"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

Been an interesting couple of days...

Part I: Getting there...

Wednesday was a day off for me but not for socKs. While she was taking our cat, Fyona, to be boarded for the next two days, I took av to preschool. I then did a bit of needed cleaning -- as my brother, his wife and their three kids would be spending the weekend here. At eleven I went for a haircut, and at twelve I treated myself to a movie -- The Island. Not bad. I liked it, but I certainly wouldn't consider it an "excellent" movie.

Back home to do a bit more cleaning and packing. When Av and socKs came home, Av ate dinner, and we got on the road at about 7:15pm -- only fifteen minutes later than we had planned to leave. The three hour trip to Langhorne, PA turned into about 3 1/2 hours due to lots of nighttime construction on I-95 in Maryland and Pennsylvania and I-495 in Delaware.

We had been expecting Av to fall asleep easily on the car ride as he usually does. But he stayed awake until a good ways into Philadelphia, being considerably more whiny than usual. We thought this was strange but kept driving.

We stayed at a Red Roof Inn - for a "no-frills" hotel it was very nice. Very cool looking bathroom. But it took Av until almost 1:00am to fall asleep! Again, very whiny. And a possible temperature. But we didn't have a thermometer, so we decided to see how he would be in the morning.

The plans for Thursday were as follows: We would get up around 8 and eat breakfast. Around that time, my brother and his family would drive down from Hoboken -- and we would meet at Sesame Place at 10:00 -- which is when the park opens. I pretty much guessed from the start that my brother and family wouldn't be there at 10. So we stayed in contact via cel phone.

At 9:30, they were still in the Hoboken area -- buying lunch and dealing with their middle kid, almost 4, who wasn't feeling well. We decided to forge ahead and meet them in the park when they arrive. But they had the six dollar off discount coupons for us! What to do?

What we did was look for a Rite Aid pharmacy, the very same place offering the discount. I called one place on the phone and eventually drove five miles in the wrong direction looking for it. But a guy working at the grocery store said that there was a Rite Aid in the local mall a mile away from Sesame Place; we would just stop there and get the tickets. (And extra batteries for the camera.)

We went to Oxford Valley Mall only to find that, shockingly, there was not a Rite Aid there -- just a CVS. And no discount coupons for admission. Feeling beat, I decided that we would just go to the park and use the three dollar discount from my AAA membership. So instead of saving eighteen bucks, we saved nine. Not extremely significant when you're taking about $40 admission tickets times three people...

Part II: Being There...

Cute park. The first thing I noticed was that it was a much more diverse theme park environment then I had been used to. My amusement park of choice has been Paramount's Kings Dominion, located between Washington, DC and Richmond, VA. At Sesame Place I saw visitors of different races and religions - including a religious Muslim day camp and a religious Jewish day camp. There were many families dressed in their cultural/religious attire -- something I would only rarely see at Kings Dominion. I mean, granted -- my brother was one of those people at Sesame Place wearing a kippah (Jewish head covering). But he was far from alone.

Speaking of which -- my brother and his family ended up coming to the park a little after 12 noon. During that time we had done two things: taken pictures with Super Grover and taken pictures with Ernie and Bert. As you'll read, that's pretty much how we spent most of our day! We met again outside the park gates and had lunch together, and then went back in the park.

Part III: Splashing there...

SocKs and I had bought "aqua shoes" from Lands End for this very occassion. A lot of Sesame Place is wave pools, water rides, and all out excuses to get wet -- along with other park patrons. Taking pictures at people's attire would have been tasteless, but I found an illustration from a children's book by Sandra Boynton which crystalizes the experience of looking at many of the adults who were frequenting the park:


Look: I'm the first to admit that I'm a big, fat doofus. But I limited my non-shirt wearing to the time that I was actually in the water -- and when I was at wading depths, I kept it on. And there are some who could get away with walking around the park shirtless (men) or in a two-piece (women). But there were some folks who really made a bad judgement call in their choices of attire. Perhaps I'm just more self-conscious, and bravo to them for not being so...

Av and I spent just about ten minutes in the water. After that, when we asked if he wanted to go back in, he responded with "I already did that!" My three nieces -- even the ten month-old -- had more water time than we did. But that was fine; Av seemed to be having a good time.

Part IV: Exposing Myself There...

One of the highlights of the place is a live showing of "Elmo's World." It's quite similar to the televised "mini-show" which appears at the end of Sesame Street. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you probably don't have any kids under the age of ten. Elmo, as it turns out, is kind of like crack cocaine for kids -- they can't get enough of this muppet.

