Circus L A

My colleague Laura always likes to do something special and out of the ordinary to thank me for the travel business I coordinate with her. The last two Christmases my family has been treated to seeing the Christmas lights in a limo which is very fun! This year in addition to that, she decided that she wanted to take some of my clients and my family to Cirque du Soleil when they came to Portland a few weeks back. With Courtney being involved in theater and dance, my family has been to several theatrical shows. This was something we had never seen before though and we weren't really sure what to expect. I was afraid that the storyline would be in a foreign language or too hard for the kids (and the adults) to follow. We were treated to the Tapis Rouge experience, which was absolutely amazing! It is a private tent reserved just for Tapis Rouge guests where they serve drinks, food, private shopping, private restrooms, etc. We had great shrimp, turkey sandwiches, skewers of seasoned fish, fresh carved prime rib, etc. before the show. Then during intermission, we went back to enjoy the huge chocolate fountain with a selection of fresh strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, cherries, etc to dip in it. It was excellent and chocolate heaven. The kids were really enjoying themselves. Now for the show...we all agreed that it far exceeded our expectations. Little did any of us know that we wouldn't really even be concerned with the storyline and rather be captivated by all the tricks and talents on the Cirque stage. These performers had skills that just took your breath away. They twirled on a chandelier in the air with no harness, showed amazing flexibility and courage and were just overall such a talented group. They had a scene that the performers bounced on beds doing acrobatics and Ryan first of all was just surprised that "the people were even allowed to be naughty and jump on the bed". We told him it was part of the performance and he quickly settled in and just sat still and clapped with everyone else in the audience. He also loved when the angels came flying down. Courtney loved the whole performance and can't wait to see it again someday. (although at $205 per ticket for the Tapis Rouge experience it may be awhile!) Each of us received a souvenir program, a keepsake (the adults a CD and the kids a mask) and just a lot of fun memories. When we got home, Ryan was telling us he just loved "Circus L A" and that he wanted to go again tomorrow. Evidentally he overcame the issue with the bouncing on the beds scene too. Later that night, we caught him bouncing up and down on his bed humming the theme song from that night with his arms flapping up and down like he was going to do some sort of acrobatic trick. We quickly told him that those tricks were reserved for the Cirque du Soleil performers and couldn't be done at home. He laughed and said "But Mommy, I just wanted to be in Circus L A and fly." Hopefully I'll have several years to convince him that he doesn't want to join "Circus L A" and that a nice, safe job is the way to go rather than performing death defying acrobatic tricks for a living.