Como Zoo 2009

Aunt Tammy had the day off today following Baby Heath's ear tube surgery yesterday and since he was doing so well, mommy and the girls decided to join Tammy and the boys for a morning at the Como Zoo. Let me start by saying, the Como Zoo is a fabulous place for little kids. It is a small zoo with no fees for entrance just donation requests. It has enough animals for the kids to enjoy and a beautiful arboretum for the adults to enjoy as well.

We got there at 10:00 a.m. which was opening time for the zoo. The weather was cool and rainy and wonderful as we didn't roast in the sun and the zoo was not crowded, so we had all the room we wanted to observe the animals.

Our first stop was the duck and flamingo pond which is always a fun spot. The kids got a giggle out of the duck bums in the air while they were feeding from the bottom of the pond.

This was also Baby Heath's first visit to a zoo ... so, of course, a picture was in order to commemorate the big event!!!

Next we headed to primate area and were fortunate enough to get to see a mommy and her baby climbing around the gym area. It was incredible to see. The girls also got a little education by getting to see replica primate skulls and small human skull to see the differences. Alyssa particularly wanted to know what the large hole in the middle of the face was, so she got an education on the fact that your nose is made of cartilage and not bone ... nodding in agreement and telling the educator okay ... she wonder off on her way as she had BUTTERFLIES to see.

We all had a great time in the butterfly sanctuary ... okay ... first mommy had to explain and clam a rather panicky and upset Miss Alyssa who was concerned that a butterfly would land on her ... after all pretty or not ... they were a bug!!!! Mommy got her calmed down and accepting of the fact that it could happen and then distracted her with a picture sheet of the butterflies which we made into a game to see how many we could find. It wasn't long and she got over the fact that they indeed bugs.

After the butterfly adventure, we took a break so Baby Heath could have a bottle and the rest of the kiddos shared a bag of popcorn while sitting on a bench watching the Zebras or as the kids say Marty ... as you know following the release of the movie Madagascar all Zebras are now named Marty. We also got to see Alex (the lion) and Mellman (the giraffe) ... I think we watch too many movies!!!

The girls also had their annual picture taken by the giraffe statue in the park ... my how they have grown from year to year!!!

2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:

After the big cat area of the zoo, we headed and caught the last few minutes of the Sparky the Seal show and then had a picnic lunch.

With full tummy's we set off again to watch the seals and catch a peak at some penguins and fish. After seeing the large tortoises, we stopped for a picture and then headed inside for the story time reading.

Finally, we took a walk in the arboretum to see the coy pond the flowers ... absolutely beautiful.

It was a great morning spent with great friends!!!

Flying Cloud Air Show

Today mommy, daddy and the girls packed up and headed out early to meet up with Aunt Tammy, Christian and Baby Heath (who ironically will be one in a little more than a week ... might be time to rethink the baby part) at the air show. The keyword in that sentence was show and not expo apparently ... as there wasn't much there other than a airplanes marked to walk around and a few that offered rides for an additional fee. There wasn't any airplane acrobatics or impressive fly bys the airfield ... but we found enough to entertain the troops for a about 90 minutes.

There were many smaller aircraft parked along the airfield and we had fun walking around and looking at them. The kids snuck in a few "touches" before being told that wasn't allowed unless invited to do so ... oops.

One gentleman took a great deal of his time to answer Alyssa's questions about the instrument panel in his plane. She was very interested in knowing what the "screens" were for and instrument gages did. She also proudly informed the pilot that she was just on a big plane and got to sit in the pilot chair.

The kids got to check out a helicopter used for medical flights. They got to climb into the back and also got to sit in the pilot chair. The girls decided they would be nurses one day so they could wear the medical jumpsuit and ride in the back. Christian even got in on the fun with the helicopter.

We got to sit front row in a grassy part of the airfield and watch a small helicopter take off, the kids seemed to enjoy that and feeling the "wind" from the spinning rotor blades.

There was a B17 Flying Fortress from World War II on site that we got to witness taking off ... quite a sight!!! Daddy particularly enjoyed this part of the day. Daddy also took a few minutes by himself to check out an Avenger from World War II while Tammy and mommy took the kiddos over to use a bouncer and slide for a few minutes.

Finally we took the bus back to our parking spaces and got our cars and headed to the Lion's Tap for their famous burgers for lunch ... very good!!!

While we are not over all impressed with the "air show" ... it was fun for the kids to see the airplanes up close and actually touch them (even if we were not supposed too) ... we will know better next time.

Family Vacation Day #4 ~ Return Home

No pictures were taken this day ... we were just tired and ready to be home. The airport and the flight were great and the girls again got to go up the flight deck to have a look around, which they once again loved!!!

After a rental car, a plane, a monorail, a train and a long walk to the parking lot ... we were finally in "whitie" and heading home ... because Alyssa just wanted to be home and Madison just missed her toys ...

We had a great time and mommy hopes the girls will have fond memories of their time on Sesame Street!!

Family Vacation Day #3 ~ Sesame Place

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street ... why yes we can!!!! Day three of vacation and we are up and ready to have breakfast at the hotel, then a quick stop at Starbucks for much needed coffees after another restless night sleeping for the girls and then we were off again to Sesame Place!! For our second day in the park, we really had no plans other than to go see the Abby Cadabby Treasure Hunt Show and Big Bird's Beach Party Show. Anything else was just extra.

We arrived shortly after the gates opened for the morning and the girls first request for rides was once again Grover's Vapor Trail for the girls third go at that roller coaster!! The third time was just as fun as the first as far as the girls were concerned!!! We wanted to buy a picture from the ride, but you couldn't see either girl as they were down to low for the pictures, so we will just have fond memories of their first "big" ride and a snap shot of them waiting in line!

