The Circus

We were blessed with free tickets to a daytime performance of the Shriner's Circus. I love the circus, but wasn't sure how it would go taking 5 kids by myself to a circus. But it was WONDERFUL! The performance was a special performance for schools. The organization that provides Ryan's therapy, Brighton, had been given a number of tickets to share with their families.


It was a smaller sized stadium and on one side of the stadium, there were lots of school groups. We sat on the other side. I suspect most of the people sitting on that side of the stadium were Brighton families. There were less than a 100 people on our side, and yet the circus people played just as much to us as they did the other side.

The circus was a one-ring circus, which was great for me. My kids say I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I don't. I just like things a certain way, and I'm a little uptight about a few things ... like: reading magazines from cover to cover, or not at all; organizing my candy before eating it; housekeeping stuff ... but I'm really not OCD. BUT... 3-ring circuses make me nuts because I know that if I'm watching one ring, then I'm missing 2 other rings.

And, who can attend a circus without having some treats ... sodas, nachos, pretzels, and cotton candy. Yum. We enjoyed them all.

Deborah and Johnathon were both very scared of the clowns. But Jacob had Deborah sit on his lap and he just made everything okay for her. Fifteen minutes into the circus, she was loving it! Johnathon enjoyed all of it from a distance, but didn't want to get too close.

David and Jacob rode an elephant. This was their 2nd ride on an elephant. I tried to get Deborah and Johnathon to do it too, but neither one of them would.

While Deborah was mildly entertained throughout the circus, her favorite part was actually AFTER the show. The boys all went into the restroom. Ryan, Deborah and I were standing across the hall waiting for the boys when she spotted one of the Alzafar's mini wheels. It was a beauty! She kept looking at it admiration. There were signs on it that said, "Do not touch." "Do not get in the car." "No sitting." An elderly gentleman noticed her great admiration and came over to see Deborah. He asked her, "Would you like to sit in my car?" She gave him the biggest, brightest smile ever. He took the signs off the seat, showed her how to open the door, helped her into the driver's seat, and watched her with an equally big smile.


When Daddy asked her about the circus, her first response was, "I got to drive a car!" She was beaming with joy!