Busch Gardens A-Go-Go

(Note: Entry contains many words in CAPITAL LETTERS, denoting a lot of EXCITEMENT, which might not be suitable to persons with certain conditions, such as being annoyed by a lot of CAPITAL LETTERS).

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

Why, yes, actually. Take 64 West to Exit 243A.

Anyway, on this sunny day we went to where the air was indeed sweet (from all the funnel cakes), also known as Busch Gardens: Europe (these days, aka: Elmo's World). We didn't go to Busch at all last year, since Eamon was way too young to enjoy or understand, but we decided that this year, he would finally get it. It didn't hurt that we knew they had opened the Sesame Street FOREST OF FUN last year, so Eamon would get to see all his personal celebrities: Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Cookie Monster, etc..

This was Eamon's first "official" visit to Busch Gardens. My parents and I went on Friday, but since I forgot the camera and Aaron was working, we decided to just call it a "test run." I had one burning question that needed to be answered: would Eamon be afraid of large fuzzy characters?

Can you guess?

I'll give you some space to think about it.


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Did you guess that Eamon was ENTIRELY UNINTIMIDATED by six foot furry monsters? That he would run right up to them, screaming in utter adolation and excitement, stomping his feet in a strange jig that obviously meant, "THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME?!"

Because that is totally what happened.

Eamon Munro Bennett Wolfe was in HEAVEN (a weird Heaven where the angels tower over you and have a large amount of fuzz). The first thing we did was watch a short show, that he saw from his daddy's shoulders. He clapped and consistently drummed on Aaron's head in excitement.




Afterwards, the characters got off the stage and wandered around the Sesame Street FOREST OF FUN, and Eamon just about peed his pants. Well, actually, he might have (his diapers, coincidentally, have Elmo on them, which shows you just how dedicated he is).

So here he is with the various characters...

Groovin' with Abby Cadabby...

Huggin' it out with Cookie Monster...

Chattin' with Zoe...

Discussing global warming and the state of European economics since the introduction of the Euro with Grover...

Then, because we are the BEST PARENTS EVER, we took Eamon to LUNCH WITH ELMO AND FRIENDS. Okay, it was kind of expensive, so Aaron and I made sure that we ate all we could eat at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet (can you say "three dinner rolls?" Boo-yah, Busch Gardens!). Eamon always eats a ton, and ate 1 1/2 chicken fingers, 4 pieces of melon, and a dinner roll--which I'm sure was more than most of the three year olds who couldn't stay in their seats more than 1 minute without running over to either Elmo, Big Bird, Burt, Ernie, or Cookie Monster.

A picture in which Eamon and Bert discover that (gasp) THEY BOTH HAVE NOSES!

Eamon really loved the lunch, though he admittedly was a little unsure of how to proceed. He was so thrilled by this point that he got excited not just by the characters, but also by the other kids, the other parents, and even ran up clapping and screaming to one of the sullen teenage workers, who for a second forgot his teenage angst and burst out laughing.

Eamon attempts to get some love from Ernie...

Eamon wanted to meet every character, but mostly whenever he was already interacting another character--"wait, what's that over there? and over there? and over THERE?!" He tried to dance with the other little kids, but kept getting tripped on by said little kids and sometimes even by characters, since an excited Eamon sort of lacks the ability to 1) control his body; and 2) notice that a 7 foot bird's behind is bearing down on him.

Eamon waited FOREVER to get to see Elmo, and then as soon as we got up there, immediately started pointing to Ernie. Patience, young grasshopper...

Regardless, I don't think I'm exaggerating here when I say that Eamon had the time of his life. He was exhausted afterwards, and fell straight to sleep for his nap--in which I'm sure he's dreaming of cavorting with large blue monsters...

It was a good day...