Clowns to the left of me...jokers to the right...

I have a phobia. It's serious and has been known to reduce me to tears and cause a racing heart and anxiety attacks.

This is it.....

Yep, clowns. I'm terrified of them. So you can imagine my delight when once a year the annual Christmas Pageant comes round.... oh yeah let me at it.....

However, my children love to go. So we go. It's very, very popular which means we need to get there at least a couple of hours before it starts to secure a good spot. So yesterday morning we were up at an ungodly hour and all packed sleepily into the car so that we could get there before the hoards. We arrived, a full two hours before take off and still didn't get a front row spot. However, we were closer than last year so we settled in, marking our territory with a picnic rug and some fold up chairs (this is serious business people). Tom went off to get me coffee (because he's scared of caffeine-free me) and soon returned laden with a couple of lattes and a selection of fresh pastries like the good hunter-gatherer he is.

Almost as soon as we settled in the warm-up acts began. Clowns. Because we all know how hilarious they are don't we? Walking, running, skipping, dancing, uni-cycling clowns. Big, over made-up freaks with giant shoes. Sorry, I just do not see the attraction. So, I read the paper, white knuckled thinking 'don't come near me, don't come near me'. But they're like cats aren't they, they can smell your fear so of course they were hanging around us A LOT!

Here's another one

And the crowds.....good God in heaven why do we do this to ourselves?

There are more photos of floats, fairies, princesses, more clowns and of course the main man himself (Santa) but I am so exhausted trying to download the clowns without actually looking at the computer that I've quit for the day.

Special thanks to Hannah who acted as photographer because she got sick of me falling backwards off my chair every time I got a clown in the view finder.

Fun times.