I know it's been a while....and I really have no great excuse, except that life is busy around Fifty Below Zero. But, as I sit here on a Saturday night with a glass of wine, I thought it was time to show off what we've been up to.
Last month I took Gizmo into Minneapolis for her very first "theatre" experience - Sesame Street Live! Boston and Katie had given her tickets for Christmas, and the day had finally arrived for her "big girl" trip to the city - no Gonzo invited. ("You're too little, Gen!")
To document the day, I thought we could take a cute mommy-daughter picture before we left. Gizmo was not so cooperative....
...nor was she interested in taking pictures with Aunt Katie, whom we had met for lunch.
But when we got to the Target Center, she was overwhelmed at the amount of Sesame Street stuff. A play area was advertised in the concourse of the Target Center, and so she was very anxious to play. I was a little disappointed in the fact that it only consisted of some wooden cutouts of the characters with a button to push so they would talk. But, she loved having her pictures taken with all of them.
Katie and Boston spared no expense, and so we had fantastic seats five rows up and just left of center. We got to our seats just in time for the show to start. Once she figured out how to navigate the seat (it was one that you had to pull down to sit on, but she didn't have enough body weight to keep it down), she was ready for the show. Truth be told, the show was really cute. Who doesn't love a magic wand in the hands of someone else other than its owner who makes everybody sing? The music teacher in me just adored that "M" was the letter of the day, and "MUSIC" was the word on the street. Cute!
There was an intermission during the show, and this is when the real spectacle began. Truth be told, I was not anticipating the onslaught of products for purchase at this thing. I had exactly zero in cash, and when the candy, popcorn, ice cream, and Elmo balloons (!) came out, I feared the ultimate meltdown from Gizmo. (I was not prepared for something like this - we NEVER went to Sesame Street when we were kids. That would have involved going north of Joliet.) I held my breath as I watched Gizmo take the whole scene in. Luckily, when she asked for popcorn she fell for my excuse of "we just had a lot of lunch" hook, line, and sinker. And that was that.
She was tired through the second half of the show (we didn't get a rest time that day), and had a meltdown in the bathroom before we left because she claimed she didn't have to potty. I don't think she made it out of the parking ramp.
But she had a great time and was singing the songs for the next week in the house. It was a fun day, just my Gizmo and me. Thanks Katie and Boston for a great day!