So on Saturday we went to RenFest. We wanted to get a couple more of the dolls (plaids) that Eloise and Desmond loved from last year and the vendor was only there this past weekend and the weekend before. We got both small ones 2 more dolls, which they both love. Desmond takes one with him everywhere.

We arrived after Desmond was finished with his gymnastics class and we brought the carrier for Eloise since it is not a great ground for a stroller and let Desmond walk. We probably should have brought a carrier for him too since he was quite done by the time we left. We got there and got their dolls first off, Desmond happily carrier his blue doll and red doll around for the rest of the trip, Eloise had one of her’s in the carrier and the other in my bag. We then wandered a bit and found the ponies! We let Desmond get in line for the ponies while Eloise stayed on Dan’s back and took pictures. Apparently the entire time Desmond was on the pony Eloise chanted “horse, horse, horse, horse!” So Dan checked how big they had to be to ride on the ponies and was told Eloise was big enough. We actually left the ponies and figured we would come back and let her ride and Desmond have his second ride. We did a couple of other things at the fare and then headed back to the ponies, where Eloise got her ride. She chanted “horse, horse, horse, horse!” the entire time she was on the pony and was happy to go a second time on the pony, if she had had her way we would have never left and she would now own a pony to ride.

Desmond really enjoyed his two rides as well. Dan got a couple of good pictures of Desmond on the pony and a couple of okay pictures of Eloise, so here they are on the ponies.

Here you can sort of see Eloise doing her “cheese” face, whenever she sees a camera she says “cheese” grins and squeezes her eyes shut, it makes it hard to get a good pictures of her. Though she is adorable when she does it.

So we’ve been to Sesame Place three weekends so far this summer and will go back at least 2 more times, maybe 3 this season. We are getting our money out of our season passes! Anyways, Desmond and Eloise don’t really know any of the Sesame Street Characters since we don’t watch the show. Which means that Desmond has decided the park is called the “Parking Lot”. As in “We go to Parking Lot and I ride roller coaster and water slides.” or “Daddy come home and drive to Parking Lot, ride roller coaster.”

Apparently we have not been taking my child to a fun amusement park called Sesame Place, we’ve been taking him to an amusement park called Parking Lot! Dan and I crack up now whenever he says he, but he won’t be corrected. So Desmond loves going to the parking lot!

Here are a couple of pictures from the parking lot of our first two visits. I haven’t downloaded the pictures yet from our most recent visit, which was tons of fun since we met up with friend’s from a message board I am on that have children his age.

Desmond on blast off, it is a ride that goes up and then free falls down and goes back up and down. He loves it!

Desmond enjoying the small 2 foot deep at the highest wave pool. Both Desmond and Eloise love this.

Desmond trying to get his hands to fit in the hand prints of Ernie. Not that he has a clue who Ernie is, but he loves trying to get his hands to fit.

Eloise enjoying the water in the wave pool. Eloise is not a big thrill ride child. In fact she is not a huge ride child. She will do the carousel if she can sit on the bench, but she isn’t overly happy about it. She likes the tiny kids area with big bird’s nest and she loves the wave pool and the other water attractions that don’t include water slides. She also likes the sand. Other then that though, she would rather not go on anything, she didn’t even like flying fish which is basically dumbo, but with Elmo as the ride cars, and she hated the tea cups! She spends a lot of time watching Desmond, since he is a little dare devil and loves all the rides!

Desmond and me on the roller coaster. This is the best picture I have gotten and I try every time. Well best picture Dan has gotten, but the ones I have of Dan and Desmond on it aren’t any better.

On the baby waterslide.

Eloise on the carousel the first time. She tried a horse, but halfway through the ride she wanted down and has refused anything but the bench since.

How Eloise spends a lot of her time at the park

Desmond looking for fun rides to do

Eloise moving a block in Big Bird’s Nest one of the few things she likes.

We have had a ton of fun at Sesame Place so far, it is a great place for Desmond. Eloise is not as thrilled with it, but she does have fun, even if she does have to wait awhile when we get there as Desmond goes on the roller coaster 3 or 4 times in a row. We normally split up fairly quickly so that Desmond can do a bunch of rides he likes and to let Eloise do something other then sit in the stroller. They both have fun though. The season passes were definitely worth it.

Here are a couple of pictures from an earlier trip to Sesame Place. We are in the hotel room and Desmond is reading Blue Hat, Green Hat to Eloise. He can “read” this one since he just goes along with the pictures.

