casa one.five.one: ringling brothers

ringling brothers came to nashville last week. we thought it would be fun to take camryn to her first circus. her lessons at preschool were tailored to the circus all week so she had a good grasp of what would happen. she had been practicing saying "ladies and gentlemen" all week.

we started the day with face painting. camryn also got a rainbow clown wig but didn't want to wear it.

when i bought the tickets back in december, i really wanted to sit close. i knew it would be easier for camryn to see/understand what was going on. we were on the second row just off center. i bought 'celebrity' tickets not knowing what they were. we got to our seats and have red reserved banners over them. the clowns came around and gave us our "celebrity passes" before the show.

see how close we were?!?!?

camryn was loving the opening act! she loved the clowns and all of their dancing and tricks.

the national anthem.

after the opening parade, our celebrity passes allowed us to sit on the arena floor for about 30 minutes. i wish i would have taken my camera down to the floor but i didn't realize what was going to happen. when i bought the 'celebrity' tickets, i had no idea what i signed up for. when the clowns came to escort us down to the floor, david looked at me like i'd lost my mind. i think we were both praying that we would not end up being a part of the show!

the show was amazing. the performers were fantastic.

and the costumes were incredible.

the tigers were entertaining but the sensible adult in me was still a bit nervous.

we enjoyed a funnel cake during intermission. yummo.

and the elephants. camryn's favorite part. it's not a circus without the elephants!

she was in awe. we couldn't get her to sit down.

when the elephants were over, she kept asking when they would be coming back. sorry, sweetie. there are other parts to the show.

the circus was a bit longer than we anticipated. i bought tickets for the 11am show thinking we'd be done and have lunch in time for nap. not.so.much. the circus was 2 1/2 hours long. we exited the arena around 1:30 and headed to jimmy buffet's margaritaville for lunch.

the entertainment continued at the restaurant. they have a full time employee that walks around on stilts making balloon animals.

seriously, in the eyes of a two year old, does it get any better than this?

sheer joy!
that's a butterfly hat if you can't tell. see the antennae?

after a long morning/afternoon, we schlepped our way to the car. camryn even leaned over and asked david if we could go to the circus again next saturday.