The greatest show on earth

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...

Prepare to be dazzled by lions and elephants and clowns. (Not to mention dalmations, acrobats and pretty girls on horses.)

The kindergarten version of a circus came to town, beginning with a parade of the 26 kids who had speaking parts - one for each letter of the alphabet. 

After that, it was time to wait for the rest of the kids to file in. Note the blackened nose and whiskers on AJ's face. Mrs. Boese came through for him!

None of the categories of costumes seemed particularly easy to create. The non-animal performers (i.e. clowns, acrobats and pretty girls) were mostly pieced-together costumes, without a lot of sewing. The ring masters' jackets looked rather elaborate, but matched so well I'm wondering if they were borrowed. The dalmations and elephants were generally dressed in sweatsuits (white with black felt polka dots glued on or plain grey, respectively), but the elephants in particular involved more elaborate head pieces. And then there were the lions....

AJ, as tall as he is, seems destined to always be in the back row. That's something I never experienced! I do give credit though - he warned me ahead of time that he was standing in almost the same spot as he had for their Christmas program, so we knew to get their early and find seats more toward the center of the auditorium. (By the way, the costume in the front row, second from the right is the original one that I'd copied)

During several of the songs, AJ got to whistle...

And he sang his heart out. (Or maybe he was roaring.)

Even more exciting than his speaking part, all of the lions got to jump through a hoop a few times as part of the show. I didn't get a decent photo because the kids moved so quickly... until AJ's shoe fell off, which hung up the line a bit.

But he had fun, which of course is what matters. And in his mind, his reward for a job well done was getting to come home with us right after the show, and now enjoying nine days off  for Easter vacation.