The Greatest Show on Earth

Last weekend, Diego and I took Luis to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as The Greatest Show on Earth - which is not really a shorter name). Luis knew about the circus from some of his books and was eager to go. We also invited Bethany and Caleb to join us.

Before the show, many of the performers were down on the performance floor greeting people, performing, and posing for pictures. Luis was eager to go down there, but soon felt overwhelmed by it all.

Luis posed for this picture because I asked him to, he was not overly fond of the clowns

Walking around before the show, Luis was a bit overwhelmed; he preferred to be as high as possible

I haven't been to the circus in at least a decade - I think since my senior year in high school. I was surprised with this show at how much singing and dancing there was. The ringmaster sang between almost every act. It wasn't bad, but it was not what I was expecting. Luis and Caleb were pretty enthralled with most of the show. Caleb sat on his mom's lap and took it all in. Luis rarely sat the entire show - squirming between Diego and I, dancing, jumping, climbing in and out of his chair - but always with an eye on the performers. The tigers were neat to watch, as were the acrobats. But to me, the most amazing act were these motorbike riders inside a big steel sphere. It's difficult to describe, but there are some great pictures here.

Luis's own circus act was to eat his foot during intermission

The show was two hours, with a 20 minute intermission. I think we all would have been happy with a one hour show, but then we would have missed the tigers. Also, intermission allowed me the opportunity to purchase a $5.50 "souvenir" cup of diet coke and a $4.00 bottle of water. I passed on the $12 cotton candy!!!

Diego carried two happy, but very tired boys back to the car