The "Meanest Parents at the Circus"

So... On Saturday about 2:00pm we arrived at the Jordan World Circus who was performing in Ogden at the Golden Spike Arena. We went with our good friends Amy and Aaron Hancock and Kids. We had been talking about going all week. Amy had recieved a coupon in the mail that said, "your whole family can see the amazing circus for only $16.00!" So, we thought, "Wow that is a terrific price. Let's go!" So I began to search through all of our mail and even go through the garbage to try to find this beloved coupon. I had no luck in finding it, so Amy said that her coupon said you could get this same coupon at any Walgreens. So, I packed up the kids and headed to our nearest Walgreens store. We walked through the doors and Tyler announced to the whole store, "We are going to the circus. Can you give us our tickets now?" The lady at the counter completely broke Tyler's little heart when she said they did not have the coupons and had not even heard of them. So, I called the Golden Spike Arena. The lady who answered couldn't tell me a whole lot more other than we might find these coupons at a Stop-n-Shop or we could arrive at the arena 3 hours early to get tickets but that they would be full price. It was the day of and I had still had no luck in locating a coupon. I started calling all the Walreen and Stop-n-Shop stores in the phone book only to find that they had each given away their last coupons the night before. So I called Amy to tell her of our bad luck. She said that she had just been talking to a neighbor who had seen some coupons for this very circus at the 7-Eleven up the street just last night. So I called and they had 10 left. So... we were good to go. So back to when we arrived 1 hour before the circus was to begin. We get there only to realize that our coupons were only for the kids to get in free but adults would have to pay full price at $16 each. Good thing we had the coupons however, because the kids would have been $10 each. So we begrudgingly paid our $30 and headed in. When we get inside, the kids are instantly so excited because there are pony rides, elephant rides, big blow up slides, and face painting. What more could a kid want? We get down into the arena only to find out you have to purchase more tickets to do these things. So we head to the ticket booth and are told that the tickets are $6 each. "OK we'll take 2." The lady then asks which ride we want it for. "What?" "It is $6 per ride." "$6 to ride 1 pony, or 1 elephant? How many time do they get to go down the blow up slide?" "They can go down 4 times." "Are you kidding?" How do you explain to your kids why every other kid there is having fun and his parents are too "cheap"? So we took our crying kids to their seats and told them the show would start in just a few minutes and that it would be awsome. So the show began, and it was definately entertaining and the kids really did seem to enjoy it, that is until they saw that every other kid was waving a glow in the dark Light Saver sword. So we say, "OK, we will check it out at half time. At half time, I leave to feed Tate and Dan takes the boys to check things out. I come back just before the show is to begin again to find that the boys did not have any coveted Light Savers but were happily sitting in their seats excited to see more elephant tricks. I looked at Dan, who looked at Tracen who said, "The Light Savers were $10 so we got this yummy bubble gum and Daddy said we would get some cotton candy when the show starts again." I still do not know what magical spell Dan put on our children, but I guess it proves that kids really can be happy with the simplest of things. The rest of the show really was entertaining for the kids. I however, came home from it with a terrible cold, fever, and a massive headache from the sinus pressure and loud music. My loving husband put me right to bed and even called substitutes for both of my resposibilities at church the next day. Yeah I was pretty pathetic. So now we all have very yucky coughs, stuffy noses, and sore throats. Our house is quarantined until further notice.
***So the moral of this story is: Do not be as uneducated about the circus as we were. IF you decide that the circus would be a life changing event for your children, DO NOT leave home without several hundred dollars in your pocket. Or.. at least ask Dan which magic spell book he used and the type of feather he has in his wand.
P.S. We also forgot our camera,(in true Dan Dee fashion) so there are no pictures of our kids doing... Oh wait, they didn't do anything to take pictures of. So...never mind.