I have never liked the circus, but I can understand what's fun about it and I know Ben enjoys really fun, carefree things like that. I'm just not a fan of animals. It's not even for a noble reason like animal rights and the inhumanity of training an elephant to stand on his hind legs on command-- believe me, I've seen lions, elephants, and monkeys in the wild and they are vicious and largely superfluous animals. In my opinion.
I actually dreaded going and even tried offering to buy Ben another flight lesson or something else for the same price of tickets. It didn't work.
But I was so happy to be there the moment we entered the Greensboro Coliseum. Maybe it was because I knew I was doing something for the enjoyment of my husband I knew he'd have a better time if I enjoyed myself. Maybe it's because of all the bright lights and flashy costumes (I do love a man in purple sequins!). Maybe it's just fun to feel like an 8-yr-old again.
My favorite treat: Cotton candy! Every time I see it I'm reminded of the machine we rented for our wedding reception :)
Bags were being sold for $12 at the circus. Do people realize they could wait an hour and get it for $1.3 at the Hess station?
Bags were being sold for $12 at the circus. Do people realize they could wait an hour and get it for $1.3 at the Hess station?
Notice the guy in front of Ben at the ticket counter... awesome hair, no?
Waiting for the show to begin...
It was fairly impossible to get a good shot together! But I tried :(
Baby's first circus! I felt him kick a ton when he heard the noise of 8 motorcyclists inside a steel globe.
Future motorcycle aficionado?
Clowns threw beach balls into the audience to get everyone excited. It worked!
It's hard to see, but the elephant in front had lost hold of the tail of the elephant before him. He was trotting
to catch up to that elephant and grab hold again-- Ben loved it!
Everyone's a clown at the circus :)
Highlights:
- The theme of the circus was "Year of the Dragon" (think Chinese calendar.) The songs sung by the ring master between each performance were Dragon-themed. Our favorite was "From the north to the south to the east to the west the spirit of the dragon is the best of the best!" We sang it at the top of our lungs for the rest of the performance.
- Another song was "Do you have the dragon in YOU????" repeated over and over again. I would sing along then yell, "YES!" because our son will be born in the year of the dragon! How many people can actually go to the dragon circus and say that they do have a dragon in them?? Hehehe.
- We bought the cheapest seats available the night of the performance (we paid for parking without knowing that we'd even get in), which was an awesome move. It was only half full, so we stayed in the upper level but chose seats right at the front and completely deserted. It was the perfect vantage point, and we got to be as silly and loud as we wanted without disturbing anyone else.
- Watching that elephant try and grab the other elephant's tail... hilarious.
- We loved the male acrobat teams. They did incredible stunts! Forget gymnastics-- Being flung backward to land vertically onto a pillow mat while wearing 10' stilts should be an olympic sport! I'm embarrassed to say that seeing a few tricks end haphazardly was pretty entertaining, too :)
- Two words: Kitten acrobats.
- The ring leader called out leading questions for the audience to guess which animal a group of Chinese contortionists were going to act out. When he yelled out, "What is the largest animal on Earth?" Ben and I both yelled out "BLUE WHALE!" at the exact same time. I LOVE BEN! The ring leader later changed it to "What is the largest animal that walks the Earth?" or something like that... Hehehe :)
Maybe you can help settle a dispute: We tried to think of who in the circus gets paid the most. We agree that clowns are probably low on the totem pole, but Ben thinks the gymnasts/ aerialists get paid the most, I think either the ring leader or animal trainers. Thoughts?
Ben, this was truly one of the most fun nights we've ever had together! I am so glad we went. I know I loved it because you are my very best friend and you bring out the fun, carefree side of me :) Thanks for singing out loud, dancing, and acting like a fool with me!
Ben, this was truly one of the most fun nights we've ever had together! I am so glad we went. I know I loved it because you are my very best friend and you bring out the fun, carefree side of me :) Thanks for singing out loud, dancing, and acting like a fool with me!
Poor snow cone clown is crying!!
ReplyDeleteI'd say the ring leader and animal trainers probably get paid the most. I actually wouldn't think the acrobats make very much money. Of course, I'm an expert on circus payroll trivia, so you know I'm right.