Fun Packed Saturday Part 1

Even though we didn’t go to bed until 12:00 am, Autumn was still up at 8:00 this morning! She wanted to watch Frosty the Snowman, so I put that on for her and tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. We had the windows open b/c the weather has been so nice during the nights, and I could hear birds chirping outside and people already mowing their lawn, so I decided to get up and start the day. I watched the other movie we rented at Red Box last night, How Do You Know (w/ Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson). I did not like it very much b/c it’s so slow moving and really weird and disjointed. I was glad when it was over. I had Autumn color in her coloring book while I vacuumed the house and cleaned my bathroom and made my bed. After that we got in the car and headed over to Mom & Dad’s to see what they were doing today.

Dad had gone to some work meetings this morning and was so tired that he came home and went back to sleep, which is unheard of! So, they were both still in bed asleep when Autumn & I got there around 11:00. We woke them up and tried to decide what to do today since we didn’t really have any plans and Dad was off. I told them I had picked up a free ticket to the circus and we could go to that. We looked it up and it was here in town, so we decided to go to lunch and then go check out the circus. Mom had a hankerin’ for the peach drink at Panda Express, so we went there. This was my fortune in the fortune cookie. I thought it was a pretty good one.

After that, we drove over to a big empty field where the circus was set up. It was the Carson & Barnes Circus.

We bought our tickets and walked into the gates where they had a little petting zoo set up. They had goats and llamas and zebras. Off to the left of the zebra was a little hippopotamus that was just laying there in the sun. At first we thought it was dead but then it stuck out its tongue and moved a little bit.

We walked over to another area and they were doing elephant rides. Mom went and bought Autumn a ticket to ride and I didn’t think she would do it b/c she kept telling Dad to go w/ her. But, when the time came, she walked up the stairs, gave the man her ticket and he put her up on the elephant.

We got lucky b/c she got to sit in the front of the group she rode around with. I thought she might freak out, but she loved it and even got brave and reached under the bar to pet the elephant’s head.

We asked the elephant trainer how old the elephant was and he said 40 years old, and elephants usually live the same life span as humans do. The elephant just walked around a few times and then went back to the place where they got on and off. So, even though it was only a few minutes long, it was worth it b/c of the great memory Autumn now has of being able to say she rode an elephant.

We went into the tent and found our seats, which were kind of old and rickety. Mom & Dad were so good to Autumn and spoiled her by getting a drink and popcorn even though the popcorn was stale and overpriced.

The show started at 1:30 and started out w/ some patriotic music and costumes. I kept looking over at Autumn and she just had excitement and wonder in her eyes.

The first act was this man & lady that used just these blue pieces of fabric to hang from the ceiling and do cool tricks. This was crazy b/c she was hanging upside down from just his feet! Mom & I were saying later, what happened if he got a leg cramp and straightened his foot instead of having it flexed? It was pretty neat to see their amazing talent.

This clown, Alex, was really funny. He pulled this guy out of the audience to play tennis w/ him. The guy was great and played along w/ wearing the skirt and sweatband, etc. This is a picture of them stretching and right after this Alex started dancing around while shaking his hips and the guy from the audience played along and did the same thing. It was hilarious and had all of us laughing.

This was the tight rope act and was fascinating. One of the guys was out in the middle of the rope and started to jump rope! He lost his balance and fell, but luckily he caught himself. I personally think it was planned, but it freaked Mom out and she let out a scream. This was crazy b/c the guy was balancing a bike on the rope and this lady was hanging from a bar underneath the bike.

This guy and his sister rode unicycles, which is pretty unbelievable b/c they were just on this plastic tarp over the grass in the field. It was a really uneven surface and not only did he ride the unicycle, but he jump roped while riding it!

Since it was early in the afternoon, not all of the seats were full, so Dad & Autumn went and sat at the back of the bleachers to enjoy the show.

This guy kind of freaked me out. He had to be double-jointed b/c of the crazy ways he could contort his body. At one point, he bent himself in half and was able to squeeze his whole body through a tennis racket!!! Then he was able to squeeze himself into this little clear box. It was one of those things where I didn’t want to watch b/c it was freaky but I couldn’t make myself look away.

After an hour of non-stop entertainment, they had a 15 minute intermission where they had elephant rides in the center ring, face painting, and camel rides. Mom thought for sure that Autumn would want her face painted b/c it was like make up, but Autumn wanted nothing to do w/ it. She just stood and watched other little girls getting their faces painted. The best, though, is that Dad laid out on one of the benches and took a little cat nap during intermission.

The first act that came on after the intermission was this. It was insane to see these guys just walking on the outside of the circles as if they were taking a walk in the park. They were up so high and made it look so effortless.

Next up were the elephants. There were 3 of them and they had them do all sorts of cool tricks. It’s crazy how they get these big huge animals to sit on stools like it’s no big deal. Autumn loved seeing the elephants and that she got to say she’s ridden one.

These were the only clowns in the whole circus b/c it’s such a small circus and all of the performers do multiple things. But, they had us laughing pretty hard. They came out and were doing dances to hip hop songs. The best one was when they danced to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce and got the big ring leader to dance along w/ them.

For the big finale, they had the trapeze artists. They did flips and all sorts of cool tricks. One of them fell, but it’s not a huge deal b/c there’s a safety net under them. Again, Mom freaked out but both Dad and I think it’s planned for them to fall once b/c it makes the trick seem better when they get it the 2nd time.

I honestly did not have high expectations for the circus b/c one of the performers was out selling tickets for the elephant ride before the circus started b/c it’s such a small circus and everyone has multiple responsibilities. For example, the trapeze artists were the ones doing the face painting during intermission. Also, the center ring wasn’t that big and the seats were old and ghetto. But, I am happy to admit that I was pleasantly surprised and it was way better than I thought it was going to be. The best part is that Autumn had a blast and loved being at the circus. Mom & Dad are so good to us and spoil us.

We were laughing b/c at one point during the show they say they are going to sell special bags of peanuts for only $2 for just the next 5 minutes and what is a circus w/out peanuts? Dad shocked me by taking Autumn down to buy a bag of peanuts. That NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would have happened when Lexie & Nick & Nate & I were little. What’s funny is that the peanuts were soft and rancid and nasty. Mom even splurged and got Autumn this lame coloring book for $2. We were talking about how they spoil the grandkids b/c they now have the means to do it. And that’s so true, b/c Autumn kept telling me she wanted a drink or cotton candy and I kept telling her no b/c it’s too expensive. Hopefully I can have the means to spoil my grandkids when I’m older. Autumn sure is a lucky little girl.