Sesame Place Journal (July 29, 2008)

What a day! We piled into the car this morning around 9:15 a.m. to head to Sesame Place. Lily fell asleep on the way, but Cassidy was bright-eyed with excitement. We arrived and unloaded (along with tons of other families) and opted to bring our own stroller into the park as opposed to renting one - good decision!!! As we neared the gate, Cassidy became increasingly adgitated, clinging to me, asking to be held - in retrospect, a foreshadowing of the day's events. She was obviously overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of Sesame Place. We made our way past the ticket booth and security check (they even did a finger scan!) and then we were finally inside the park.

Even though we had researched the park, we couldn't decide where to go first. Cassidy, still feeling intimidated, was no help. Our suggestions (ie. "Let's go to the Twiddletracks/Carousel/Elmo's Flying Fish.") were all met with a resounding, "NO!"
Determined to have fun (whether we wanted to or not) Joey and I decided to head down the main path towards the re-creation of Sesame Street. We first popped into Mr. McIntosh's Fruit and Vegetable Store. Cassidy immediately went behind the counter and played at the cash register...and we saw her first smile at Sesame Place! While on Sesame Street we also sat on the steps of 123 Sesame Street (the apartment building) and atop a fire truck.

Next we headed over to the Elmo's World Live! show, stopping along the way to ride the Sunny Day Carousel. Cassidy had her first meltdown of the day, refusing to go on the carousel - which was so odd because she LOVES the carousel at Pullen Park - so Lily and I rode alone. Lily really liked it. The ride was fairly slow and short, perfect for little ones. After the ride, we still had time before Elmo's World started so we tried to get Cassidy to ride some other rides, but she would have no part of it, so we went ahead and got in line for the show. The theater was small and we were seated towards the top - a good thing since the girls didn't want to be too close to the characters. Unfortunately, we were on the isle and Elmo popped up at the back of the theater at the beginning of the show, scaring Lily into a screaming fit. I left the theater with her and Cassidy and Joey stayed for the show. (They had a great time and Elmo came over to Cassidy at the end of the show - one of the day's highlights!)

Lily and I found Big Bird's Nest (a play area with large sponge shapes and a small playground) and we played until the show was over. She especially loved going down the slide. Cassidy and Joey joined us and the girls played while we planned our next move. I was already hungry and the girls had been asking for snacks so we opted for lunch. We dined at Elmo's Eatery. The food - pizza, chicken fingers, and fries - was good, much better than Disney. As we were leaving a family swooped in and sat at our table as we were still gathering our things...guess they were too hungry to wait!

After lunch, the girls went on Ernie's Bed Bounce. Cassidy loved it and ran and bounced all over the place. Lily WANTED to love it, but cried when we put her on the bed. The heat, excitement, and exhaustion were already taking their toll and the girls were starting to whine and cry sporadically. We tried the maze of punching bags, but that wasn't much fun - and Cassidy was concerned about getting sand in her shoes - so I took her over to Grover's World Twirl. She was wary, but I managed to convince her that it would be fun. She chose the Ernie tea cup so we hopped in and waited for the ride to begin. As we started to move and spin, we scooted close together and squealed as our tummies tickled. She was having a blast! The ride went a little long, so by the end she was ready to get off, but as we exited she said, "I LOVE that ride!" For me, a highlight!!!

After the World Twirl, Joey convinced Cassidy to try the Snuffy Slides. Lily had an animal cookie snack while we waited. Cassidy was very proud of herself as she emerged for the bottom of the giant slide. On the way to the Rock Around the Block Parade we stopped at the carousel again. Cassidy was beside herself by this time - asking to go home - but we all rode the ride (even Joey who doesn't like spinning) and, again, Lily had fun. We put Cassidy into the stroller (she threw a fit initially, literally screaming and thrashing like a wild animal...yes, we were THAT family with the wild kid!) and told her to lie down and rest if she didn't want to watch the parade. She obeyed - she was exhausted - and we found a place at the end of the parade route to watch. Lily and Joey stood back a little bit - Lily enjoyed clapping along, but didn't want to get too close to the characters. Cassidy eventually sat up and I ended up holding her so we could wave at everyone. The music and dancing were great! HIGHLIGHT - Big Bird came and touched Cassidy on the shoulder, then waved to her when she turned around! Wish I had a picture!!!

After the parade (which was only 15 minutes - perfect again!), we went back to Elmo's Eatery to cool off and have a snack. We decided we'd try to see the two other shows - Big Bird's Beach Party and Abby Kadaby's Treasure Hunt - and check out Twiddleland before leaving for the day. Big Bird's Beach Party was my favorite show. It was fun beach music and dancing. The first few rows were the splash zone when the characters "jumped" in the water. Cassidy and Lily were so cute! They danced, surfed, drove a car, and hula'd with the characters. Abby Kadaby's show was fun, too - the treasure was books, which Joey loved - but the theater was hot.

In Twiddleland, Cassidy loved the Twiddletracks so much she rode them twice - with our help! We also looked at some of the waterslides and Cassidy played on a shovel and pail slide and a bag of marbles slide. Lily, too exhausted to stay awake, passed out during this time.

We left the park around 5:45 p.m. and drove to Applebee's. Aunt Jennifer had given us a gift certificate. The drive to the resturant was long. The girls ate Cheerios, then Cassidy napped and Lily played. At the resturant, we ordered then tried to enterain everyone while we waited for the food. We were beyond tired, so it was a challenge. Lily ate well, but Cassidy was too tired/excited so she barely touched her food and even her ice cream. She was irritable and crying off and on. To make our meal even more interesting, we were seated next to a group of "special" people with their caregivers. One of the special people, John, kept yelling (it sounded like Chewbacca!) throughout the entire meal! Apparently he was mad because they would not let him take food off of other people's plates. Of course, this was very interesting to Cassidy who kept turning around in her seat to stare at the group. She even tried making a few "wookie calls" herself, which I quickly put a stop to as I tried not to laugh.

What an end to our day! Joey and I found it very comical as we drive back to the hotel. The drive took longer than expected because TomTom (our navigational system) was not aware of road construction. We ended up heading in the wrong direction right as we were approaching our hotel. Cassidy, who could see our hotel, was calling and crying from the back seat, "Daddy, no! You're going the wrong way! I don't want to go anywhere else! I want to go to the hotel!" I was hysterical as Joey turned our van around and we finally arrived at the hotel. Bath time revived everyone so it was nearly 10:00 p.m. before we settled in for a blissful night of sleep!