Sesame Street Live

Sesame Street Live! (yes, it ends with an exclamation point) was in Spartanburg this weekend, so we decided to take our little Elmo officianado to the show. We geared her up all day for a suprise, and finally told her after her nap**(see footnote) that she would be going to see Elmo and Abby. Boy, was she excited! She was so excited that she gave no objections to getting dressed, found her coat, and dragged both her bookbag and the diaper bag to the door. This girl was ready!

While the show was not exactly to an adult's taste in entertainment, it was perfect for the toddler/preschool crowd. It's amazing how much fun you can have when you see the world through the eyes of your precious child. Here are a few shots I captured while we were there. Please excuse the quality-my camera is acting up...

The Sesame Street gang dancing their hearts out.

Jack slept sweetly in his wrap almost the entire time. When he wasn't asleep, he was mesmerized by the disco ball.

Gracie Girl sat with Daddy and had an absolute blast! She danced, clapped, and tried to run down the aisle to see Abbe (Abby). We had to explain that she was busy dancing and couldn't play. We hoped she could get a quick high five when Abbe danced down the aisle right next to us, but she stopped just shy of our row.

A very happy girl leaves with her 10 dollar (!!!) Elmo balloon acquired during intermission. My dad said we are officially parents now that we have payed waaaaaayyy too much for a silly souvenir :o)

Gracie and Elmo riding to the car on Daddy's shoulders.

Gracie loved the show, and told me all about Elmo, Cookie, Abbe, Occa (Oscar), Bi Buh (Big Bird), Gogo (Grover), Erneh (Ernie), and Bur (Burt) when we got home. Sesame Street was my favorite as a child, and I am glad that if she had to choose characters to love those are the chosen ones :o)

**Her nap**

Oh. My. Goodness.

Let me back up a bit and set you up for this one. Before Jack was born, we decided to move the nightstand from my side of the bed into Gracie's room so that the Pack N Play would fit next to me. The nightstand was full of Chad's old stuff, so we turned it around so the drawers faced the wall.

Today, while she was supposed to be napping, we heard her dragging her furniture around in her room. We checked on her, and she was dragging her bench around. We moved it back, but heard the same noise a few minutes later. We assumed it was the bench and just left her alone. A little while later I was in Jack's room organizing Christmas gifts when I smelled a weird "chemical" type smell. I thought it was coming from the air vent, so I went and told Chad about it. He said to check her room to see if it could be coming from there. Oh. My. Goodness. The smell was dry erase marker!! The sound of furniture being dragged was made by her moving the nightstand away from the wall. Apparently, Chad had the markers in a drawer from when he was a teacher. She had written all over her pj's, her hands, the hardwood floor, several books, her bench, and her comforter. It came off the floor, hands, and books. As a teacher myself, I happen to know that nothing gets dry erase marker out of fabric. Nothing. So, her light pink and white comforter and bench are basically ruined. Lovely. All of this, and we still made it to Elmo on time. Whew!

If you happen to be a chemical genius and can give me an antidote for this mess, please share! My goal is to try and get the stains out without making the ink spread or doing further damage.