The Greatest Show on Earth

Circus Day finally arrived, and we were bouncing off the walls excited! But the fun was to begin long before we ever arrived at the circus! It all started with a ride on the Dart Rail. Just purchasing our tickets was a thrill to Owie. You put money in a machine and a train ticket comes out?! Amazing.

We had great seats all together on the train, but Owen never got over the fact that we were riding backwards. How can we get to the circus if we're going backwards?

Chrys, Oliver and Truett

The whole reason we were at the circus was to start off Truett's first Birthday celebration.

After a thrilling train trip, we waited at a bus stop for a bit to catch a ride closer to the American Airlines Center. Everything was a circus apparatus to the Boys. "It's a trapeze! It's a tightrope! We're balancing!" was heard quite frequently as O and O bounced around on the seats at the bus stop.

The pre-show was a definite hit! We got to get up close and personal with clowns, elephants, acrobats!

O had the chance to dress up like a ringmaster. This picture hardly does justice to the pride and excitement evident on his face. He was absolutely beaming!

Nosy was invited to stand on a huge bouncy ball held steady by two circus boys. He was pointing and yelling, "Ball, ball!" with such enthusiasm. Sadly, the actual standing on the ball, and the strangers, kind of freaked him out.

We had front row seats to watch this elephant paint a picture using her trunk. Incredible! Owen said later that the elephants were his favorite circus animals: "I like how they carry the peoples on their backs."

All too soon, the pre-show was over and it was time to head to our seat. More acts to come!

Our seats couldn't have been better, right on the aisle with no one in front of us. As soon as we got comfortable, I passed out lunch and drinks. We were set!

I didn't get any pictures of the actual circus (too busy juggling Noah and food and potty breaks and enjoying the show myself), but it was wonderful! Nosy got pretty antsy after only about half an hour, but because we were on the aisle at the top of the stairs, he could climb around a bit without bothering anyone.

As we were getting ready to leave, Owen piped up with, "I have a great idea! We should live at the circus!" I explained to him that I didn't think God had chosen us to be circus people, but wasn't it so much fun to come watch their special tricks? He also commented several times that the clowns were "pretty great, Mommy," and the trapeze was surely his favorite act of all.

So happy, happy birthday to Truett, and thanks for the fantastic time!