A Fun Day at the Circus

Today we went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus here in Beaumont. We were so blessed to have Marshall, Shannon, Kyle and Sophia with us; Kyle, Holli, Gabi and Holland; Maren, Braydon and Isabella (Ryan had to work); and Emma. Chad and Hayes had play practice for "Oliver"; and Meigan, Syd and Mark were at the theater helping put things together for tonight's production of "Music Man". Yes, we are very busy with grandchildren this summer. Kaylin, Maren, Blake and Jocie we visited and enjoyed in June; Hayes, Mark and Syd are in theater productions; and today 7 of them at the circus. Drake was at his dad's and we missed seeing him.

The circus is not the circus I remembered. There were no lions, no tigers, and the show consisted mostly of acrobatic acts. Dogs, horses and elephants were the only ones who adorned the ring with a fun show (oh and of course we did get to watch those hired to sweep the poop).

Maren, Braydon and Isabella met Kyle, Holli, Gabi and Holland at what they call the Barnum's Bash. For an hour before the show you can go down on the floor by the ring and intermingle with some of the performers. Holli has a great video where they asked Gabi onto the floor. She put her hands on one of the steps that performers would stand on. They took Gabi's legs and spun her around. Holli and I are having problems getting our videos to upload, but hopefully Holli can get the video onto her blog. Gabi was so cute.

A circus is no fun if you don't eat popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones. And you have to have circus hats and shirts. From the very beginning, Gabi and Braydon were mesmerized by the performers and bright lights.

They loved the horses

and the acrobats

Marshall and Shannon brought Kyle and Sophia to the circus. They figured Kyle wouldn't sit for very long and they would just stay until he was ready to go. From this picture you can see how "glued" he was to the show. (The spots on Marshall's shirt are not grease spots. We had a torrential downpour as we were ready to get out of the cars). I don't have pictures of Sophia because she was bundled up with Shannon at the other end of the row.

Do you think Isabella and Braydon love each other?

Emma is way in the back of the picture behind me. The hats on top of the kids" head were on top of bags of cotton candy...cost? $12 for one bag with a thin layered hat on top.

We didn't get Sophia in the picture

Yes, Holland who is 6 months old is almost as big as Kyle who is 17 months old

Elephants, proof that there were animals in the show

When we left the circus, the sun was shining; we haven't seen sun all week long. Despite all the popcorn and cotton candy eating, we decided to take everyone out to eat at Jason's Deli. When Gabi and Braydon are together, they insist on being in the same car. They were excited that Emma would be with them.

Well, that's all the show for now. The circus must come to an end; in fact, the circus didn't come to an end. Everyone, except for Marshall and Shannon, came back to the house. Everyone eventually left except for Braydon and Gabi. They had to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's to play..those two are attached at the hip.

A great day with a great family.