Tag: weekend fun in Toledo

It has been such a stressful morning!! I am sure most moms can relate since today is the day the kiddos energy and excitement levels skyrocket with the anticipation of trick-or-treating this evening! But first the pre-trick-or-treating festivities, school parties and parades. And of course mom is the one who is responsible for making certain costumes and candy/treats are ready.  Now, I wish I could say everything went smoothly this morning but since I have 8 additional hands helping me move things that were supposed to be in specific locations it did not! One child couldn’t find their pants, another left their shoes outside, and the youngest lost her costume all together!! You know what got me through my little mini mommy melt down this morning? I would love to say some inspirational quote or scripture reading but I have to be honest, it was the image of a pig going down a slide that kept me from escalating into the official ‘crazy mom’ mode. Nuts, right!? But for some reason reliving that image over and over in my head has kept a smile on my face all morning…even when my son brought in a laundry basket with dog poop on it (long story…not going to get into it now! Rrrrr!).  You might ask where on earth I would see a pig going down a slide. And the answer is, at The Greatest Show on Earth, Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey show! They are in town this weekend with their latest show Legends, which we attended last night, and it was Legen….wait for it….dary!!

We started off our evening with a pre-show where the kiddos could try on some of the costumes, sit on one of the bikes, watch an elephant paint (one of the many highlights of the evening!!), etc. then we made our way to our seats to watch the show.

I have to honest; before the show even started I kind of had it in mind that we would leave at the intermission. The kids had school in the morning and so what if we missed some silly act with clowns…there is always another circus, right!? Wrong!

I don’t even feel comfortable calling it ‘the circus’, it was seriously a caliber way above a typical circus, and it was more like a show. There was a narrative, themes, such smooth transitions from one performance to another….the excitement and anticipation kept us on the edge of our seats. At one moment the Tiger got a little ornery and you could hear a gasp from the audience. Another time one the acrobat performers went for a world record…you could hear a pin drop followed by cheers from the audience when he accomplished his goal!! The entire show was so amazing, for a moment I thought I was back at Disney World. It seriously reminded me of a quality performance from the Greatest Place on Earth, Disney World, which I suppose makes sense since Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey is known as the Greatest Show on Earth! So the question that begs to be asked, who leaves the Greatest Show on Earth at intermission? Not this family!

I am fairly certain my husband and I were equally as excited as the kiddos for the second portion of the show! Haha! I loved being able to get caught up in the narrative, in the experience, in the imagination (at one point one horse came out with wings and another looking like a unicorn…it was so lifelike it took me a second to grasp the reality of the situation), and I didn’t want it to end. As adults we have so many responsibilities and obligations.

It is important that from time-to-time we turn off our phones and screens, just sit back and watch the show, don’t worry about tomorrow, concentrate on the elephants that are literally in the room! Haha! And the best part, you can take it with you….souvenirs and memories to cherish for always. So the next time your are stuck in construction traffic you will be smiling because you will be recalling that awesome evening you had with the family at the circus and the pig going down the slide. LOL!

Disclosure: I was given tickets to the show Legends, and kiddos received elephant souvenir and other goodies. No other compensation was received, and all opinions expressed are my own.