circus issues

I have circus issues! true statement :) my house is often like a circus so you'd think id be comfy there. I remember going to the circus as a child. I have a picture of my Dad in Raybans and his Member's only jacket and me and my mom eating popcorn or some other snack. I remember being so jealous of trapeze girls and wanting to ride the elephants. It was glam, it was exciting, and super fun :)

fast forward to my adult years, i have 3 kids and we are headed to the circus in Alaska with some friends. At first it seemed great and the kids were loving it. Then the unhappy things came....a little person stabbing at a poor elephant with too many kids on his back....12year old girls wearing thongs costumes.....a man shot out of a cannon who clearly wasn't happy/confident/perhaps even unwilling? and last but not least you could get your picture made with a tiger for ten bucks. on the surface it seemed ok but really? i don't think so, unsafe, inappropriate, and inhumane to say the least. Throw in my visions of circus elephants trampling innocent onlookers and i decided the circus was not for me and never looked back......

until a month ago...I scored some discount circus tickets and my brain started whirling. I knew I had moral issues with the circus and had vowed NO MORE...but the kids were so young then (some unborn) and they didnt have a clue why we had never been to the circus. I wanted them to share the joy I had as a child watching the acts and viewing the animals. I did not want to deny them the fun that could be had and so I let it slip. For those who know me well you know that was hard. i have a rule...never tell children where you are going or what you are doing that way if something happens (headache, mommy meltdown, flat tire) they aren't disappointed. This has saved millions of tantrums however this time I broke my rule. I knew if i told them I was committed. And so we went..........

trying out our new Zara wrap :)

There was a train

a camel with amazing dental hygiene

but here is where I got worried. No, it wasnt the camel that worried me. I figured if someone was caring enough to brush this camel's teeth then he was probably well cared for.He got grump right after Paxton rode him (paxton was gassy that day lol) and the man told all the kids no more rides, i was proud of him for looking out for everyones safety and paying attention to the animal.  He was clean and his caregiver pet him and had no spikes, but look in the background....on the trailer....tiny bikes. My mom alert went up. Children that tiny were working at the circus? Not OK. hmmmm

there were elephants too. Piper said no thanks but Pearce and Parker were all about it! Again I checked out the animals and from what I could see I was pleased. They had recent pedicures. We were fortunate the last time we went to the zoo a zoo keeper grabbed us and let us watch her do them , so i could tell these big guys had a recent visit to the salon too :) again one of the animals seemed to not want kids on her back and the caregivers took her to grab a bite to eat. The kids had a blast and the circus hadnt even started.

I couldn't get any pics of the circus to come out well but the kids really loved it. The owners of those tiny bikes simply wore cute appropriate costumes and walked in a parade at the end. There was even a dog show featuring some rescue pups. There were all the typical circus acts and the kids were enamored. We found out Pike has a love/hate relationship with all live animals. Every single kid had a great time, which is unusual....typically somebody doesnt like something about anything we do. There were 2 snowcone disasters (one lost in the stands, one ruined a brand new outfit) but both were gotten over quickly and the fun resumed.

so i guess I'm over my circus issues...like anything else, there are good circuses and bad circuses and it made for a truly exciting day!