Circus Circus

The other day I was at Dollar Tree and they have a whole line of Circus and Carnival things. I got the idea to have our very own circus. I talked to my friends and asked if they were up for doing a circus that day and I was a little surprised that they were. We threw it together in just two hours! I grabbed cotton candy and punch balls from the Dollar store. Each of us moms (3 total) came up with a game or two and contributed $4 for expenses. We decorated my friend's basement with balloons and crepe paper and I brought my roll of tickets, yes I own a roll of tickets and they come in handy for all sorts of things. Everything cost one ticket. The games included a bean bag toss, a fishing pond, face painting, a cupcake walk, a balloon stomp and the best part of our circus was the show. Each family performed a circus act. One 3 year old girl wore her tutu and walked across a 4x4 as her balance beam, her sister performed, in costume, one of the dance numbers she learned at her dance studio. One boy balanced on a rolling surf board, which was very impressive, his older 8 year old brother did a magic show with his mom, and their little brother performed summer saults. We had the ugliest woman show and I starred as the ring master. I got some crazy bug in me and wrapped a turban around my head and painted a black mustach and called myself Alibabwa speaking in a very allaborate accent. It's amazing how crazy you can be when you're in costume. I think I want to join the circus now. Prizes were no problem. I have a prize basket. I use it all the time. I bought a cheap unfinished wood basket at the craft store and
let my daughter paint

it. Now I keep all sorts of trinkets in there. I'll let you in on my secret! When your kid leaves those cheap toys on the floor that he gets from McDonalds or at a party, I don't throw them away I just put them in the prize bucket. At any birthday or school party, I have a prize basket ready to go. At every neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt I put notes in my eggs that say to come and pick a prize from my basket. The kids love it and I am hardly ever buying things to go in it.