Sesame Place.for Evie's 2nd Birthday

 

We did Sesame place..again..as a gift to Evie for her Second birthday (really from her dad to himself). We have been there in the past, about2 years ago soon after she was born we took Arielle during her “Abby Cadaby” phase and I was a bit overwhelmed that time but this time it was actually quite fun. The weather was perfect, we rented two cabanas (we had invited some friends and family to join us) and we chose to go on a Friday instead of Saturday this time. What a difference! Although the park was still pretty full of patrons, it was not overflowing and it was a different kind of crowd on Friday. Let’s just say Saturday was bit less PG than Friday. Anyway, when we got in we immediately spotted Zoe, and at that moment I knew if Evie was going to be receptive to these characters or not..this time she was cautious. She stopped and looked at her quizzically but did not want to get close at all!  Not a problem I figured when she got a bit more comfortable with the surroundings she would open up..which she did to “the count” of all characters. On our way to the cabana though we ran into others, Ernie and Bert, Big bird being rushed over to some other activity. We checked in, go our water shoes and changed…Can I just digress for a minute..water shoes are the most unflattering thing ever, they don’t look good on me, they don’t even look good on cute little girls..and they are horrendous on grown men! I amy hate them just as much as I detest crocs! But I admit, after paying twenty five dollars for them, I remember thinking how worth it they were every step of the way! There's something to be said about being in water and mingling with hundreds of other peoples feet..I don’t maybe its me..but I was quite happy having a barrier from in my hot pink water shoes!

Okay. We started out by a jumping into the pool at the counts castle which you can see from my last trip to SP. And since last time I had a little baby, I barely went into the water so this time, I jumped right in and stood square under the bucket for a good lashing..there was no going back after that, once you’re soaked, the water fun just becomes second nature.

Evie is a little fish, she loves the water and if you’ve been to Sesame Place before, you know the water is extremely crisp, freezing, but she wouldn’t get out even while she was shivering. She was running up and down the stairs at the counts castle water slides and even went down a windy slide several times..she wasn’t nervous at all. This particular pool, has slides and was filled with kids and adults, has water falling from every location and every few minutes has a huge bucket of water dumped on the swimmers! My baby Arie (almost 6 years old) was terrified and cried because of the loud thunderous sound it makes before the deluge but Evalie wanted to stand under the deluge! They are so different. It was a bit hard to negotiate because we were first so if Arielle wanted to go somewhere else, we would have to separate.

We were also looking out for my sisters and their kids so we didn’t want to go too far until they got there. What I realized that day though was that SP is a pretty compact park, it seemed much larger the first time.

When the others arrived, we ordered lunch and jumped back in the pool, hit up a few slides and then rushed back for our personal visit with the count..at non other than the “Counts cabanas”! Last time we were amateurs so we missed all the perks of the cabanas but this time we knew, we could get food delivered, we got one on one visits from the count and we got to bypass the lines on the rambling river!

While we ate lunch and relaxed for a moment, the count came in. We took a bunch a funny pictures with him, he laid out for a bit on a chaise and Evie even with him. He was the all out best most friendly character there. Kudos count!

We had been advised by an insider when we arrived that morning that around 2pm people would start leaving their towels down on the sidewalk to save the prime locations for the parade so thought we’d do the same because last time that was something I missed, I was too far back with my stroller and Austin just threw Arie on his shoulders so she could see. This time, we did as the Romans did but we were a bit late, by about 2:30 all the spot were taken so we were at the end of the line. The parade kicked off at 3pm and it was a blast. Evie wouldn’t get off Sesame Street, she wanted to run and down with them but the guards are very strict about keeping the kids on the curb because of the moving floats. Anyway, the 30-40 minute parade was lots of fun. The kids were screaming out and waving as all their favorite characters rode by on floats and came into the street to dance. It’s quite lively and very colorful.

The rest of the time was a race to get on as many rides and slides as possible but still make it to the hotel in time to wash up for dinner. We took the little ones to the wave pool (it was filled with little babies and the water was quite a bit warmer than the other pools! yuck.) Arie and Evie made friends, and really had a good time there, in that regard, they are both quite similar, they like to have one friend and they are happy to stay.  

I knew that if we waited too long Evie would melt and although we left the park at 6:30ish, and she slept for about an hour, she woke up very cranky and hard to deal with which is what I was afraid of. She eventually snapped out of it, when we go to the restaurant around 8pm. We had the usual Teppanyaki table hijinks which my kids like and the food was quite nice. They brought her out a cake and sang and then gave her a porcelain cat cup (a bit bizarre but its the thought that counts!).

Day 2 a SP was a bit more low key, I was grumpy to start but eventually lightened up. We split up in three groups for most of the day! My sister parked herself on a chaise lounge under an umbrella with a good book and her visor, the guys and older girls went off to ride the more daring rides and my other sister and I along with the two year olds did ice cream, got caricatures, met Elmo and Super Grove, rode a slow Elmo ride..etc. We even got to see a part of the parade again. We spent some time at the kiddie area but unfortunately the wave pool had just been evacuated..word on the street.. the Sesame street..was that one of those babies pooped!..ewww. We left he park around 7 and drove home, kids in PJ’s and fed ( NJ turnpike food..) but at least it was food!