Sesame Place and Philadelphia

We knew we wanted to go to Maine and Philadelphia this year, so we decided to combine both into one trip. The reason for visiting Philadelphia was to see Todd's Grandma Ruth and her husband, Papa Ed. We hadn't seen her in 2 years due to selling our home and moving last year, which meant we never got a vacation. We were able to spend two evenings and two mornings with her. It was wonderful to have so much time with her. We finally got a picture at the end of the visit:


When we planned to do this major road trip, I knew we were asking a lot of Alaina to spend so much time in the car. I learned that Sesame Place, an amusement park themed around Sesame Street, was only 45 minutes from Todd's grandma, so we spent parts of two days there. Alaina enjoyed it, but I think she was too fatigued from travel, lack of naps, and too little sleep at night to thoroughly experience it.

Here she is at the character parade. One of her favorite characters, Abby Cadabby, is on the float:

We treated Alaina to a character lunch. It was a buffet-style meal where the characters actually made their way systematically to every table. Alaina got to "dance" with Big Bird at the end:

Here she is enthralled by one of the shows. This one was a live version of "Elmo's World":

Back at the character lunch, we had a tough time getting Alaina to stop eating and interact with the characters when they came to the table. She acted as though seeing them in person was an everyday experience. I had my picture taken with Bert:

Zoe is another of Alaina's favorites. She's really into girl characters lately.

Todd's childhood favorite, Ernie:

Alaina and Elmo. Before I had kids, I couldn't stand Elmo. I still don't like how he refers to himself in third person, but seeing firsthand how he thrills young kids, it's hard not to appreciate him more.

A tired Alaina after a day of being awakened early in Maine, driving 6 1/2 hours, spending an afternoon at Sesame Place, and driving to Grandma Ruth's. We picked up Philly cheesesteaks at a place near Villanova on our way to her apartment.

Alaina and Todd by the Sesame Street sign:

Alaina and I at one of the shows: