Under the Big Top

The Cole Brothers circus came to Marshfield this week!

Because we were away for the weekend, we made this was our Father's Day celebration. Liam stayed with Omi and we could spend time with just the girls.


We had 2nd row tickets for Monday's afternoon show, the first of four shows over two days. Whew, boy, was it HOT under that big top! It made me wish I had spent the $3 to buy a program, just so we could use it as a fan because there was no breeze whatsoever.

We soon learned that it isn't cheap to take a family to the circus! The concession vendors were relentless. One after another, they walked through the crowd with their trays of sno-cones, popcorn, cotton candy... and the big seller, ice cold water. One would walk by and not more than five seconds later, another would be right behind him. Since we were seated so close to the floor, it became very distracting.


We ended up with popcorn, a funnel cake and sno-cones, which came in cute monkey and penguin cups, so at least we can reuse those. Of course, the girls also wanted elephant rides, but at $8 per child, we said no to that. (Then I felt guilty when I saw pictures on Facebook of their friends riding the very same elephants.)

The circus itself was very entertaining. We saw tigers, elephants, camels, horses and dogs.

We saw clowns and learned that our girls do not have a fear of them.


The little boy sitting in front of us started crying when the first clown came out so his father had to take him out until that portion of the show was done.

We saw acrobats.


As one would expect, the girls liked the acrobats and dancers in their colorful costumes the best.

Mesmerized.

I hadn't realized that 4-wheelers and BMX bikes were part of the circus, but there they were. It felt more like we were at the Marshfield Fair watching motorcross. The sound of the engines revving was enough to burst eardrums and I saw many parents covering their children's ears.

How they fit three motorbikes in there is beyond me!

However, the finale of the show where the dirt bikes zoomed around a metal cage globe was absolutely amazing!

It was something just to see one bike orbiting around sometimes riding upside down, but when a second... and then a third bike, driven by a young woman, entered, it was fascinating to watch. I can't even imagine how one would prepare for that kind of stunt without getting severely injured a time or two.

It was a fun time for the whole family.