A friend from church gave us some free tickets to the Aladdin Shriner’s Circus. The kids were so excited.

You’d think that this would be the After picture, but it is actually what occurred on the way TO the circus. Turned out to be a good thing since the circus went fairly late.

Before the show started, I went on one ride each with the kids.

Corinne picked the Ferris Wheel. She was nervous when it stopped at the top. I told her to pretend we were birds. That seemed to calm her down. Plus, you could see the elephants from up there. She ended up loving the ride.

Mason picked the Fun House. Tony tried to take him through it while I was on the Ferris Wheel. However, no adults were allowed inside, and Mason had a meltdown shortly after entering. When I got off the ride with Corinne and heard what happened, I asked the kid in charge of the Fun House to either give us our tickets back for another ride or let me go through with him. The circus was getting ready to start so not many people were near the rides. He let me through. Score one for me! Turns out there is a black tunnel that you can’t see the end of which is likely what caused Mason to get scared. I crawled through right behind him. It led to a ball pit with a rope ladder. Then a bridge and a big slide down at the end. He came out with a smile!

There were lots of acts that the kids enjoyed:

The show opened with a motorcycle on a high wire with a girl swinging from the bottom. That was a perfect mix to make both of my kids happy.

The lady who swung around by her hair doing various tricks

She let go of some glitter. Corinne gasped audibly. (I missed the peak of the glitter sprinkling.)

The girls hanging from their feet

The dogs that were saved from shelters and trained to do all kinds of silly tricks. Here they are climbing a ladder, walking a tightrope, and making a basket with a ball.

There were alot of acts that were alright but nothing amazing. Then there was the grotesque.

During intermission, the kiddos pounded some cotton candy and geared up for the elephants.

Then the circus came back with the stars of the show.

I know they walk slow, but I couldn’t get a picture of them walking holding each other’s tails. That’s my favorite. All I got was this:

Oh well. It was a great time. Mason still talks about it multiple times daily.

-g.