Zing, Zang, Zoom!

Welcome to the Greatest Show On Earth! Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey are proud to present Zing! Zang! Zoom!

That's right, the four of us went to the circus today! It was quite an adventure. Sam hasd been looking forward to it for a couple of days, and of course Anthony and I were excited to be taking the kids. Ellen had no clue what a circus might be, but she caught the general air of festivity and got excited too.

We had to park half a block away from the BJCC in a parking deck, and followed the crowd to the arena. We had to stand outside for a while waiting to get in; incidentally, the temperature is definitely dropping! Inside the BJCC we were greeted by the usual deluge of vendors selling everything from t-shirts to food to stuffed animals. Sam wound up with a spinning light up thingy that would probably give you a seizure if you stared at it for too long; Ellen got a clown doll.

The show started with the typical huge opening number. There were clowns, acrobats, horses, and (Ellen almost lost her mind with excitement) elephants. The dancers and clowns were great, the acrobats were satisfyingly death-defying, and the animal performers were wonderful. We had a great time. Of course, by the end of it all Sam had a meltdown because the batteries ran down in his light thingy, and then he fell asleep on my lap after crying for a while and declaring that he didn't like the circus. Sam, like me, tends toward the weepy and grumpy end of the spectrum when he's tired. Ellen on the other hand clapped, cheered, and wriggled happily for most of the show. It was terrific.

Leaving the BJCC, we managed to turn the wrong way and ended up walking about 524582085 blocks to get back to the car. This is not so easy when you are carrying one sleeping 4 year old (go Anthony!) and alternately carrying and walking with a 22 month old. Sam asserted again that he didn't like the circus. We finally made it to the car and got home, and tucked the kids into bed.

I was pulling the blanket over Ellen when I heard Sam giggling behind me, from his own bed. I turned around to see him grinning from ear to ear. I guess the circus is easier to like once you're home in bed, because Sam smiled at me and said "Zing, zang, zoom!"