Sesame Place

We took a little trip up to Sesame Place last weekend! We'd been telling Hope that it would have rides and water slides and lots of the characters she knows from Sesame Street, but I wasn't sure that she really understood. But when she woke up at 6am that morning, saying she was ready to go to the "water place," I figured she certainly understood that it was going to be fun. I convinced her to go back to sleep, thankfully, because it was going to be a long day!

This is the happy little clam we rode up with. She played with a tiny ball and a granola bar wrapper for the entire two and a half hour ride up. LOVE her. She was mostly entertained by chatting with us about all the other cars on the road, her new cover-up (thanks Amy), and the fun we'd have when we got there.


After meeting up with our friends, we hit the merry-go-round first thing. Then we headed to the water rides, thinking it would be better to do the wet stuff before lunch. Here's Hope and Daddy at the Count's Splash Castle. It was crazy! Water squirted from hoses and buckets all over the castle, and every few minutes that giant bucket on top would dump over and flood the whole place.

She liked playing in the water, but said it was too cold. When we got out, Daddy wrapped her in a towel and she cuddled on him for a long time, just watching all the sights.

We took the wagon instead of a stroller, which ended up being a life-saver! It was easy to get Hope in and out, gave her some shade, and provided us with lots of extra storage for our stuff. The lady who organized our trip made goodie bags for all the kids, and the goodies occupied Hope as we walked from one place to another. So nice of her, and a great idea!

We packed a lunch, and were lucky to park right by the picnic area. Even after just a couple of attractions, we were all ready for a little rest and refueling.

Unfortunately, it started raining while we ate. We hunked down in the picnic shelter, hoping to wait it out. Hope played with this tiara hair clip from her goodie bag, watched birds and a groundhog in the woods next to us, and shared snacks with our friends and their cute kids.

They closed most of the rides because of the rain, which was a major bummer, but we happened to be in the right place at the right time for the big Sesame parade. Hope enjoyed the dancers and the music, and got to shake Grover's hand!

We waited around for awhile, but they were calling for more rain so the rides stayed closed. Sesame Place came through on their "sunny day guarantee," and gave us vouchers to return another day. Disappointing, because we really only did a few things in the whole park, but Hope didn't know the difference. She had a grand time, and a full day!