Big Fun

GREATEST SHOW MY *&%: Sunday we made a trip up to the Comcast Arena in Everett to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. We went to the RBBBC last year at the same place and had a grand time, and we were really looking forward to this year's show.

As soon as we reached the arena we knew things had changed. The line up point was the opposite corner of the arena. We weren't getting the same access to the pre-show backstage animal area like we did last year. And the gentleman working our bag check line would not let me bring my Canon camera or empty water bottle into the show. Guess I chose the wrong line because I can't tell you how many cameras I saw just like mine (a 35 mm with a detachable lens) in the show. That and countless video recorders, which were also supposedly verboten. Oh, and I brought that camera to the same circus at the same place last year. So that burned my butt.

When I did finally get into the arena (after having to walk back to the car, stash my camera and hope it wouldn't get stolen), I make my way in and find Christian and the kids on the floor of the arena. Christian and I quickly notice that things are much, MUCH different this year. There clearly wouldn't even be a two, not to mention three, ring circus. There was one ring. Instead of a second and third ring, there were DINING tables set up on nearly half the floor, and a bouncy house taking up a good portion, too. And our seats (which I carefully selected based on last year's layout) offered a fantastic view of said tables. Sure, that's why we paid $60 plus dollars for "good" seats - to have a view of people eating their lunches. That's AWESOME. (And no, I'm not just jealous of the golden circle people. Seriously, I would NOT want to be eating a three course meal just feet away from where elephants and camels are crapping and spraying, thankyouverymuch.)

Oh, and see that elephant up above? It's blood is on my hands, just so you know. I know this because the leather shoe wearing PETA people standing outside the arena holding old black and white photos of an elephant being mistreated told me so.

What's 'funny' is every time I've seen PETA folks outside a circus protesting (whether in person or in a report), they have the same three black and white photos.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that an elephant would be happier being trucked on a cross country tour and doing a dog and pony show for humans than they would be living out in the wild. What I am saying is that it seems like it would be RIDICULOUS to torture or kill animals you are counting on to perform and make you money. Why would you kill your cash cow, so to speak? The PETA folks typically aren't passing out info about RB and B&B's elephant reserve in Florida, either.

But my bitchfest aside, the kids had a wonderful time at the circus. And that's what counts, I suppose. ;) They got to take part in a stunt balancing lesson with a clown, had sparkly circus girls teach them how to hula hoop, got to sit on daredevils' motorcycles and got to walk a tightrope all before the circus even started. The show itself, well it was entertaining. There were impressive elephants and camels, and some acrobats and one dude on a trapeze for a short bit, but man oh man, the show paled in comparison to last year. No contortionists and only three clowns in the entire show (and this complaint is coming from someone who doesn't like clowns.) There were no big cats - of course that makes sense in that you don't want to make lunch out of the people eating lunch on the arena floor. Instead, there were trained house cats, no lie. Did I mention a small box of popcorn was $7?

Yeah, I don't think we'll be going to the circus next year.

DO THE ZOO: On Monday we had occasion to head south to Tacoma and visit the Point Defiance Zoo. None of the four of us had ever visited the zoo before. They advertise quite heavily on Seattle stations (my kids can sing the zoo's jingle), and CeeJ and Bee have been Jonesing to go there for months. Monday, we made it happen.

We left home at 8:35 a.m. Traffic wasn't bad and we pulled into the zoo at about 9:35. It was an overcast morning - with temps in the mid 70s. Weatherwise, perfect for zoo touring (animals, including humans, are usually sluggish at the zoo when it's hot and sunny).

We had studied the day's calendar and definitely had an agenda going in. On our to do list was an Asian Forest Sanctuary keeper's talk, the polar bear keeper's talk, a "Wild Wonders" show and seeing every single exhibit there. :) What a beautiful zoo it is - the grounds are gorgeous as is the view of Puget Sound. We definitely made the rounds. One of our first stops was the aquarium.

UNDER THE SEA: The aquarium had a Pacific theme, featuring both North and South Pacific marine life. The kids' favorite fish was the super big Grouper.We also enjoyed a big shark tank with a variety of sharks, none of which apparently wanted to be photographed today.

