Shrine On 2014 Paperwork

Another date with the Men of Melha

The girls and I had another fun filled adventure down in Springfield Mass this weekend at the 60th Melha Shriners Circus. 

After having myself a small heart attack as I took one wrong turn which directed us to make a loop around East Longmeadow and Springfield followed by my gps directing me back to New Hampshire, we finally got back on track and arrived at the Big E fairgrounds just in time to oooooh and aaaaah at the elephant and camels that pranced around under the big top. 

The girls had never seen real camels before so they were pretty psyched. 

We enjoyed the ever random antics of Johnny Rocket who is definitely a one man circus. One minute he's clowning, "wait" LOL, the next he's on a high wire, or on a trampoline and dancing like MC Hammer, then he's lip syncing while riding a wrecking ball...bet ya can't guess what the song was. 

There were people using ladders sort of like stilts and then walking around or jump roping like that, girls spinning by their hands, feet and faces 4 stories above the ground.

The poor clown who had his snow globe smashed then turned the arena into a giant snow globe.

Bammo's cannon shot and Fix It's barber shop skits.

The husky dogs running around, the fire snapping whipping and lassoing girl, the crazy threesome riding the motorcycle and trapeze bar thingy up and down the high wire.

Finished with some crazy, crazy guys riding indoor motocross insanity.

It was a sight to see.

No trip would be complete without a little clowning around ;) 

And we did a lot of it. 

After the show, we tip-toed in for a sneak peak at the clown photo shoot, then enjoyed some VIP lunch with the colorful crew and enjoyed some more visiting with a few of our favorites: Cheer Up and Fix It :) The girls enjoyed raiding Jingles' pockets for fun light up gadgets and flowers and seeing his magical removable finger trick...the "magic" being his finger actually was amputated, so I followed it up with "Taylor, you can perform that trick too but with your nubby" ;) I think he was more surprised then the girls were with his trick ;) A lot of people actually were. They didn't even notice Tayt's armie unless it was brought up or if they remembered us from our visit to their ceremonial. 

These guys truly are awesome! Aside from rocking the Fez, which pretty much automatically gets you on my good side, they really take pride in their clowning around. Their outfits are great, their makeup is done to perfection, they interact like they are the best of friends who have been performing together since birth even when they are brand new to this or might actually despise one another. 

I swear Doc must super glue his face before he puts on his make up.

This guy was grinning ear to ear all day. He was absolutely radiating happiness. It was great to watch him glow.

These guys all go above and beyond to include and goof off with the audience before, during and after the show. They've really got a good crew there. 

I'll have to make sure we go to the second show next year so we can see the "parade" of units, bands and I can enjoy the Highlanders.....I'm sorry (you know who) you think they sound like dying cats, but bagpipes and kilts kick ass!

On the way home I asked the girls if they had fun. To which they simultaneously replied "No". My heart sank and as i tried to begin processing this, the cotton candy kicked in and they started bouncing around in the car shouting "it wasn't just fun, it was super awesome fun! It was the most fun thing ever!" And then I listened to their hour and ten minute recap of the entire performance as we drove home. 

They're already talking about our circus adventure for next year and can't wait.

So thank you to everyone at the circus who made my girls' day great, extra love to Fix It and Cheer Up <3 Thank you to all the Men of Melha for all that you do to help kids <3