Circus

On Sunday, August 7th we took Alayna to her first circus. The Ringling Brothers were in Dallas for a few weeks and I thought Alayna would get a kick out of the elephants and other animals and many acts. I figured there would be enough to keep her attention. I was partially right.
She was great for the first 45 min. She loved the clowns, the elephants and watching the show. It was neat too that before the show started they let all attendees onto the floor to get an up close view of the circus. You could watch some acts, try on costumes and take pictures with the cast and clowns. That was very cool.

About 45 min in Alayna’s attention started to wander, so we decided it would be a good time to take a walk. We stopped to get some cotton candy and an elephant toy for her since she loves elephants and making the elephant noise. That seemed to appease her for a little while. But, the second half was a little trying. She did not want to sit still for more than 5 min at a time so Derek and I took turns taking her for walks. She finally came in and sat down to watch the animal act with the horses and elephants.

I think I was a little overzealous about what a 17 month old can do. I love the circus and parades and all that fun stuff and I am just so excited to share those things with Alayna and for her to love them too so we can build some family traditions and shared interests. But, it is just too soon. I think I am going to have to wait till she is maybe 3 or 4 for her to really enjoy these things.
But, here are some pictures from the circus, you can see she did at one point find things interesting.