Circus! Circus!

Last month one of the mom's in our playgroup suggested getting tickets to the Big Apple Circus around the holidays since they had gone a year ago and loved it. With a group as big as ours, we managed to shave a little off the ticket price (thanks, Monica!) and get a couple of rows to ourselves. It was shaping up to be a fun outing. Having never been to a circus myself, I was more than game to go on this little adventure and see what this modern-day circus had in store since it bills itself as a humane circus without all the exotic animals and even better, no crazy clowns. Acrobats, silly skits and a few domesticated animals...It was definitely more along the lines of what I could tolerate in a circus, so off we went on Thursday after meeting up with some friends at the subway. Taking kids together is always a mixed blessing (can you say so much excitement?), but for the most part, they sat and cooperated with our traveling instructions. They were just happy to be going somewhere...

I have to admit that this was my first real evening out in the city during the whole holiday season. Last year we enjoyed more little trips so I didn't realize how much I'd been missing it. But seeing Lincoln Center all aglow in the lights and Christmas decorations was beautiful. We opted to leave Carolina home with a sitter for the first time which was the right decision, but still I missed her. Funny how I want her to be old enough like right now, so we can all enjoy these excursions. But in time...in time. Getting in and getting seated wasn't too much of an ordeal and I was surprised how well the kids controlled themselves. And the concessions were about as I expected, maybe even cheaper so I stocked up on popcorn, cotton candy, pretzel bread and twizzlers. Elisa was a bit timid at first and kept her hands firmly covering her ears for the first 20 minutes or so. She wasn't even lured by a drink of Coca-Cola to take them down. She kept saying it was too loud, but I think it was more than the volume of the circus that threw her off. She tends to be very skittish about darkened rooms--even at the Museum of Natural History--but thankfully after a while she warmed up to the performers and forgot about the moody lighting. And once she got into it, she really enjoyed the spectacle. She started clapping and seemed transfixed by the trapeze artists as they swung back and forth. It was a great finale and definitely worth the price of admission. Afterwards, we hung out near the fountain at Lincoln Center before making our way back by subway with another group of friends in tow. Sometimes I forget that Elisa is only 3 and that it's still a bit much to expect her to last a whole evening without issues. Fortunately she wasn't in meltdown mode, but she had been a little cranky post-nap and I think she took a while to get into the fun of the evening. A few friends didn't make it to the end of the performance, but that's understandable. With all of these kids in the process of giving up naps completely, it's hard work staying up late. And the circus was amusing, but also a lot to take in. I was impressed overall with how well the show moved from one thing to the next and would definitely go back another time, maybe once Carolina is bigger. But on this night it was enough to be just the three of us. Elisa got her special time with Nacho and me, and I think we all enjoyed playing in the city after dark. Oh, how I miss this city sometimes. But it's all still there. And I'll be back.