Sesame Place

We took a family trip to Sesame Place in PA and had a fantastic time -- we ALL LOVE Sesame Place and cannot wait to go back!  The best part?  It's FREE for military!  THANK YOU Anheuser Busch! Here are a few photos from our big adventure...

Daddy getting our tickets to dinner with Elmo -- in reality, begging for forgiveness because we bought tickets for Thursday and it was actually Friday when we arrived.  The folks at Sesame Place were great though and exchanged our tickets with no problem!

The girls waiting for Daddy. 

Not a great start to the day -- a little cranky and not wanting their picture taken.

We're in!  Here, Daddy and the girls (Katie in pink; Ella in blue)

are in front of the "tree" sculptures of Big Bird, Elmo, and Snuffy.

First stop? The carousel. 

I think they rode it about 4 times before they were ready to move on.

Then off to Elmo's Big Bouncy Bed

Katie is in the all pink swim suit and Ella has the green top.  We discovered after arriving that Sesame Place is more of a water park than a dry park, which put a damper on the picture taking.

The girls climbing this huge pile of bouncy balls to get to the top of a slide.

They made it to the top!

Hurricane Bill (honest, that was the name of the hurricane that came through) stopped by to water the flowers for a bit, but it worked out to be perfect timing... the girls took a little stroller snooze while Mommy and Daddy people-watched.

The girls woke up just in time to have dinner with Elmo and friends.  Elmo's giving the girls a big ol' hug.

They are showing him the prizes they won earlier that day.

One more photo op before he heads off to visit the other children.

Then Cookie Monster came for a visit!

And a hug.

And Grover!

And Rosita!

And Abby Cadaby!

After dinner we were just in time for the parade and because of Hurricane Bill, we were just about the only people in the park -- the girls had a front row view of the parade!

Zoe stopped by the say hello...

As did Cookie Monster!  It was cute because Cookie came up behind the girls while they were watching the parade and tapped them on the shoulder -- they were so surprised when they turned around to see GIANT Cookie Monster standing there!

All day Daddy had been wanting to ride the roller coaster, but he couldn't get any of us to ride with him.  Before leaving the park, however, he decided he HAD to ride, even if it meant riding it all alone.  The girls and I scouted out a good spot where we could see him when he came by, but before he even got on the ride (and much to my surprise), Ella said, "I want to go too!"  We had to wait for Daddy to finish his ride (snap shot above - he's in the next to the last car waiving - that's Super Grover topiary in the foreground), but then we ALL decided to ride -- mommy and Katie included!  And, if you know Mommy, you know roller coasters are NOT her favorite, but if Katie was willing to try, then so was I!  So, we all hopped on board..  Ella was a little scared at first, but LOVED it -- she giggled the entire way.  Katie hardly said a word the entire time and her eyes were as big a saucers when the ride came to a stop -- she said, "I don't think I want to do that again.", which sounds A-Okay with me!

The girls' first (and possibly Katie's ONLY) roller coaster ride!

The end of a wonderful day at Sesame Place -- this time we're all smiles!

Ella was so excited about her brave roller coaster ride, she wanted to call Grandma and Mimi and tell them.  I can't remember who she's talking to here (Mimi maybe?), but you can see how proud she is of herself for riding that roller coaster.

Under the Bridge

A favorite playground we go to has a trail that runs along a river and the girls love going down under the bridge and climbing around on the rocks, so I brought my camera and snapped a few shots.

   

Katie jumping from rock to rock, much to her mother's apprehension.

Ella and Katie, Queens of the Mountain

Katie exploring a little further under the bridge and Ella keeping a close eye.

A view from above.

Us Girls

The girls and I were playing around with my new phone - not quite sure if it's a phone with a camera or a camera with a phone! Regardless, here are a few shots from our photo shoot.

Mommy and Ella (making a funny face)

Photographed by Katie

Mommy & Katie (also making a silly face)

Photographed by Ella

Self portrait: Us Girls

The Up Side of a New 'Do

I needed a hair cut. So, I loaded up the girls and we headed to Ms Thuy's (she cuts the entire family's hair!). As we were driving, Katie told me she wanted a hair cut too. "I want it short so it won't hurt when you brush it, Mommy", she said. I wasn't too sure about her getting it cut short, but decided to see how things developed. When we arrived at Ms Thuy's, Katie was still adamant about getting her hair cut "short" -- she held her hands up ABOVE her ears to show Ms Thuy how short. Ms Thuy gave me with "raised eyebrows" look... I just shrugged and said, "she knows what she wants..." Ms Thuy talked her in to a chin length bob and here it is. When Ms Thuy was done, Katie said, "Perfect!" And, I think she's right... it's PERFECT for Katie. Ella, on the other hand, is perfectly happy with her long hair. And, the up side? EVERYONE CAN TELL THEM APART NOW!

Ella being silly, smushing a piece of pizza in her mouth, and Katie modeling her new "do"

After I told her her new cut was called a bob, she said, "I LOVE bobs, Mommy!"

Uh-Oh, Spaghetti-O!

Ella is fast becoming not only a budding photographer, but a creative photographic artist at that. She was playing in the kitchen with a 5x7 magnetic picture frame when she had a vision. She told Daddy that she wanted to put a picture of spaghetti in the frame. So, all her doing...she staged the spaghetti (on a chair), got the digital camera and snapped the photo (centered and focused), brought the camera to Daddy and asked him to print the picture on the computer, cut it out for proper cropping, and then placed it in the magnetic frame on the refrigerator for all to enjoy. Voila'! And then, mission complete, she went downstairs to play dollies with her sister!

Expecting!!!

Actually, Ella is pretending she's expecting!

The girls have figured out that when they see a lady with a BIG belly, it usually means that she's going to have a baby and, interestingly, this knowledge has crept into their pretend play. Yesterday Katie says, "Mom, Ella's going to have a baby!" and when I looked around the corner, this is what I saw -- Ella with a balloon under her dress! We are proud to announce that Ella gave birth to a lovely baby doll named Mirella, who, sadly, was abandoned on the stairs a little while later in favor of another game... possibly hide-and-seek...?

Aunt Katie and a very (pretend) pregnant Ella

Swim Date

We've been having a weekly swim date with a friend from school, and this is the game the girls like to play:

They wallow around in the sand until they are COVERED from head to toe...
then they run as fast as they can to the water....

and JUMP IN!

They do this over and over (and over!) again and think it is hilarious!

As long as they are having fun, right?

Their friend, E, can go completely under and this has inspired Katie and Ella to try it. Here is proof -- they have their mouths under water. We're proud to announce, however, that since this photo was taken Katie & Ella have put their entire heads under -- WAY TO GO GIRLS!

This is Ella after going under, but at least she's trying!