So we took the kids to the Ringing Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Nutter Center!
[[image:2014_circus20.jpg:Tickets:center:0]]
As it turned out it was also Vin’s first time at the circus. I remember when Hisham and I went when we were children – it was an Indian circus I think, and they would camp at that big field that is now a supermarket of some sort. Or perhaps houses. It was close enough that we could even walk there and avoid the hassle of finding parking, etc. from our house. I remember our Tok and Opah Pasir Panjang (paternal grandparents from Pasir Panjang) also went with us. It was the first time I rode an elephant, at the circus back then. Anyways, I absolutely enjoyed it as a child and was very glad to be able to take Yaya and Adik to the circus too!
One of the highlights for Hisham and me was that the elephants would poop while performing. It wasn’t the fact that they pooped that necessarily made us giggle (although I do admit it kind of did), it was the sheer size of the excrement. It was HUGE! I imagine some guy would have to shovel that onto trucks or something. LOL. Seriously. Anyway, we did not see such a sight at this circus, with the kids.
We arrived early enough for the pre-show where the kids were allowed to get up close with the performers and animals, and there was a bouncy house and such. Yaya jumped around in the bouncy house and then we went to check out the elephant (Yaya’s favorite animal).
[[image:2014_circus01.jpg:Elephant plays jump rope with a clown:center:0]]
Adik sat with Papa in the seats as he was a little overwhelmed by the spectacle. Before the show starts, Yaya and I hustle back to our seats.
[[image:2014_circus02.jpg:Vin and Adik:center:0]]
You can see how timid Adik is in the picture above. He’s not a big fan of crowds, this boy. I know Vin has his eyes closed, but unfortunately it was the best picture that I have of the two of them.
Yaya tried a sno-cone (in an elephant cup!). And she liked it and ate a lot of it!
[[image:2014_circus03.jpg:Yaya gnoms a blue sno-cone:center:0]]
And then the real show starts! Here are photos of the opening parade (apologies for the blurriness but I took the photos with my phone and it was far away with variable lighting):
[[image:2014_circus04.jpg:Horse, Man on stilts, and moving platforms:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus05.jpg:More stilts:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus06.jpg:Acrobats and clowns:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus07.jpg:Horses galore:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus08.jpg:Clowns and clown cars:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus09.jpg:They are singing and dancing all the while:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus10.jpg:Here come the elephants:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus11.jpg:Holding the tail of the elephant in front with its trunk:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus12.jpg:More elephants:center:0]]
And now some images from the show itself (the greatest show on earth?):
[[image:2014_circus13.jpg:Aerial acrobats soaring:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus14.jpg:Love the funky lighting:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus15.jpg:Horses perform:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus16.jpg:Tigers!:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus17.jpg:Tigers lie down and roll over? How do I get Lily to do this?:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus18.jpg:Walking the tightrope:center:0]]
[[image:2014_circus19.jpg:Bicycling the tightrope!:center:0]]
We left at intermission as it was getting late and we didn’t want the kids to be too wired up too late at night. It was a fun time and everyone had a good time. All the animals looked well cared for and happy, and wow, they really put on a great show. We would definitely go to this show again if we had the chance!
