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Last night, I took my boys to opening night of the Ringling Bros. circus at 1st Mariner Arena, and we had a an incredible time—or, rather, they had an incredible time and I love watching them have an incredible time.
Maybe they do this every year and, in the past, we've just been too late to appreciate it, but for an hour or so before show time, everyone was able to come down to the floor of the arena to see performers up close and meet them (my boys, left, were starstruck by a neon-clad clown). Clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and dancers each took turns doing mini-sets in one of the three rings, often with participation from the kids. One of the elephants demonstrated his painting skills, and there was a dress-up area, where kids could try on all manner of sequined circus gear.
The show itself was, as usual, a loud, bright, gigantic spectacle. My kids' (3 and 5 years old) favorite parts were probably the clowns' silly, slapstick skits and antics, the acrobats spinning around in giant hamster wheels, and the Moroccan strongmen. As I explained on the blog three years ago, when I went to the circus for the first time with my older son, Jack, I'm a little uneasy watching the animal performances, but the elephants, tigers, and horses definitely seemed to be a highlight for many in the audience.
In any case, the circus people were gracious enough to give me 20 MORE TICKETS to give away. These ones are for the show next Wednesday, March 28th at 7:30, so if that time doesn't work for you, please don't enter to win. They are good seats too, about 10 to 15 rows up from the floor.
To enter, please make sure you have "liked" Learning to Crawl on Facebook (there's a link on the right side of this page), and leave a comment with a cute story about your kid(s). Also, please mention how many tickets you would like (4 max per entry). The deadline to enter is noon on Monday, and I'll announce a winner then.
To buy tickets to any show during the circus's run (through April 1st), starting at $14, click here.