Next we headed back to Elmo's World area and this time we spent some time letting the girls climb through the rope tunnels and walls ... mommy was pretty wore out after this and she only attempted the walls and skipped the tunnels opting instead for the girls to try them on their own. They did beautifully and were not even scared that they were suspended three stories high up in the air!!

After that high energy event, they just keep going by heading down to climb the blue hill again and then heading over to Ernie's Bed Bounce!!!

These outdoor activities were pretty much in the hot morning sun and the girls were starting to overheat a bit, so we quickly rode Big Bird's Balloon Chase to get some cool air and then we headed to the restrooms to get cool water for our faces. We decided to take a break and have a snack and some beverages before we went anywhere else in the park.

After our break we pretty much wandered around a bit and watched people on the river ride while we waited for the Abby Cadabby Show. We were the first in line and had front row seats for the show, which was unanimously voted the best show in the park by all four of us!!! The girls enjoyed Abby's show greatly and were really excited to see that Grover, Elmo, Rosita, Telly and Oscar were all a part of it!! Grover even stopped by and gave the girls a great big double hug during the performance!!

After the show, we decided to take another try on Big Bird's Rambling River, which started out okay but again, mommy ended up walking Alyssa down the river, but she did have more fun this time as she didn't get water splashed on her. Daddy pushed Madison which also enjoyed this trip a bit better than the first one.

Next we spent quite a bit of time at the wave pool letting the girls cool off and swim a bit before heading over to Big Bird's Beach Party, the last show on our list of things to do. We had fun, but we a bit disappointed in that show after reading such great reviews of it.

We all decided it was another long day and we decided to head by at the hotel and out for dinner. Of course, another trip at the gift shop was in order ... this time two Zoey dolls were purchased for two very excited little girls!!

We had dinner at Bertucci's which was really good and mommy and daddy particularly enjoyed the martini's and wine ... good ending to a busy day.

Family Vacation Day #2 ~ Sesame Place!!!

After a restless night of sleep by the girls thus causing it for mommy ... we got up bright and early to get ourselves ready for the 40 minute drive to Sesame Place and our 9:15 a.m. appointment to have Breakfast with Cookie Monster and Friends!!! The girls were excited but to this point, they really did not have any idea what they were excited about!

Upon arriving and getting our bags checked, the girls got pretty excited to see the large sign ahead with Big Bird on it.

Once the gates opened for the breakfast crowd, we made our way to the pavilion where we found Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Ernie, Bert and Big Bird waiting to greet us. We had our pictures taken with each of them and the girls had ample time to chat with and hug them all.

We had a decent breakfast from the buffet and enjoy each of the characters as they stopped by table for more one-on-one time with the girls. They had a great time and especially fell completely in love with Abby Cadabby, the little pink muppet fairy in training.

After breakfast, we headed out to start going on rides. The girls first ride was on Grover's Vapor Trail ... the big roller coaster in the park. They loved it and we rode it twice in a row before the crowds hit the park later in the day.

Next we headed down to Elmo's corner of the park and hit the merry-go-round, Elmo's bounce drop and the caterpillar ride.

The girls especially like the big climbing hill that was a big tarp with climbing handles going up it. The kids climbed as high as they wanted and then let go and slide down. That was a huge hit with both girls.

Since we were in Elmo's area, we snuck into the Elmo Live show just in time to grab the last few seats and watch the show. Although it was cute, it was pretty much like watching the segment from Sesame Street on TV. It was very hot in the theater and mommy and Alyssa made an early exit and waited outside for daddy and Madison.

After the Elmo show and a quick stop by the gift shop to get a water proof camera bag and two incidental Abby Cadabby dolls, we headed over to The Count's Splash Castle, which although it looked like much fun, turned out to be less than a splash for the girls. We love water, but apparently only water we have control over so all the dumping and splashing and sprinklers in this area did not make for happy girls. We left that area fairly quickly and sat down to a quick snack and beverage before heading over to Big Bird's Rambling River which is basically a slow inner tube ride on a fake river. The girls like this, at first, until Alyssa got stuck under a waterfall and got drenched ... it was down hill from there ... but we survived by mommy ditching her own tube and walking down the river pushing Alyssa to avoid obstacles. Daddy ended up with Madison in his own tube for the same reasons.

Mommy's eagle eyes caught sight of Zoey and the girls were super excited to get to sneak into line to meet her just before her time ran out for the photo area!!

We found a nice quiet wadding/wave pool which had very small waves in it and an enormous Ernie peeking over the fence at us ... this was more the girls speed and they loved it there. After splashing around a bit and trying to swim, we headed off to catch the 2:00 p.m. parade.

We got spots along the parade route and had front row seating in the street long the marked lines for the parade. The girls had a great time dancing and singing with the characters as they made their way down the street. They received High Five's from Telly, Elmo, Zoey, The Count, Rosita, Ernie, Bert and Grover!!! They were a little bit upset that Abby Cadabby wasn't in the parade, but got over that quickly enough when we explained that she was doing a show of her own soon and had to get ready for that to start.

We decided to call it a day after the parade. The girls were more than ready to get out to the car and retrieve their new Abby dolls that daddy had taken to the car earlier in the day to keep them from getting stolen while we were on rides.

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up a bit and then we were out again to get dinner at Pizzeria Uno's!! The girls proudly showed everyone who would look their Abby Cadabby dolls and excitedly told our waitress all about their day. They each got to make their own pizzas which were then taken back to the kitchen for baking. Both girls though their pizza was the best!!

Although once again they were super tired from the days events, sleeping was a bit rough going throughout the night but we managed okay and were already looking forward to day #2 at Sesame Place.