Tag: Ringling Brothers

Take me to the circus!

Some of my all-time favorite memories of my childhood are our trips to see the circus. I just loved, loved, loved going and seeing all of the animals and acrobats.  I would imagine that one day I was going to be one of the animal trainers – working with the horses, elephants, or, even better – the tigers.  I just loved it!

So, I was so thrilled when we decided that we were going to take the girls to see the circus this year as part of Big Girl’s birthday celebrations. I think I was as excited (or more) than the kids were.  I couldn’t wait for the day to arrive and I woke up early anticipating how much fun our day was going to be. 

It was all that I imagined and more. 

We got awesome seats (purely by accident since I had never ordered seats for our Arena online before) and were 4 rows from the main floor.  We were close enough to see all the action and yet far enough away that we didn’t get sore necks from trying to watch everything.  Also, we were so lucky to have gotten “club” seats that were part of a “members only” section with private restrooms, etc.  That was extra nice when we had to take the girls to the bathroom and wander away from our awesome seats.  It felt like we were special, even though I knew we hadn’t planned it that way.  The girls will probably think that it is always that way since they have no other frame of reference, and I was really happy that I was able to give them that experience the first time.

Anyway, like I said, our seats were awesome.  And with my zoom on the camera, I got some great shots of the action:

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The little Princess loved the costumes… especially these. She said they looked like fairies.

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I love the elephants. They are so adorable. Those big long eyelashes… just love them.

IMGP2126And the horses – oh my goodness, they were beautiful. Especially that Friesian in the middle.

IMGP2136 Big Girl loved the dog acrobatics.

IMGP2156The highwire act was pretty cool, too. I have never seen anyone dance a Rumba on a highwire before.

IMGP2163More elephants! Love it!

IMGP2185My favorites – the tigers. Aren’t they beautiful?    Awesomely beautiful.

IMGP2205I want one, Mommy. 🙂

But, the most fun for me?  Watching the girls' faces when each new act started. Hearing the gasps and feeling the little one grab my arm in delight as she was thrilled yet again by something.  

Great seats? Wonderful. 

Private bathrooms? Very nice.

My kids' reactions? Priceless.

How was your weekend?

Oh my goodness! I am so glad this weekend is over! It was another whirlwind weekend. It was so fun, but so exhausting!

We had BigGirl’s birthday sleepover party on Friday night.  Five pre-teen girls running around the house.  Oh.my.goodness. Remind me next year that is not a good idea.  BigGirl even decided that was too much and that next time she wanted a smaller crowd.  Too many people to please – and if you have a pre-teen girl, you know they are impossible to please. Poor thing was in a tizzy trying to keep everyone happy.

Saturday (after the party-goers went home) I managed to sneak in a little scrapbooking at a crop that was raising money for children’s charities. It was a large event (100+ scrapbookers) and I enjoyed having a little “me” time after the craziness of the party. 

Here are some pages I did while I was there. I tried to use some of the concepts I am learning in the Design Your Life class I’m taking over at Big Picture Scrapbooking.Family Album 2009 - Page 025

Family Album 2009 - Page 030Family Album 2009 - Page 031  I’m still not sure if I’m done with those two. I like the green and the blue, but not sure about the swirles and I need to put some journaling in there somewhere. Maybe in that big box on the left-hand page and take out that clear swirlie.

Family Album 2009 - Page 028What do you think about the overlays on top of the big pictures? Too much? Distracting? Or just right? Family Album 2009 - Page 029

I didn’t get too much done, I was distracted organizing all my digital content on my PC, but I did manage to get a little bit done. And, more importantly, it got me back in the mood to scrap. I have been very distracted lately with a few other major projects in my life and had lost my scrappitude. Now, I’m geared back up and looking forward to doing some more scrapping. I have even decided I want to try some hybrid scrapbooking layouts. Mix up the digital and traditional a little.

Yesterday we went to see the circus. It was the last big part of BigGirl’s birthday celebrations. We hadn’t been since she was 2 and Little Princess had never been.  Needless to say we were all so excited to go. I am not sure if the girls were more excited than me or not. I LOVE the circus – and LOVED the fact that I was taking my babies to see something that was such a big part of my happy childhood memories. I couldn’t wait to add those to their own childhood memory banks.

Of course, it was awesome. I don’t think Ringling Brothers ever puts on a bad show.  We had a blast. I think I probably took over 100 pictures. Loving my big zoom lens on the camera, too.  I was able to get thisclose to the performers without leaving my seat. I’m sure it helped that we had awesome seats, though… 4 rows from the floor! So cool!

I’ll post some circus pictures tomorrow – they’re still in the camera.

Anyway, that is why I haven’t posted all weekend.  It was crazy. It was fun. And I’m tired!