The Greatest Show on Earth

On a bit of a whim, we took our family to the "Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus". It is their 200th Anniversary and they put on quite a show. (A few other families from our church told us about it so we were able to see them there too.) Disclaimer: The pictures were all from Lloyd's cell phone camera because we were told that photography was PROHIBITED. (I was terribly disappointed to see TONS of cameras at the event.)

Favorites:
Dad & Mom: The SEVEN motorcycles spinning in death-defying closeness in a steel globe. WOW!
Anika: The tightrope walkers and the "man with skin of armor" (who walked on "glass")
Andrew: hmmm, he was hungry and we weren't allowed to bring anything in so it was probably the $12 cotton candy we shared. (Let's just say he better have enjoyed it!!!)
Kathryn: All the elephants especially Baby Barak (born on the eve of the presidential election).

About an hour before the show, we were able to walk around and see the animals - elephants, tigers, minature ponies, etc.
Then we enjoyed the pre-show (probably the highlight of the event). A number of the performers were doing their tricks right there in front of us. The kids got "The Greatest Show on Earth" tatoos, dressed in circus wear, and got free clown noses.The performance itself was over 2 hours so we definitely got our money's worth.

The circus comes to town -- this is a glimpse of the constant motion/color/light/sound that we experienced. There were often 3+ "rings" of things going on. Too much to take in sometimes!

Elephants!

"Color the Skies" Festival

We've lived here for two years and this year, finally, we made it to the "Color the Skies" festival. I'll freely admit that we hadn't been before because the balloons launch at 6:30am. (I don't usually like to acknowledge that there IS a 6:30 in the morning. . .) However, this year we all went to bed early (or tried) so that we could go enjoy the sight. We picked up doughnuts and headed over to the park. What a fun morning. The balloons were able to launch beautifully, the kids were on a sugar-high from doughnuts and choco milk (not to mention the high from free toys, free hand-outs from vendors, and free sunshine and cool breezes!)

Daddy & the kids: The first one is away. . .

The kids were amazed by the fire:

Anika & Andrew in front of the myriad of colors:

Another one goes up. . .

. . . and another. . .

And away they go. . .

Kathryn wasn't cooperating but here we are on our way out . . .