October 14

On Friday I was perusing Facebook, as I often do (don't judge, people), and I noticed that several of my friends had posted comments or pictures about taking their children to the circus. "What?" I thought. "I didn't even know the circus was in town!" After some quick Googling and a discussion with Chris, we made the decision to take the kids to the circus today. Then yesterday Chris mentioned our plans to our friends Dan and Jen, and they decided to join us with their kiddos Caleb and Hannah.

The timing was perfect - Caleb and Daisy both woke up from their naps just as it was time for us to leave. (OK, it wasn't perfect; I had to throw dinner in the crockpot, so we ended up getting to the circus about fifteen minutes late. Whoops!)

The horses were doing their tricks as we entered the arena, and the kids were instantly enthralled. Then came the big cats, and Daisy went crazy!

Meanwhile, Caleb spent the whole time looking like this:

No expression, no movement, no response to questions. Just staring. The other Caleb was giggling and grinning and clearly bursting with the joy of it all. Now, I know every child is different and I shouldn't compare, but my Caleb's reaction was clearly... different. If I hadn't started reading The Highly Sensitive Child, I would probably have been concerned that he was scared or ill or tired or uncomfortable in some way. Luckily, I recently read in the book that this is totally normal for a highly sensitive person - he was so busy taking in all of the information and processing it that he just couldn't do anything else. Really, this book has offered me a lot of insight into how Caleb's little mind works.

Caleb and Caleb, during intermission. Clearly, the other Caleb was much more cooperative about picture-taking.

OK, not the best photo, but it's my family, so it stays.

Don't you love Daisy's white loafers with white socks with dark, high-water pants? Anyone else thinking Michael Jackson? We have shoe issues here. I need to get on that. Also, this was right before my favorite part of the show. Those "workers" cleaning up during intermission were actually the performers, and they started dancing and singing. It's an old trick, but still fun.

This was Jen's first circus experience. She and Caleb were fascinated by the motorcycles in the ball.

Daisy's favorite part? The elephants.

One elephant came out, and Daisy was mildly interested. But when a whole train of elephants followed, she got really animated: pointing, waving, wiggling... she loved them! Here, she's waving at one. 

Yay, elephants!

Somehow, the circus lasted much longer than we anticipated, and it was well past dinnertime when we left the stadium. Luckily, I had smuggled in a bag full of healthy snacks, so our children were not a complete mess. The Calebs even had enough energy to run back to the car! 

So. Crummy photos, lots of fun. Isn't that always how it goes?

On the walk/run back to the cars, I asked Caleb what his favorite part of the circus was. After some reflection, he replied, "Um, I enjoyed the music. And I did not like the fire and the steam and the sparkles."  (The grand finale was a mechanical dragon with fog and flames and fireworks. He pulled my arm close around him and wouldn't let me let go.) Later, he also added that he liked the motorcycles in the ball. At bedtime, I told him he could have dreams about the circus, and he said, "I will think about the circus now, and then I will go to sleep and dream about Cars and Muppets." OK, then.

(Completely unrelated, but it must be documented: Yesterday my mom came over to watch the kids while Chris and I went out on a date. When Caleb got up from his nap, she asked if he had a good nap. He said, "I did not sleep. I closed my eyes and I thinked about what might happen, but I did not sleep." Oh, that boy.)