The Circus!

A few weeks ago we went to our usual jeweler (I swear it's not as uppity as it sounds) to get my rings cleaned and made to look prettier. The owners of the store have known Ryan's family for a very long time so they are nice to us whenever we go in. As we were leaving, he asked us if we might want to go to the Barnum and Bailey circus... he had vouchers to give away. None of us have ever been so we were excited when he offered. Plus he had tickets for the Friday before Ben's birthday. So it was kind of like a fun birthday activity we could do. I had already planned the day off anyway, so Ryan took the day off to be with us.

We had to actually go to the arena to get the vouchers exchanged for tickets and that particular arena isn't very close to our house. So by the time we got there, we didn't get the greatest seats. Or so we thought. We had the front row on the balcony and the arena is sort of "small" enough it didn't feel like we were that far away. They really were just right for us. We enjoyed the dancing, the clowns, the animals, the motor cycle stunts and acrobatics... Jonah was pretty good, he was tired but he didn't fuss or whine. He mostly took turns thrashing around on us, trying his darndest not to fall asleep. I think on a couple of occasions he did for like 45 seconds and then realized what happened and thrashed around some more. He was still very good, didn't like all the noise, but he did good. Ben said it was noisy, but he liked it. He said his favorite was the lions and tigers that did tricks. He liked the dirt bikes in the cage too. And he loved the spinning elephant head who's ears light up I bought him as a souvenir. I'm not sure how much he'll really play with it though. He's got way too many toys that kid. I need to get rid of some or put some away for him to play with later so he can appreciate what he DOES have.
After the circus we decided since we were out and about to go to IKEA, which is quite a drive from the arena but we needed some stuff. We stopped at Sonic on the way, Ben wanted a corn dog and chocolate milk for lunch. We ate, and then about half way to IKEA... he got sick and threw up in the car. Ryan frantically pulled off an exit and in to a parking lot and I rushed Ben out of the car to throw up on the side of the road. That was kind of the first time I was a little... embarrassed? It was even that I was that... it was just daylight, and he's literally puking on the side of the road while people are driving by and seeing us. Then some pigeons showed up and well... they enjoyed his lunch the second time around. It was gross and we left at that point. He didn't throw up again that day, although he didn't eat much dinner- which I don't blame him. But it must've been the Sonic food. We did eventually go to IKEA after the kids both had a rest.
It was a fun outing, minus the barf and pigeons.