BEARY COOL: We made sure to be at the polar bear exhibit at 11:30 for the bear keeper's talk. That was a good decision. Two bears were in the enclosure during the presentation. One, Boris, was asleep the entire time, but another of the male bears was stirring. While the keeper's talk was informative, without a doubt the most entertaining part of the show was when the keeper, after his verbal presentation, went outside the underground viewing area where we'd gathered. He began throwing food (small fish and grapes) into the enclosure's water. One of the bears (not Boris!) plunged into the water, much to the delight of the crowd. He walked and swam around feeding. It was absolutely thrilling to be so close to the creature as he actively moved about. I would estimate that at least three of the nine minute polar bear presentation was about the current plight of polar bears due to their habitat disappearing due to climate change. The keeper talked about how the ice flows where they live and hunt are disappearing and how that has impacted their survival and breeding. He suggested a few ways people can help, for instance by lowering carbon emissions, and suggested people interested in learning more about polar bears' plight check out the World Wildlife Federation online. We happened to encounter the trainer again after he fed the bears, near a restroom. I asked him about the sleeping bear who didn't get any food - would he go hungry later? The keeper assured me that what he'd just thrown in the tank was akin to a snack for humans, just a supplement and not their main meal. He went on to explain about polar bears' metabolisms and how they change throughout the year, and said the winter months are a great time to come to a zoo and bear watch.

ASIAN PERSUASION: We attended the Asian Forest keeper's talk at 12:30. The keeper was super friendly and knowledgeable. Though the resident tapir was nowhere to be seen, a trio of Asian otters were active and entertaining during the first part of the presentation. We walked through the exhibit with the keeper and when we got to the Sumatran tiger enclosure, it was fascinating to watch the interaction between the mother and son tiger (specifically, some growling and grouchiness regarding the single steak in the habitat). It was amazing to be just an inch of clear "glass" away from the creatures.Keeper Paul was extraordinarily knowledgeable about all of the animals in the Asia exhibit, providing information about their native habitats/origins, their diets, and the characteristics of the specific animals on display during our walking tour. Everyone in the family learned a lot. (Did you know that the easiest way to remember the difference between a monkey and an ape is that monkeys have tails and apes do not?)

ELEPHANTS REVISITED: We didn't spend much time viewing the elephants today, nor did we attend the elephant keeper talk, as it overlapped the Asian area keeper talk. The elephants at the zoo were not standing on their trunks or sitting on their hindquarters. If we had gone to the elephant talk, I would have loved to ask the keeper what they thought about circus elephants. ... The kids' favorite part of the elephant exhibit was an interactive display where they got to move 'elephants' around the chutes, being careful to open and close gates along the way for safety.BIRD BRAINS: The kids' very favorite exhibit of the day was Budgie Buddies. You know those things you call parakeets? Yeah, they're Budgies. While a parakeet exhibit might not sound so awesome (you can see that at Petco, right?), well, this was a little different. See, at this exhibit, for $1 you can buy a Popsicle stick with bird food on it. And the Budgies, they know you're coming. As SOON as the kids stepped inside the enclosure with their sticks they were SWARMED by birds all up in their faces and everywhere else. That doesn't happen at Petco. Frankly, I found it disconcerting (they dive bomb you and you can feel their feathers on your face), and I didn't even have a feeding stick. CJ quickly grew OK with the situation. And Annabelle? Well not so much. You know those blood curdling screams from horror movies. Yeah, well, this was like that, but LOUDER. And LIVE. Honestly, it sounded like a murder-in-progress in the Budgie Buddies exhibit. Fortunately, the two young women working the exhibit were calm and collected and talked Annabelle down. (That, and the food on her stick quickly disappeared.) After being in the exhibit for a couple of minutes without bird food, Annabelle came around. In fact, so much so that she wanted another food stick. She and CJ were swarmed once again, but this time they welcomed it.
AND ALSO: We saw cute young (3 month old) clouded leopard kittens. We also saw an Asian Anoa with Kongs (a dog's chewy toy) on its horns. The keeper told us that they were there to protect the female anoa at the zoo. The Arctic fox was tiny - smaller than our puny dog Kirby. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE: While there is more to report about our Tacoma adventure, this post is looooooong and I'm tired. And so, I'll leave you with another 'stay tuned ...'