Ovo: Cirque du Soleil

From the day I learned I was pregnant, there was a short list of things I could not *wait* to do with my child. Some have been as wonderful as I expected (Disney!), some have not worked out exactly as I envisioned (not wanting to touch cake on his 1st birthday), and some things are still on the list (Rockin' Roller Coaster, hopefully next year!). But we did strike another item from the list this weekend. Anyone who has ever been to one of their traveling shows should recognize this tent:



We took Luke to his first Cirque du Soleil show, Ovo. After burning so many calories yesterday at the pizza party after soccer and not eating much all day, he was still in calorie deficit mode, which did affect his mood. It took me forever to get anything but a frown for this photo.



This was my 5th different Cirque du Soleil show (La Nouba, Dralion, Allegria, Varekai, and Ovo), and I can't say that it was my favorite (still Dralion). Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed it! But I didn't find much new in it compared to the other shows I've seen. For anyone who has only seen one or two Cirque shows (like my parents; special thanks to Papa for the tickets!), it would be fine. Luke was fascinated by the costumes, the grasshoppers in particular. I think it took a little too much time to get going, but once it did, they held Luke's interest pretty well. He actually laughed a lot more at the clowns than I expected. His favorite parts were the trampoline/climbing wall group and the guy with the diablos.

My one fear about the show came true, though: it was a little too long for Luke. It is two 1-hour segments with a 30-minute intermission in between. He did great the first half, and was quite patient (with the assistance of the games on DH's phone) with the intermission. However, he clearly started losing interest about half way through the second act. With about 10 minutes to go, he leaned over on my shoulder and asked if it was time to leave. I do believe some of that was due to him still being so tired from Saturday, but not all of it. Two and a half hours is a long time for a 6-year-old to be interested in anything! But overall he did great, and he still talks about the grasshoppers, so I know he enjoyed it. We'll try again, but it will likely be 1-2 more years before we do so.

Currently feeling: lacking in talent