wildlife hits paris

today is a very special day. today was wildlife day, and the first time wildlife has, as far as we know, gone INTERNATIONAL. here is the long story short: about four years ago my cousin jordan started sporting a sweet wolf tee. the kind of tee that is available all over west yellowstone, the kind of tee usually only seen on the ultimate tourists and the kind of tee we always made fun of. we decided to join jordan and get some. the whole fam. we went to our favorite 'choose your own design' t-shirt shop and spent hours deciding which to get, we let the colors and designs call to us, and we each ended up with the perfect shirt. from that moment on we were hooked. four years and at least eighty t-shirts later, there is an official club, we have wildlife days every month, and paris, france has finally been introduced to the next up and coming trend. so whether it be a wolf, and eagle, or a dreamcatcher and bear, wildlife is officially everywhere.

a day that starts off with wildlife is bound to be a good one.

wildlife in the garden.

wildlife on the metro.

wildlife in front of the centre pompidou.

probably the most beautiful building in paris. (not)

wildlife heads to school.

summoning powers of the wild for a french test.

wildlife hits the circus.

yes, today jamie, allison, katrina, bethany and i went to the circus. although some of us were expecting a cirque de soleil spectacle, it was really just a classic circus-y circus. exactly what i would imagine a circus to be. elephant and all. it was especially great because the circus was really a family affair - grandparents, mom, twin brothers, even little grandson took part. i loved it, and i couldn't stop laughing.

french people do not cheer. they only clap. this is a problem.

photos were absolutely not allowed. i tried to sneak one through the thumbhole in my jacket. you really can't tell but this is a picture of an elephant doing a really sweet trick or something.

during intermission i had to get some cotton candy. you can't go to the circus and not get cotton candy. and it was totally delicious. here it is called 'barbe à papa'. love it.

embarrassing candid. apparently i really love it.

cotton candy mustaches.

jamie and i are very much kindred spirits. our second favorite circus act had to be the 'magic show' that included the tackiest trap door, fake lock, bunnies out of hats magic tricks in existence. they inspired us to make plans for a jamie maddie magic show that will be happening in the near future. our favorite act was when two of the sexy italian circus brothers came out pretending to play electric guitars in mesh shirts and matrix trench coats. one even had dark angel wings. they then proceeded to lose the guitar and coats and jump onto galloping horses and juggle fire. it was pretty grandiose. after the fire juggling while standing on horses backs they whipped out some sweet handshakes/moves. james and i have perfected these for our show. (see below)

the circus also included lots of horse dancing (the horse dancing acts are foolproof because it is impossible to tell if they are actually doing what they are supposed to), horses jumping through hoops, an amazing hula hoop act, some trapeze artistry, a comic act that we literally could not understand whatsoever, one dalmatian, one fan (the classiest way to get a windblown effect, just one fan in the center of the ring), really wonderful costumes, a jackson five song, and a live band. it really defied all my wildest dreams. thank you gruss family. now to continue on with the day...

wildlife even hit the grocery store.

but most importantly,

wildlife made an eiffel tower appearance.

true parisien wild life on the prowl.

heel clicks for wildlife day.

france loved it.

after my eiffel tower escapade we headed to our director's apartment for dinner and a movie night. dinner was delish, the movie was great, but the by far best part was making a wildlife connection with Annie. not only was she a proud owner of a wildlife sweatshirt, she brought it with her to Paris. yes and yes. wildlife really is taking paris by storm.

it has been a quality wildlife day. love and howls to all those participating back in the states. and for those of you who aren't, you probably should join the cause, because when you wear wildlife, you are free. free to do crazy things like howl as loud as you can in the middle of the park in front of the eiffel tower. even though that definitely is against paris protocol. BUT you can do those kinds of things when you summon the power of the wildlife. HOWWOOO! trivia question: do french wolves howl the same way?

a little extra treat, to the great embarrassment of my dearest bud allison, a video of me totally disturbing the peace in paris. really, its great.