The Circus Came to Town

And no, I am not talking about work. That circus is in town all the time!

I am talking about the Cole Brother's Circus. The circus was all part of the larger Wilmington Azalea Festival, which is held here in Wilmington, NC every spring. There are other events, like the 3 hour parade (luckily skipped this year), the street fair (kids not old enough to enjoy this yet), some concerts (Tom and I aren't quite old enough to enjoy these yet), and the horse show (perfect place for Helena to get some horsey time in).

We made the big step this year and decided Helena was ready for the circus. I know that we have said before that Helena can be a little timid, so I wasn't sure how our child that is afraid of heights, loud noises, and people with their faces covered would do watching spider-man ride a motorcycle over a high-wire. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Helena and I along with my friend "Ms. Megan" (not to be confused with pumpkin dirt) got to the show around 4 PM (circus started at 4:30) and walked around the place. They had an elephant outside the big-top which kids could ride ($5 for about 3 times around the circle - which, did you know that they were very gracious about giving out a refund when the child in question has a near hysterical fit?), a face painting booth, and some concessions stands (what do you mean cotton candy is $4?). Before leaving the house, I had told Helena that she would definitely get a "not good for your body snack" and I held up that end of the bargain. In addition to the cotton candy, she also got a powder sugar coated funnel cake (but that she had to share - Yumm!)





Helena noted that cotton candy, "Feels like eating fuzz, but tastes ok." (she did end up eating the whole thing!)







After getting the cotton candy and watching the elephant, we decided it was time to find our seat. We made our way into the big-top. (After we came back, I heard Helena telling Tom, "And now I know why they call it the big top tent. It had a very big top and was a tent") Tom had been kind enough to get us reserved seating so we didn't have to fight the crowd to get 3 seats together.

As for all good sporting events, the circus started with the National Anthem. It was at this point that I wondered if a mistake had been made. Have I noted that Helena really does not like loud noises? To say the music was loud is like saying the ocean is a little wet. The anthem had Helena crouching in her seat, ears covered, and tears flowing. All was not for naught (is that a double negative?), as the tears stopped at the entrance of the first act - a frisbee catching dog (you'll note that the ears were still covered, though).






This is pretty much how Helena spent the entire 2 hour circus.












She held this pose through the frisbee dogs, the first and second trapeez acts, the dancing poodles, and most of the clown acts (including the "strongest clown" act). She, amazingly, didn't scream when Spider-man came out and did a balancing act in the giant spinning circle. However, she added in the hiding of the face in my shoulder when the acrobats were jumping over and limboing under the pole on fire.






































Spiderman did this whole act with running around the inside and outside of the metal cage while the whole apparatus spun around. Now, several times he bobbled, once seeming to catch himself just before tumbling over the side while the cage was at the apex. Just part of the act or did we almost see a splat?








Then, the piece de resistance, horses. Nothing can make Helena smile quite like seeing horses and elephants. Strangely enough, whenever these animals made an appearance, the hands came off the ears and her face lit up with wonder. And after all, isn't that what the circus is about?



You can't tell here, but there was a little pony walking under this white horse.













This is Helena during almost any large animal act.















This is Tina, the elephant. She did some amazing stunts including doing a "headstand" on this platform.









After all the fun and excitement, Helena got to come back and tell her Papa all about it - reliving the experience. Even though she says now that she doesn't want to go back next year (because, "Megan isn't old enough to enjoy it yet. Let's wait until she can come, too"), I bet this will become something of a tradition.

Later,
L.