The pictures don’t do justice to the fun we had at circus night last week — and though I was heading up the event, I could not have pulled any of it off without all the help I received from parent volunteers and teachers who stepped up to get a whole lot set up two hours before the event. I tried to take photos before the big crowds came to respect peoples’ privacy, but as a result it looks like a ghost town, ha ha! This was our first Circus Night, so we went all out… and it’s a good thing, because over 300 people showed up with their families for food, snow cones (to raise money for MAP), games, and a wonderful circus performance from Circus Harmony. It was a blast, and we were so sorry Andrew had to miss it this year (he was out of town for the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, then straight to Alabama to teach for a few days at NASA so was gone for a week — it’s going to be a heavy travel month for him, poor guy!). 
There was a hula-hoop station, decorated with flaming hoops hanging from the trees in the background… 
Two ball toss stations (the orange buckets were taped together and had different point values on the inside (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100)… 
Sparkly circus capes for the little ones…
A “Test Your Balance” station where kids walked our slackline all night long… 
Two balloon sculptors, two face painters…
A couple of these adorable face boards made by the upper elementary…
Oh, yeah, all this stuff going on and Emil goes straight for the mud pit! 
There was also a plate-spinning station and a juggling station! While everyone finished eating dinner, we watched an incredible show by Elliana, Copper, and Melvin of partner acrobatics, juggling, diablo, hula hooping, and a final act with rings. It was such an energetic, wonderful performance! 
Doesn’t Melvin look like he’s flying in this one?!
We had such a blast and feel so happy to be connected to this wonderful community. I’m already dreaming up ideas for next year’s Circus Night!
P.s. — A lot of people asked how I made the circus sign, so I thought I’d share here. I got a very large, very thick piece of cardboard and painted it white, then painted the word circus once that had dried. I then attached party dots (small round led lights that flash and have a sticker on the flat back side) to the front to make it look like a marquis sign. We turned on the lights once it got dark out, and it looked so cool! We plan to reuse this sign, as the lights should last 24 hours or so and we only had it turned on for 2. I drilled holes in the sides, attached string, then we hung it on the tree. Simple!
Lauren, you never cease to amaze me with your seemingly endless array of talents!How can one person be so good at so many things?!
Well done! Looks like the weather was great as well. Those shots of the dives through the hoops are simply amazing.
Oh, Maggie, geez! You know there are plenty of things I’m so bad at too! 🙂
Super super cool! What fun.