Every year the weekend before school starts, the Barnum and Bailey circus comes into town for the weekend. Its become a tradition for our family to go every year, Matthew gets great deals on seats and we are always just a few rows from the front. The kids certainly enjoy it and so do Matthew and I...you never get too old for the circus!
This year we went with Matthews sister Crystal and her son Takoda. Three cousins, all excited to watch the "Greatest Show on Earth"!
The circus is pretty much the same year after year, but they do try to change it up a little with a new theme - this years was called FUNundrum. There were lots of silly antics by the clowns, and high flying trapeze acts. They had 3 groups of couples come out and perform feats of amazing strength and flexibility, these guys were our favorite:
They did some pretty amazing things, and the other groups were just as fun to watch. Next they set up the tiger cage, which is usually one of my favorites. This year they had a really short program though, maybe the tigers were cranky and didn't feel like being on display!
The tigers have such a wild energy about them. They certainly look and act like they could tear that tiger trainer to bits at any second, and I guess that's why its so thrilling to watch them perform together. The elephants have the same feel, but part of the excitement with them is their sheer size! I remember being a young kid, probably under 6 and going to the zoo with my parents. Back then you could actually ride one of the elephants around the ring! I remember standing in line, and then sitting with my brother on a big saddle/platform thing on the elephants back. They would never do that sort of thing nowadays, but it was an amazing experience. This was as close as we got to the elephants this year though:
These guys are Killian's very favorite act, and he was so excited to see them this year (they don't perform every year). I think they had 7 motorcycles in the sphere at once!
And this was our favorite moment of the finale - a little baby elephant that was born last year! I guess he was born on election day, so they named him Baby Barack. He was so cute! I loved how his mom held his tail and was so protective of him as they walked around the ring:
Maybe we will see that little guy in action at next years circus, we cant wait to go back and find out!
This year we went with Matthews sister Crystal and her son Takoda. Three cousins, all excited to watch the "Greatest Show on Earth"!
The circus is pretty much the same year after year, but they do try to change it up a little with a new theme - this years was called FUNundrum. There were lots of silly antics by the clowns, and high flying trapeze acts. They had 3 groups of couples come out and perform feats of amazing strength and flexibility, these guys were our favorite:
They did some pretty amazing things, and the other groups were just as fun to watch. Next they set up the tiger cage, which is usually one of my favorites. This year they had a really short program though, maybe the tigers were cranky and didn't feel like being on display!
The tigers have such a wild energy about them. They certainly look and act like they could tear that tiger trainer to bits at any second, and I guess that's why its so thrilling to watch them perform together. The elephants have the same feel, but part of the excitement with them is their sheer size! I remember being a young kid, probably under 6 and going to the zoo with my parents. Back then you could actually ride one of the elephants around the ring! I remember standing in line, and then sitting with my brother on a big saddle/platform thing on the elephants back. They would never do that sort of thing nowadays, but it was an amazing experience. This was as close as we got to the elephants this year though:
These guys are Killian's very favorite act, and he was so excited to see them this year (they don't perform every year). I think they had 7 motorcycles in the sphere at once!
And this was our favorite moment of the finale - a little baby elephant that was born last year! I guess he was born on election day, so they named him Baby Barack. He was so cute! I loved how his mom held his tail and was so protective of him as they walked around the ring:
Maybe we will see that little guy in action at next years circus, we cant wait to go back and find out!