Not My Circus, Not My Clowns

When you have four kids, sometimes it seems that life is one big circus.

And then we took our family to an actual circus, and I've got to admit: there are some similarities. At times we have a house full of clowns, acrobats, jugglers, daredevils, and contortionists, and occasionally we even have animals who poop where and when they shouldn't.

The kids have been asking questions lately about circuses, so when The Wife saw that a circus was coming to town, she thought it would be fun to take the kids to see it. They were surprised and excited.

When we arrived, it looked like there were a lot of fun things for the kids to do. There was a bouncy house, a bouncy slide, camel rides, pony rides, face painting, and elephant rides. Unfortunately, every one of those things cost an additional $6 per event, per child, except for the elephant rides, which were $18 per child per ride.

Lots of fun things to do...but nobody is doing them because everyone was low on cash.

Maybe it's just because people in Utah are cheapskates frugal, but I didn't see anybody paying extra for any of the activities until they brought out the elephant. The elephant was a big enough attraction (literally and figuratively) to pry open a few wallets.

It's no coincidence the elephants are near the ATM machine.

So, they would cram four or five kids on top of the elephant, at $18 each, for a ride that lasted about one minute. To quote my mother-in-law, "The elephant makes more in an hour that teachers make in a week!" (Yes, my mother-in-law is a school teacher.)

But, it wasn't just the extra attractions that were expensive. The food and beverage was, too. The couple in front of us bought two sno-cone drinks that came in a fancy light-up-bottomed cup. The drinks were $12 each! Yikes!

With as valuable as those drinks are, this guy should probably have his own security detail.

Needless to say, there weren't very long lines at the concession stands.

Not a creature was stirring....

As we waited, I was beginning to wonder if my son's favorite part of his first trip to the circus would be playing with the seat in front of him.

It folds! It flaps! It doesn't cost extra!

But then the actual performance started, and I soon forgot all about my pre-show grumpiness.

I wonder how many of these performers actually ran away to join the circus?

There were acrobats, jugglers, contortionists, stunt drivers, camels, elephants, and clowns. My kids especially liked the clowns.

You can't have clowns without a clown car!

The performers were all very talented. And while there was nothing that I would call a "death-defying" stunt, there were several "pain-defying" stunts, such as when the motorcycle flung the acrobat through the high hoop.

You will believe a man can fly! (Until he hits the net.)

The big draw, of course, was the elephants. And they didn't disappoint. They were well-trained, even if they weren't potty trained. (Yes, one lucky circus employee gets to hold a bucket to the elephant's butt when the elephants starts pooping.)

I decided to go with a photo of the elephants performing, not pooping.

All in all, it was a pretty fun experience. Now my kids can say they've been to the circus, and so can I! (Despite my advancing age, it was my first time at the circus.)

I had such a good time, but now it's back to my regular scheduled life with the four kids, which is my circus, and they are my clowns.

*I would like to thank my mother-in-law for several of these photos.