Our yearly father’s day tradition is to go out in the morning and pick either blueberries or strawberries depending on what is in season. So this year we went out to pick blueberries since strawberry season was basically over. Both Desmond and Eloise had a blast, Eloise had a lot more fun this year then last year at 3 months old. They both picked some blueberries and ate a ton of blueberries fresh off the bush.

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Why Desmond only gets to paint once a week or so, at home!

So Sunday afternoon we were heading to my in-laws like we do most Sundays. We had a couple of errands we needed to run before we got there, also like we do most Sundays. The first place we stopped to look for a magnetic baby lock; didn’t have one. So we headed down to Buy Buy Baby to check and see if they had them. Since we had originally gotten them from there to begin with anyways. While we were in the car I told Dan that maybe we would go and get i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m after we were done. Desmond didn’t seem to be paying attention, at the time.

We got there and Dan was putting Eloise up on his back, so I took Desmond with me across the parking lot to the sidewalk. We get on the sidewalk Desmond looks at me and says, “Get ice cream first!” and starts to head off down the sidewalk to the ice cream shop. He was not happy with us telling him no and making him go into the store with us first. Apparently he had been listening to us in the car, and apparently the kid can spell. At least important words like ice cream.

After we picked up our items Dan went to drop them in the car and Desmond and I headed to the ice cream store. One thing that it is important to note, we bought baby wipe at the store. Also note where the baby wipes were headed…

So when we all got to the store we ordered a cone for Dan, a cone for me and a cone for Desmond. We assumed Eloise would be happy enough to lick the cones while on Dan’s back. I know we are foolish! Also Desmond got Rocky Road, which Dan doesn’t like. So as we are leaving the ice cream store I try to give Eloise a lick of Dan’s cone and she attempts to take it out of my hand. I tell her no, just lick the ice cream cone. She gives me a look like are you joking Mom? She then keeps repeating “ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!” She wants to hold the cone though.

So we stop at a set of tables and Dan gives her his cone. He and Desmond go back to the ice cream store to get Dan a new cone. Eloise sits with me and starts chowing down. When Dan and Desmond get back, Dan has Desmond’s cone and Desmond is happy with his new cone. Poor Dan, eventually is able to convince Eloise to switch with him, but she was quite happy with Dan’s original cone.

So the two small ones eat their ice cream happily. Eloise also wears her ice cream quite happily. It was a nice full body experience for her!

Oh and Dan ran into Whole Foods and bought another package of baby wipes, because it was faster then walking to the car to get the ones we had just bought. So that we could clean up Desmond and Eloise!

So Desmond started camp this week. He actually did a week long camp down at my parents over Memorial Day as well. This week really seemed like he started though, since this is the camp through his preschool that he starts in September. It is really weird to think I have a child old enough to go to preschool! The first day he went to camp was Tuesday, he went later this week again on Thursday as well. Both days when I picked him up I asked him what he did and his response was “I play playground, I push kids!” We have no clue what he means when he says he pushed kids, since the teachers didn’t mention anything about it and they would have. He is quite adamant that he “pushed kids”. We are wondering if maybe there are push toys there that he pushed. It is a bit disconcerting though to have your three year old tell you, “I had fun, I played playground, I pushed kids!” though.

He seems to be having fun, though he fought me both mornings about leaving. He had no problems once he got there and I left though. He is growing up so fast!

Here is the video Dan took when we were at Sesame Place. Desmond and I are in the 4th car back, the first visible people riding the roller coaster. It is not a great video but I think you catch a glimpse or two of Desmond in there.

Last year we took Desmond on one of the water slides at my parents pool. He was not a fan. A lot has changed in a year. This year he couldn’t get enough of the water slides. He started off going down with either me or my Dad and quickly graduated to going down all by himself, with someone at the bottom to catch him. He loved it, he would try to get us to take him again and again and again. We did limit him somewhat. We won’t let him go down more then 5 or 6 times in a row, since that was enough for the adults. When he is a bit bigger so he can go up the stairs all by himself, I know where he is going to spend his whole pool time when we are visiting!

Eloise also went down the water slide with my Dad. She enjoyed it, but once or twice was more then enough for her.

So one of the pools at my parent’s club has a splash pad, rather then a wadding pool. Both Desmond and Eloise enjoyed playing in it when we went to the pool. Here they are having fun.

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