Gray's 1st Circus!

I heard about a circus on base a few weeks ago, so I excitedly asked Josh to pick up some tickets and make sure he didn't get duty that day! Once the big day arrived, Gray and I drove down to Miramar and met Josh outside the tent. I had never been to a circus in a 'big top' so I was pretty excited about getting in and letting Gray experience the circus. Once we walked in, we knew we had spend more money on these tickets than we should have and I almost regretted taking Gray to this shady circus as his first experience. 

Nevertheless, we were there. We had the tickets in hand. We were going in. 

There was one ring in the center and the only animals were dogs and ponies. The concession stand people also happened to be the talent. It wasn't looking good. The show started and Gray was in love. Near the end of the show, a magician (who was also the ringmaster) came out with a live bunny. Gray has come to love our backyard bunnies (and says 'gone gone' when they hop out of the yard), so he was devastated when the bunny disappeared. We thought we were going to have to leave before the circus was over, because he actually cried about it. He composed himself and we were there until the end. We got him a balloon, so Gray has never been happier. Overall Gray thought it was one of the best days of 2011!

About to enter the big top!

Waiting on the show to begin. 

You are impressed. Aren't you?

Gray got this balloon at intermission.
He proceeded to look through it at everything until the bunny came out. 

Very interested in the bunny trick.

The circus was in no way comparable to the Shriner's Circus in Monroe, LA. I grew up going to that circus, because my Dad was a Shriner. His club ran the cotton candy booth. I can't tell you how many times we (as a family) went home covered in pink cotton candy remnant, from the top of Dad's hat to the bottom of Mom's heels. It was great fun for all of us and I can assure you that the Thomas family all slept well that entire weekend (we would help with every show from Friday evening to Sunday evening)!