Step Right Up!

Every year around Luke's birthday, we make a point of catching the Big Apple Circus. We've been going for five or six years now, and it never fails to please us. In my opinion, this is the finest circus around. It's small enough to get front row seats if you become a member (for only $75 dollars a year), big enough to have some really great talent. The circus always makes me think of what a circus must have been like back in the 40's or 50's. Plus, the circus is nonprofit, and all the proceeds go to children's charities.

Sitting on the front row, you feel like you're really in the circus. (Which, inevitably, I always am... I get pulled into the ring every year it seems!) This year, a bicycle comedian pulled me in and made a complete fool of me. One task I had to perform was blowing up one of those balloon-animal balloons. Very hard to do, but I was determined to do it. I blew so hard that, though the balloon indeed inflated, I nearly passed out afterward. Becky was laughing so hard she was crying.

One other thing about sitting on the front row: the horses scare the bejesus out of me. I mean, these half-ton animals are galloping around inches from us. I just see one of them going berserk and stampeding over us. I'm always a little happier when the horses leave the ring. (One year, they had camels, and the camels were really wild... like they were barely contained. Yikes! No thanks.)

All in all, it's hard to describe the joy and fun we get out of this circus. I could summarize every act, but the magic wouldn't be captured. Suffice it to say that the boys and Becky and I have grins on our faces the whole time, and that's plenty enough for me.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the night: