Since I have only been to Sesame Place this one time (two days over one weekend) I am not really in a place to make generalizations or give advice but that’s not really going to stop me. I got a lot of great tips from Kim, who’s an expert, and learned a lot just by being there. My best advice is “Don’t go on what was probably the busiest day at the park ever.” It was REALLY crowded on Friday, which we weren’t expecting (we figured it would be pack Saturday). By the time we got in the gates at 10:15 am there were long lines for everything. So I guess that’s tip number 1 – if you’re going in the crowded summer season, get there a good half hour before the gates open, get in line, use that time to put sunscreen on everyone and give them a morning tantrum-preventing snack.

Two moms, four kids, and no major problems. We deserve medals.

His face was like this all day

Kim and JD enjoying a ride

Luckily the kids were all in a good mood and we managed to get sunscreened up and onto the cool raft waterslide before anyone melted down. But that was the end for Caroline. She DID NOT CARE FOR the water rides and let everyone within a 100 mile radius know it. I wasn’t expecting that – she loves the pool and the lake and the boat. It made chasing Evan through the giant water playground no fun for anyone. Thank goodness he wasn’t the least bit scared…and that the whole place is BUILT for 3 year olds. I think the only thing he needed an adult for was the big (BIG!) roller coaster. Thank God Kim was willing to take Caroline duty so Evan didn’t miss stuff. That’s tip number 2 – Bring one grown up per kid if at all possible. Or have two kids who like doing all the things.

Evan and I are the ones in that last car

A really nice person gave me their Magic Passes at about 4 pm on Friday – it meant 2 of us could skip to the front of any line as many times as we wanted. They cost $30 a piece so it was super, super amazing. The employees didn’t mind if we passed them back and forth so we got to ride everything the kids wanted even though it was crowded.

Boys having fun

We made poor Caroline do water stuff all morning and then tried to get lunch. Here’s tip number 3 – the food isn’t very good and you are allowed to bring in snacks and small coolers so DO THAT. The line was really long, wrangling trays and strollers is tough, and making hungry kids stand in line is pretty much torture for everyone. Next time we’re going to spring for the character lunch, where at least there isn’t a huge line for food, even if I will have to feed Caroline under the table where Telly Monster won’t scare the crap out of her.

Unimpressed

Climber

After lunch we ran back to the car to change, grab snacks and pick up our cameras (we left them safe in the car instead of under the stroller during the wet half of the day). Kim’s kids napped, mine sort of napped, we did rides on the dry side and saw the parade twice. (The night version is cooler.) We stayed until they threw us out at 9 pm and stayed in a hotel so we could do it again on Saturday.

We watched the light parade from the curb of the fake Sesame Street.

Totally worth the $10.

There are only a few floats, but they’re very cool at night and the singing and dancing is fun.

OK, so I realize I’m making it sound like we didn’t have a good time, which is totally wrong. We had a GREAT time. Evan had the best time, I had the second best time, Caroline did not die. She wasn’t happy about the water, she didn’t like most of the shows, and she was a little scared of the characters. But she loved Elmo’s World and the parade and her stuffed Elmo and the carousel. I think she’s going to hate it probably one more time and then warm up.

Elmo’s World

Front row seats

Seriously, FRONT ROW (Caroline wasn’t a fan.)

I loved all of it. I can’t imagine someone my age who wouldn’t love it – it’s Sesame Street! I grew up on Cookie Monster and Big Bird. Even though they’ve added new monsters and updated a little bit it is still very classic and I didn’t feel like my childhood was being betrayed in any way (which yes, is something I was genuinely worried about). We will definitely being going back. Soon. Before Halloween, that’s for sure.

The little-kid part of the park was empty right after opening on Saturday.

I was pretty sure he was never getting off this one.

Yes, we dressed them the same on purpose.

Tip number 4 – Buy the season pass. I used my free admission for military dependents on Friday which was nice, because we could see if we liked it. Saturday I bought two season passes – one at the basic level and one at the mid-level, which comes with lots of great benefits (it’s good the rest of 2012 and all of 2013). I put the fancier pass in Evan’s name, since he’s a kid he has to have a grown up come with him so I get the benefits too (Kim recommended it and the lady at the ticket counter confirmed that’s what most people do).  Free parking, 30% discount on food and souvenirs, early admission to at least one of the shows, and a chance to go backstage at the parade and meet ALL the characters. All of them. Even on a really busy weekend the backstage thing was super cool and we got to meet and take pictures with every single character.

Backstage before the parade

Peeking at Bert and Ernie

Evan doesn’t understand how to pose with the characters

Zoe!

And the characters are GREAT. They costumes are extremely well done. They were very clean and soft, especially considering it was 90 degrees and their job is to hug dirty, sticky toddlers all day. You can’t see the people inside them at all, even up close, and they are very very very good with the kids. Patient and polite and willing to go above and beyond to help get a good picture. I never felt like they were rushing us to go away so they could get to the next kid. They handled a crying Caroline just as well as they handled an overenthusiastic hugger Evan. The park certainly isn’t Disney-levels of magical or clean but the characters are EVERYTHING you would expect from the Sesame Workshop.

Murray worked really hard to get this photos, convincing Evan to come sit on the bench when he wouldn’t stand next to him.

Prairie Dawn is my favorite!!!

I might have gotten a little misty eyed a few times around Elmo.

Official park photo! They didn’t push them on you but it was nice to have a group shot or two.

Caroline refused. I suspect in a year she’s going to be Abby Cadabby obsessed.

They do special stuff all through October for Halloween and we’re definitely going back. They also decorate for Christmas – I’m told it’s really amazing – but I’d need to upgrade our season passes (although if our next visit goes well I might book Caroline the special birthday package for December). Who’s up for a meet-up in early October?

You know what I love about the business end of blogging? Getting a chance to work with brands I already use and recommend. I ordered Caroline’s birth announcements from Paper Culture (Although for the LIFE of me I can’t find them on the blog – did I not post it? I know I ordered so many I sent them to everyone from my old boss to the mailman)(It was this one, in case you were curious) because I won a credit on another blog. They were the nicest, best quality stationary I’ve ever ordered. Paper Culture uses beautiful, thick, 130-lb weight card stock AND rounded corners on their announcements. Rounded corners are pretty much my favorite thing. Add their fun, modern typography and their commitment to being extremely eco-friendly and you get a brand that is totally doing it right.

So when I was offered a credit to Paper Culture through the Global Influence Network in exchange for sharing my experience with you I jumped at the chance. Especially since Paper Culture has just launched a new product – bamboo wall art.

I am a huge fan of any company that turns my photos into art without needing a frame. I’ve ordered several before – mounted on foam board or on canvas – but the bamboo wall art is by FAR the nicest. The photo is perfectly crisp and clear, even though it was blown up to 8.5 inches square. The interface is simple and easy to understand. There are options with text, options with several photos and the one I went with, a plain photo. My only complaint was that the photo editing software built in to the Paper Culture site is TOO much fun. It took me an hour just to pick the perfect photo and then another hour playing with black and white, tints, effects (very Instagramesque) and sharpness.

In the end I used just a tiny color bump and a crop to turn one a snapshot of Caroline swinging into the newest piece in my family room wall gallery.

My gallery was a little light on Caroline pictures so I’m thrilled to have a new one. Plus I love how she’s checking out baby 8 month old Caroline walking on the beach.

I’m not sure how exactly the get the photo on the bamboo, but it looks flawless.

The unfinished bamboo edge is cool and almost unnoticeable when it’s hanging on the wall – it just looks like it’s floating.

I love her, her swing and this piece so, so much.

I realize with the yellow wall and the weird lighting in the room the wall art looks weird in every single shot – but I promise in person it is nicer than any of these. Comparable to a professional print.

 If you have a photo you’re dying to get up on the wall, I found this on the Paper Culture site: Save 25% off all Bamboo Wall Art by entering voucher code: BAMB25 on the Review Order page before Aug 15, 2012. I’m going to keep my eye out for more codes, since I’m guessing the grandparents would LOVE these as Christmas presents.

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I was given a $50 credit towards my purchase at Paper Culture in exchange of my honest review through the Global Influence Network. No other compensation was provided.

1. Win the lottery. (Note to self: remember to buy a ticket next time, dummy.)

2. Become super famous through my adorable yet honest, funny but touching, amazingly photographed blog about my pregnancy. Babies. Home. Dog? Crafting? Coupons? I’m still working on it.

3. Die. Come back from dead. Write bestseller about heaven.

4. Invent time machine. Go back in time and invest in Apple/Microsoft/Facebook.

4a. Invent time machine. Go back in time and invent salad in a bag.

4b. Invent time machine. Sell rides on time machine for $100,000 a piece.

5. Find buried pirate treasure while playing with the kids on the beach.

6. Discover a supplement that leads to drastic weight loss, but only if you consume copious amounts of chocolate, wine and cheese daily.

7. Create the first at-home coffee IV drip.

8. Get discovered by P. Diddy while singing karaoke in a bar. Sign billion dollar recording deal to become the next Beyonce. (Note to self: learn to sing.)

9. Start extremely successful business as a baby stylist.

10. Convince half of Martha Stewart’s Twitter followers to send me $1.

Obviously I am about to strike it rich ANY DAY NOW.

I’ve been staring at this blank page for ten minutes now, wondering how to write a BlogHer12 recap post and I’ve just decided I don’t actually want to. It’s only been a few days since I got home but the posts, tweets, threads and private gossip is coming fast and furious. Who was rude, who got pushed, who snubbed who, what super top secret parties I didn’t get invited to, whether or not bloggers who don’t use all the words count as bloggers at all… It’s amazing how other people’s experience can completely change how I view my own. I don’t want to be responsible for doing that to anyone else. If we met, I thought you were LOVELY. Truly, every single person I met was kind and welcoming, from people I’ve admired for years to brand new faces.  If we didn’t meet, I’m so so sorry and I hope we can get together soon. That’s my entire opinion of the conference besides these photos and captions…done as haiku. Please enjoy.

Wednesday:

Walked to Central Park
With Miranda in the rain
No dead bodies found

Went to find some food
The sunset was amazing
But there was no pie

Thursday:

Blographer and more
I met Ree for the third time
She did not know me

Friday:

Sessions and Martha
The meat of the whole big thing
With fun for dessert

Bright lights and good friends
Toys and swag and all the things
Can’t even compare

Saturday:

Disney made me cry
Katie and Serenity
Too many highlights to count

My friends may be weird
But that’s why they understand
I treasure them all

Today is my 8 year wedding anniversary, which means I have a completely legitimate excuse to post wedding pictures!

Remember, in 2004 most fancy photographers were still shooting with film, so excuse the quality. You’d think having 2 kids and a minivan would make me feel old but thinking about film – FILM! – pushed me right over the edge. Excuse me while I go cry into a pillow.

In my head, we’re the kind of super romantic people who take balloon rides and drink champagne at sunset and buy each other extravagant gifts for our anniversary. In real life, I usually remember to buy a card and E usually remembers to say “Happy Anniversary” at about 11:28 pm. This year, I’m sick and E is working so our entire celebration will probably consist of watching the Olympics for 10 minutes before we both pass out. Last night he helped me clean out the bottom layer of dog hair and juice residue from the bottom of the toy box.

And you know what? I’m totally OK with that. Obviously I would love an all expenses paid vacation to a private island (we’d bring the kids AND a nanny) to celebrate but the fact that I still think “Hey, this guy’s pretty awesome” after spending almost a decade together is cool too. Sometimes love isn’t so much about romance and flowers as it is about having someone to complain to about your crappy day and knowing they actually care.

Happy Anniversary E! I’m so glad we’re on this adventure together, even when it’s more like a Griswold family vacation than Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.