My dad is a lot of fun:) For the last few years, he’s given the kids outing-type birthday gifts. One year, it was a trip to a Mallards baseball game. Last year, he took Andrew to the Railway Museum for a train ride. This year, he took both kids to Circus World in Baraboo.
Andrew and Sylvia were pretty excited. Here they are checking in…
We spent a little while walking around the museum part of the grounds. The kids were pretty impressed with all the costumes and spectacular circus props.
As you can guess, Sylvia was a big fan of the Cinderella carriage:)
Here’s Andrew and my dad checking out the miniature circus.
They had a whole dress-up corner, where Sylv made herself at home. Here she is wearing one of the costumes and gesturing quite emphatically. 
Love the light in this picture of my mesmerized girl:)
After visiting the museum, we headed over to the Hippodrome for a perfectly-sized circus.
There were clowns and a ring master and contortionists. It was a really nice-sized show.
Here’s the silly Pekinese dog act. Here’s a 2010 newspaper clip on the circus.
David Rosaire, whose “Perky Pekes” have performed the world over, is an English performer whose trained dog act turns 50 years old this year.
SaLoutos said the act had been developed by Rosaire’s mother, then passed on to Rosaire in 1960.
Besides the Pekinese dogs in the original act, Rosaire has added a great Dane, a “very naughty” show-stealing mutt, and even a baboon.
“He’s the best dog act working in the world right now,” SaLoutos said. “It’s amazing that we’ve got him.”
Married couple Slava Byhkan and Kristina Nuss, of Belarus, perform acrobatics both as a team, and in individual acts, with Slava performing a precarious “rola bola” balancing act across increasingly unstable stacks of metal cylinders. Kristina’s hula hoop act is part of the “Ring of Illusions” show, which features illusionist Crist and a host of additional circus performances.
“We’ve actually put a couple of circus acts into the big magic show,” SaLoutos said. “It’s a touch of circus in the magic, and magic in the circus.”
You can tell that Sylvie is having a good time!
Really cool hoola hooping dancer…
Here’s Heidi Herriott & Lady Dancer performing an exacting equestrian routine.
This couple from Belarus did a great act. He’s on the “rola bola,” see-sawing all over while they juggle.
Here’s two girls and an elephant named Tiny.
Andrew took a ride on the elephant afterward.
And Sylvia chose to take a ride on a pony.
She had fun with her steed. 
We took a ride on a very, very old carousel.
There’s Andrew and his grandpa.
And here’s a nice picture of Dad with both kids.
Enjoying some ice cream treats before we headed home. Thanks, Dad, for a great day!
