I offered a bit of a disclaimer in my circus recap post from last year and I’m just going to go ahead and leave another one here today. I know that the circus has always been controversial, no more so than in the last year. I have always been uncomfortable with the idea of circus animals, even as I found myself enjoying the show. Sometimes as a parent we find ourselves in precarious and uncomfortable situations and this is definitely one of those for me. I have loved the memories we’ve made over the last eleven years as circus attendees, but we’ve also had plenty of conversations with the girls about the care of animals. They were both disappointed when the elephants were pulled, but I was simultaneously relieved. We found that the circus was just as much fun this year (it was actually my favorite ever) and I’m glad we were able to attend the final performance. Can we just talk about a fun family weekend without getting into an animal debate. Pretty please?
Josh’s parents have bought us circus tickets for the last eleven years as a Christmas gift and we always have the best time. I somehow managed to miscalculate time this year and we were thirty minutes later leaving that I planned to be. We arrived just in time and the girls and I grabbed seats while Josh procured water and Dippin’ Dots. For the third or fourth year in a row, the girls carried old light up wands and saved their circus cash for later (hello, Disneyland). Since they only hold them for 47 seconds (and they sell the same ones every single year), it is definitely a great decision on our part.
I think I had just as much fun watching the girls faces and snapping pictures of them as I did watching the actual circus. They were so excited to be there (especially knowing we would never go back) and Ella grabbed my knee a few minutes in and said: “This is SO awesome.”
These clear spheres hang from the ceiling of the arena from before the circus begins. They were covered in fabric to look like planets — the theme was space oriented this year — and the girls are always so excited for the acrobats to be unveiled. The core strength of these ladies is insane. I couldn’t believe how easily they pull themselves back up into the sphere?!
The thing we were all so impressed with was the ice. It took a few minutes to realize that the entire arena floor (except the center animal ring) was an ice rink and almost all of the performers were on skates. The performers are always amazing to watch, but seeing their acts appear on ice made it even cooler. No pun intended.
Look at that face! She was mesmerized. The entire time the motorcycles rode inside the cage, she bit her fingernails, gasped and grinned from ear to ear. I must admit — the motorcycles are my favorite part, too.
It wasn’t until after I looked at the photos from previous years that I realized I wore this exact same outfit last year?! Also, after I snapped that cute picture of the girls I realized I hadn’t changed my camera settings since we left the dark arena. It’s too bad it turned out so grainy, because they both look adorable.
We woke up to a rainy morning, so all three girls wore their rain boots since we would be navigating puddles downtown. I didn’t realize until we were waiting in line for the bathroom during intermission that Sophie wore capri length leggings. This is so her and I couldn’t help but laugh every time I saw her legs peeking out at the top of her boots. That girl is a keeper.
You can catch previous circus recaps below.
2016 Legends
2015 XTREME
2013 Legends
2012’s Dragons
2011’s Fully Charged
2010’s Funundrum
2009’s Zing, Zang, Zoom
