Long lines, uncomfortable seating, loud noises, strange animal smells, carnivores eyeing up my many small boys, six dollar cotton candy. Yep, we went to the circus last night.
We had a fabulous time. We bypassed the long ticket lines by buying our tickets online. With the coupons we had, the kids got in free. Free admission but nothing else free inside. We could have easily spent another hundred dollars in there. When I saw the cotton candy man walking our way I tried to distract the boys which the cotton candy man recognized. He made sure each one of my googly eyed boys took note. The ringmaster continuously announced every optional souvenir, ride and food the circus had. Each time the boys would look my way and each time I would shake my head. I brought bottled water and dinner, stuffed squash. Who eats stuffed squash under the big top? We do.
It has been quite a few years since I've been to a circus. The last time I was at one, I can clearly remember daydreaming about leaving home and living the glamorous life. I would be the trapeze girl with the beautiful costume with the spotlight on me. This time I watched the trapeze girls with a knot in my stomach. The nets weren't nearly large enough, there out fits wear far to revealing (as Tommy pointed out), and the risks they took were ridiculous. I was a nervous wreck until they finally bounced down into the safety net. Every thing I had once fantasized about the circus life now seemed like such a bad idea. Risking your life just for a cheer from the crowd and traveling every day of the year. I was amazed at the amount of children that helped and even participated in the show. I wonder what kind of life that must be.
When I wasn't covering my eyes, I could see Gavin and Tommy's light up with amazement at every act. "If I were in the circus I would be that guy, no that guy, no I would do both." The show was almost two hours long and even though our butts were numb, we were all sitting there with a smile on our faces.
As we drove home, we recalled our favorite acts and decided what our circus jobs would be. Tommy suggested I be a dancing girl with clothes on as opposed to the dancing girls that weren't wearing enough clothes. Tommy decided he would be a clown and Gavin would be the scooter driver, not that there was a scooter driver, I guess he's just really stuck in this scooter phase. As I tucked them in we all hoped for circus dreams.
This morning I awoke to some loud noise in the living room. As I snuck around the corner there was Gavin. Holding a small circus in the living room. He was trying his best to convince Elliott to sit on top of an over turned clothes basket. Elliott was less than impressed but too lazy to walk away. The day continued like this. Tommy held an all day circus in my bedroom. We have a four post bed in which he constructed a big top. On more than one occasion I walked in to see Petey trapped under a clothes basket. When I inquired I was instructed to stay back, Tigers are unpredictable animals. At this, Petey snarled at me from behind the cage. I did have to perform several circus rescues for poor Petey throughout the day. The swing set was turned into a trapeze and high wire act. Unfortunately Finn was forced to take part. Like a child who had been sold to the circus, Gavin and Tommy loaded him into Petey's baby swing and swung him far higher than he was comfortable with.
Late today, we're still talking about the circus. The boys are still dreaming about joining a traveling show and I'm still fascinated with the circus life. I think I'm going to look to see if there's a documentary about living in the circus, because that's the sort of thing I would like to watch and the boys are already on the Internet looking for the next circus coming to town. Well worth the $24.00 in tickets and the grief I had to take when I refused to buy anything else, this has spurred their imaginations more than anything has recently.
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