This entry has been sitting in my draft box for gosh knows how long and only got to finish it today. I’m still publishing it for proper documentation as it may become a valuable reference for Abby when she’s all grown up. 
Last June 30, the three of us trooped to the Frank Erwin Center for Abby’s 1st circus (not counting her circus themed 1st bday!), the Ringling Brothers’ and Barnum & Bailey’s “Circus of Dreams”. It was like a first circus visit for me and hubby as well, because my last real circus was when I was in grade school, around 1st or 2nd grade, and if my memory serves me right, it was at the Araneta Coliseum. 
Our tickets were for the 7:30 pm show but as per the show’s website, it would be a good idea to be at the venue 90 minutes before so ticket holders can visit the animals while they are resting between show. There’s also supposed to be an “all access pre-show” an hour before show time. Naturally, we wanted to “sulit” our tickets, and by 6pm, we were already making our way from one of the nearby parking lots to the FEC.
Our first stop was the animal cages. It proved to be a few notches better than our zoo experience because the elephants and tigers were all there, fully awake and roaming around their respective containment areas. We also saw a few horses and zebras.
The FEC doors opened at exactly 6pm for the “all access pre-show”. During this time, circus goers were allowed entry to the main circus area for a closer encounter with the stars of the circus – the clowns, the acrobats, etc. – who were holding mini-shows at different areas of the circus floor. Those with souvenir programs (like the suckers gullible people that we are) asked for autographs.
To build up Abby’s excitement for the circus, we told her what she could expect from it days before the show, from the circus animals, to the performances she will see to the circus food. What’s a circus without cotton candy? We promised Abby we’d buy her cotton candy not knowing it would be worth almost as much as one show ticket. Since it’s bad to break a promise, we did buy the cotton candy (which came with a souvenir hat!)….pretzel and hotdogs, too!
The show started on time and lasted for almost 2 and a half hours! It was as colorful as it was excitingThere were oooohs and aaaahs for all the death defying acts, and giggles and laughter for the clowns and their antics. Needless to say, everyone’s tushy was glued to their respective seats and everyone’s eyes were glued to the performers.
We’re glad we went to the circus. Abby kept talking about it for the next few days following the show and kept herself busy by leafing through the souvenir program over and over again.
Next up on our agenda is Diego…not Bubble Gang’s Diego, but Dora the Expolorer’s cousin! 
We’ll be watching “Go, Diego Go!” this weekend and I’m we’re already really excited!
Have a great week ahead, y’all!
July 17, 2007 at 10:43 am |
uy we saw the circus naman in charlotte!
ang na-appreciate lang ni ninna ay yung animals, pero yung mga acrobats di niya masyadong pansin hehehe. and you’re right about the prices! harang, haha! oh well, it was a good experience naman. you can’t really beat seeing “the greatest show on earth”. 
July 18, 2007 at 1:17 am |
Wow, what an experience! I wish I can bring the kids to watch a decent circus too. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure if I’ve watched anything legit in my whole life… do those Chinese cirkeros in ATC, count?
I love the hat of Abby. No wonder the cotton candy is so expensive. You should now have a mad hatters themed party para ma sulit naman yung binayad niyo!