Elmo Live

I took Tate to see Elmo Live today.  For those of you who really know me, you know that I don't like Disney movies, clowns, or stuff like that.  Which probably makes you wonder about my childhood, but I swear it was normal.  So I was a little hesitant to go to something like this, but with Dave's prodding I realized that Tate would love it.  And he did.

I told him a few days ago that we would go to see Elmo on stage and every day since he would ask me about it and say "Today, mommy?"  This morning I told him we were going to see Elmo today and he said "TODAY??"  It didn't start until 10:30 so I had to answer the "why can't we see him now?" question many times over this morning.  We finally settled on the fact that Elmo was sleeping in today, then he had to eat breakfast and get dressed so he just wasn't ready yet.  Tate was satisfied with that for a while.  We also parked in a parking ramp for the first time, which Tate seemed to think was a little creepy.

Notes to self for future children's events: 

1. Take money to park.  It was $5, and I was lucky enough to find a $10 bill in my wallet, either from my forward-thinking husband or by the grace of God.

2. Go early.  I did actually go a little early, so we had plenty of time for a pit stop at the potty and to find our seats.  Any place with lots of young children = madness.
3.  Tate was very unnerved by the public restroom, mostly because they had very loud hand dryers that made it seem like a tornado was drying your hands.  He refused to go near them, and my jeans became his hand dryers.  Twice.
4.  Take more snacks/drinks.  This I should know by now.  We ate the Ritz bits in a hurry and I paid $3.50 for a Diet Coke because they made me thirsty.  Don't tell Dave, he'll roll his eyes and say "That's what drinking fountains are for".

5.  Consider parking on the street, even though it's a pain and it's raining outside.  It was a long ride back through the maze of cars in the ramp.  "Mommy, I'm hungry!"  "Mommy, my shoe fell off!"  "Mommy, why are we stopping?"  "GO!"

It really was a good time, don't get me wrong.  I loved watching Tate get excited and dance along to the music.  He kept asking "Where did Elmo/Big Bird/Oscar go?" when they would exit offstage.  As usual, he sat quietly in my lap for the first 20 minutes just taking it all in, then snuck over to his own chair for a little while, then really got into it and was dancing along.  He really does take after me in this respect.

Tate watching intently.  I loved watching him.  Sorry for the poor picture quality, I didn't use a flash.

Elmo and his pals dancing

Posing with Elmo and the $25 t-shirts. 

Giving Elmo a high five.  The real Elmo did not shake hands or give high fives after the show.  We were disappointed but tried to make up for it this way.