A Night at the Circus

Last week we went to go see the "Greatest Show on Earth". Or so its been called. I don't know about greatest but I do have to say it was pretty fun. The Ringling Brothers Circus was in town and opening night tickets were half off. Sure, we got cheap nosebleed section tickets but we didn't care. We were going to see clowns, elephants, and tigers!

I got the idea to go to the circus after reading Mashel's fabulous blog about the time they had at the circus. The great thing about this circus was that an hour before the show started you got to go down to the arena floor and meet circus performers. We were running a bit late so our time on the floor was short but we did get to see performers up close, take pictures, and even have the kids pose with a clown (Mari looks a tad scared in that shot).

You may have noticed the FABULOUS Tuesday tshirts  the kids and I were sporting (Paul's needed to be shrunk). Yes, you too can have the coolest shirt around. Just click on the link to the right of my blog. Okay- shameless plug over.

The kids were very excited to see everything up close and personal but the show was about to start and we had to climb up, up, up to our seats.  Our seats may have been way up high but we could see everything just fine. It came time for the National Anthem so we stood up and sang and after the applause Mari started to cry. She wasn't done singing! She thought the show was over and she wasn't ready for it to end! I tried to explain to her that we were just starting the show but there was no consoling her until the lights came back up and show did begin.  From that moment Ben's eyes were absolutely glued to the stage. He sat on Paul's lap and stared with a big smile on his face. We had a fan. Mari was a bit more vocal. She cheered and said wow and clapped. She enjoyed the crowd participation just as much as the actual show. We saw all kinds of normal circus stuff and some things I had never seen before like these people on inflatable bouncing things doing tricks. I know, poor description but they were really cool.

Paul and I were especially amazed by the 7 motorcycles spinning around in one cage. How do they do that? I think the kids loved the animals the best.  At intermission we went up to the tip top of the stadium and let the kids run laps. That actually may have been some of the most fun of the night.

The second half started past the kids' bedtime so their attention was not held as well as the first half. Ben reached his breaking point and made his attempt at escape.

Mari was more interested in climbing the stairs then sitting still and Paul was making funny faces in the camera.

So we watched the elephants and headed out. My only regret was going to the 7:30 performance instead of the day performances because by the time the second act hit, the kids were really tired. Luckily- I think the preshow and first act were well worth our money. It made for a relatively inexpensive special treat which is always my goal. As long as you don't get caught up in the $8 cotton candy and $10 light up toys you can really have a pretty cheap, very fun, memorable night.