back to Old Town.  At the condo, we decided to place an order that would become a staple the next two nights: pizza (specifically, Domino’s… if you want to call it pizza).  So, if you are planning a trip to Orlando and want to break away from the parks for a few hours, plan a trip to Arabian Nights, especially if your family includes small children.

In more Harry Potter related news, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry himself) will be making his Broadway stage debut on September 5 at the Broadhurst Theatre. Last year, he received rave reviews for his London stage debut in Peter Shaffer’s play, Equus. The story of Alan Strang, a rather disturbed young stable boy who has an unusual fixation with horses. However, the psychiatrist who attempts to must solve the mystery of Alan’s sexual and religious perversion has his own hidden psychological trauma. Incidentally, the psychiatrist will be played by Richard Griffiths who also plays the role of Harry’s eternally frustrated Uncle Vernon in the Potter films. A few words of warning to those who may think that the play will delight the young fans of the boy wizard (although “delight” may not be the most appropriate term). Equus is definitely NOT a play to introduce to young children. Its heavy adult themes and scenes are much too heavy perhaps even for some adult theatregoers.

Want tickets to a sold out show? Click here