When the circus comes to town

The kids and I were lucky enough to score a few free passes to the Shriners Circus this past Thursday, which was being held at the WNC Ag Center. Remember when I took Taylor to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Birmingham this past January? Well, it was kind of like that. Only instead of in a giant arena, it was in a place an eighth of the size and smelled like livestock. But they were FREE passes, and we were with our friends and it was a great way to spend an otherwise uneventful weekday afternoon.

Oh, and it was the CIRCUS. So people were selling extremely overpriced refreshments and glowing batons. So the kids were basically in heaven.

And there were tigers and other fantastic circus-like acts. But after seeing the RBB&B performance, it just was a bit second-rate to me. Maybe it had something to do with the manure smell. Or the fact that the lion master looked like Chris Farley. But he still managed to get those oversized felines to jump through fire.

And what the Shriners lacked in pizazz, they certainly made up in scantily dressed she-male performers. Seriously. While I’m happy these people are actually out making a living and not occupying somewhere, I would still be extremely unnerved if I ever received a call from Taylor or Luke announcing that they want a career in the circus. Because I don’t even want to know what goes on behind that Big Top curtain.

But judgement aside, it was a great afternoon. And this was basically the expression Taylor and the rest of the kids held the entire time:

So it was well worth coming home smelling like the Ag Center.