Dragons

Last Saturday, Sept. 22, we went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was our second consecutive year going with Leo, Annette, Dante, Daphne, and Drake (and our second time ever). We arrived early to be there for the preshow, and we had pretty good seats for the rest of the show.

Some parts were similar to last year and some parts were completely different. This year the theme was Dragons and there was a definite Chinese flair to the show. They asked if you had what it takes to be a dragon...Strength, Courage, Wisdom and Heart. Then proceeded to show performers that have each of these qualities.

Here is the introduction to the show:

My favorite parts of the show were the trapeze artists and the lion and tiger tamer.

There were parts of the show with the lion and tigers that I honestly thought the trainer was going to get hurt. He is much braver than I. I think it might be neat to work with the elephants, and to be close to the sweet new baby elephant just born in August, but I wouldn't want to work with lions or tigers.

I asked the girls what they liked best. Michelle really liked these girls in these bubble balls. It looked like they were dancing and doing acrobatics inside a huge bubble. But then the bubble would break apart and they would do the splits across the two sides of the ball or would do a flip from one side to the other. It was pretty amazing.

Ella and Michelle really liked the Dragon Riders. They started with just one rider going into this ball and riding around and around. Then they had 3, then 5, then 6, then 7. The ball wasn't that big and it really looked like they would crash into each other when they first started going but quickly they would be zooming around and around, and even upside down. I am not describing it well and the pictures don't do it justice.

Gabby likes the animals. This year there was a whole part where cats and dogs performed as well as ponies, donkeys, an alpaca and goats.

And of course, there were dragons. Dragons that showed Strength, Courage, Wisdom and Heart. Does the spirit of the dragons live within you?

Of course, the best part of all for Alfredo and I is watching our childrens' faces light up and hearing them talk about the show for days afterward.