The show was very crowded. But it ended up being cute -- with jokes on the parents' level as well. But the fun part came when Elmo used his video camera to film the people in the audience "dancing." There was a big screen behind him so everyone could see.

Not only was I a big fat doofus that day, but I was a big fat doofus wearing a bright yellow linen shirt. Meaning that in the crowd of about 150, I was the one in the crowd who stuck out. Everyone could find me on the screen -- I was sitting front and center, I looked nothing like a screaming four year-old kid, and I had a goatee and the beginning of a sunburn. So I saw myself on screen and made a wacky face.

The camera guy (apparently not Elmo) decided he liked me. And zoomed right in on my face. 150 adults and children got to see my tonsils that afternoon. And they're better people for it.

Part V: Obtaining Free Snacks There...

Food is expensive at theme parks. Extremely expensive. And on a hot day like Thursday? People were gladly paying $2.50 for bottled water and three bucks for ice cream. Here's how we were able to beat the system and get a free snack for our son, with step-by-step instructions...

(a) notice that your son is hot to the touch, but still enjoying himself and having a good time -- and still drinking his juice.

(b) take him inside an air-conditioned building (e.g. "Elmo's World" and discover that he's not really cooling off.

(c) buy ice cream for him to share with you - and discover that he, for some ungodly reason, has very little desire to eat it.

(d) proceed to the first-aid station. Meet a very friendly EMT named Josh. Convince Josh that the best way for him to take his temperature is the way which doesn't involve pulling down pants. (Josh took it under his arm -- usually, at home, we take his temperature by ear.)

(e) Look shocked and surprised when Josh announces to you that Av is running a 102 temperature. Look at Av who isn't fazed by this revelation at all.

(f) Josh will offer your kid a free -- FREE -- ice pop. Av's eyes will lighten up and say "green!" And he'll enjoy it in the waiting room. At no cost to you.

Granted, we decided it would be best to leave the park earlier than we had planned. Probably for the best anyway...

Part VI: The Ulterior Motive...

When my brother and I planned this trip for August 18, we both realized something important: It was the date of our mom's birthday.

Her 60th birthday.

What kinds of sons would we be to spend the birthday together with each other, but away from Mom? Ideally, isn't this the day to bombard her with her four rambunxious grandchildren at her own home, demanding that she cook for us? How could we let her know we were thinking about her?

SocKs deserves credit for this plan:

• We would go up to assortments of random people at the park -- employees and guests alike, and film them shouting "Happy Birthday Elissa!" Into the camera.
• As for the performers in Muppet suits which were not allowed to utter a word while in character, we made signs saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELISSA."

A couple things I learned from this endeavor:

(a) With one exception, people were ready and eager to perform for the camera. The one exception was a dad-like figure sitting on a bench next to a long-haired dude dressed in black. It was obvious that the two of them didn't know each other. So I asked if they could help out -- and the dad told me that "I'm here with my wife and kid trying to have a good time. Now go away." Lucky for me, The long-haired dude in black was happy to help out -- so I stayed around for another minute, seeing the steam coming out of Mr. Dad's ears. Lighten up, man. It's not as if your wife and toddler are nearly as good looking as Elissa! As the masses sing: Shiny's Mom has got it going on...

(b) People will wave at the camera when they're talking to it. Unprovoked. It's cute, really...

(c) Josh the EMT made a point of mentioning his entire department. The other Sesame Place Employees just kind of giggled and looked nervous...

(d) If you take a picture of a not-primarily-English speaking family with their camera, they will feel indebted to you -- so much so that they'll try their darndest to pronnounce "Elissa" correctly, but it ultimately won't come out right.

(e) Put a camera in front of a group of Muslim women, and they'll make up their own birthday song.

(f) Overheard: "Her name's Elissa and she's sixty? That ain't an old woman's name..."

(g) If you eat dinner at Red Robin restaurant right after leaving the park, it is possible to get the entire crew to sing your mom a birthday song into the camera -- knowing full well she isn't there -- and offer a free dessert as well!

I'm still piecing together the Flash animation for my mom -- and will post it once it's done.

Epilogue:

Av has had a fever on and off for the past few days. My brother and his family are staying at my parents' home instead of ours -- as their middle kid isn't feeling so hot either. We took him to the doctor today and are relieved to know that it isn't strep throat. But when he's in good spirits, he's still talking about how he got to play on Elmo's piano. And how his Abba was on Elmo's TV.