under the big top

Last night we went to the circus. I can't remember the last circus I've been to and Dave and Jed had never been, so we were really excited for this one.

Jed and I before the show

some clowns and "beautiful" girls

We loved the dog trainer. She had a standard poodle, a big fat old mutt, these two hound dogs and a wiener dog. When it was time for their portion of the show to end, the lady lined those little gold gates up in a row. The poodle jumped over them, the old mutt went around them, the wiener dog went under them, one of the hounds leapt through the middle, and the other one tipped them over. It was SO cute.

Jed loved this thing. It was really fun to watch the guy do tricks, but it was way more fun to watch Jed watching. I think at first he was a little overwhelmed, but then he relaxed and enjoyed himself.

They had several large animals, like these blurry camels (don't worry, they weren't blurry in real life), a zebra, a miniature hippo, some llamas, and the elephants. Only the camels and elephants were part of the circus show--the rest were outside in a little petting zoo.

You can totally tell which was my favorite part--the elephants! We all loved that they held tails and trunks just like in Dumbo.

During intermission, you could pay to ride ponies or an elephant or get your picture taken with a Burmese Python. Our friends' daughters and granddaughters got to ride the elephant and they said it was so much fun. I was a little jealous--I really wanted to find out what elephant skin feels like. The girls kept pestering me to let Jed ride the elephant or one of the ponies. Jed can't even stand the carousel--how would he react to a LIVE animal?!

Towards the end, Jed seemed a little dazed. He snuggled up with Dave and ate Twizzlers and just rested.

Jed and I after the show.

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I am so glad we went to the circus. It was SO much fun. The best part for me was to see it through Jed's eyes--all the color and sound and animals were so amazing--and, as I said, I loved the elephants. Dave liked the elephants too. And Jed would probably tell you his favorite were the dogs or the wheel, if he'd ever say more than "no."