Air Pressure Rockets!

Air pressure rockets to be exact.  This was a third birthday gift for ChaseKBH from friends who I think actually bought the rockets for Jamie.  Regardless, ChaseKBH enjoyed sending these high into the air.  We have been talking about air pressure for a bit.  He knows that there are zillions of air particles pressing down on him.  Unfortunately, that also means that, on occasion, he yells at the air particles.  I'm not sure how well we're understanding science here.  We do like things that go boom, and we definitely like things that fly.  Thirty pounds of toddler doesn't really get much flight, however.   

The setup itself is super simple - take the stand out of the package, then click it together.  The box came with four foam rockets to launch.  There's a squeezable air reservoir attached to the launcher with a tube - jump on it, and the rocket goes off.  ChaseKBH was a bit terrified of the actual set up.  It took a couple attempts to get him to jump onto the reservoir.  Poor BeaABH just got to watch.

A fancy [wading] pool costume party

Mo Willems has to be a geek.  He's just too awesome to be lame.  We are devotees of all things Elephant and Piggie, so of course for ChaseKBH's third birthday party he wanted a fancy pool costume party.  Not actually having a pool, and not wanting to rent space at a pool for a hurried, stressful party, we decided to follow the book to the letter and set up wading pools.  Best party ever.  Well, since the kids are three, pretty much anything that involves a cupcake is the best party ever, so the bar is set rather low.  Regardless, it was easy, fun, and I haven't been blackballed by the other parents yet for failing to do the requisite party place party.  I think the booze helped.  

We set up a couple of wading pools in the backyard, and a sprinkler.    We gave each kid a  top hat and a couple necklaces of Mardi Gras style beads - both items came cheaply from a party website.    When they needed a break from splashing, they wandered over to the make your own mask table.  I cheated and got a kit off Amazon, but if I was more organized probably would have used leftover craft supplies.  The masks were a huge hit, and keeping the glue and gross outside, then hosing the little devils off before they came inside, was useful.  Did I mention that all children are disgusting by nature?   A good bit of glue was consumed by the attendees.  I gave each child a copy of I Am Invited To A Party in a little canvas tote bag, which was just large enough to slip in their mask and beads.  They wore their top hats out, naturally.  I'm sure some parent somewhere thinks I'm cheap and evil not to do the usual goody bag full of stuff, but again, I'm a lazy mother and  I hate toy clutter.

We did a backyard barbecue for dinner.  there's really no reason to show this picture except there are awesome flames coming off a five foot grill.  

Sesame Place

I will admit the horrendous truth - I'm really not into Sesame.  In fact, I find a lot of Sesame quite annoying.  I appreciate the work Children's Television Workshop does worldwide, but I really don't find Sesame Street terribly interesting.  Despite the fact that he watches very little Sesame Street (at the grandparents' house), ChaseKBH does love several of the characters, though he inexplicably wants to punch Grover, and is convinced Cookie Monster will eat him (he chose a Cookie Monster toy to give his little sister when he first met him, and somehow this has transformed into Cookie Monster wanting to protect BeaABH and eat ChaseKBH).  Of course, living anywhere near Philadelphia, we did have to make the obligatory Sesame Place trip at age three.  We went with another family from ChaseKBH's preschool, which made it easier, as the kids entertained each other, and the parents had some distraction and amusement.

Jamie, however, loves Sesame Street.  He has fond memories of watching Sesame Street as a kid, and apparently Count von Count is responsible for his entire life's work.  As well as the inspiration for last year's Halloween costume.

This explains the trepidation some of his students have when taking his classes - he'll spend hours giving them extra help (usually unwanted since they're undergrad non-majors who just want to check a box and graduate), but his goal is to instill a lifelong love of math, which rarely happens.  Of course, he's trying to do the same with the kids, which might be going a bit better.  Anyway, back to Sesame Place...

Half the park is a water park, which ChaseKBH enjoyed splashing around in, but wasn't all that different than the pools at home.  When he's a bit older the slides and such might be more exciting.  The other half includes dry rides.  ChaseKBH rode his first roller coaster - the Vapor Trail - a dozen times.  The lines in the summer, however, are insane.  Absolutely crazy - there are lines for rides, lines for food, lines for bathrooms, lines to meet characters, and lines that seem to have no actual purpose whatsoever.  The park offers a pass to bypass lines for $30/per person per day.  I'm not a fan of the idea of such a pass, I don't like what it teaches kids, and the execution of it at Sesame was less than stellar.  However, the second day I broke down and bought them - and ChaseKBH did get to ride the roller coaster over and over.  If we do go again I'm going to try going on a weekday during the shoulder season with fewer lines and less heat.  The food is overpriced and pretty terrible, even for a theme park.  They do allow you to bring coolers and snacks, so the obligatory granola bars, cheese sticks, and milk.juice boxes were liberally consumed.

At 3 and 9 p.m there is a parade.  While the kids seemed to like the music and dancing, I did notice that the parents seemed to be connecting with the characters and reliving their own youth.  Its interesting as a shared cultural experience.  Of course, I was too short to see much, but ChaseKBH was seven feet tall.  I wasn't organized enough to stake out parade space and wait that long with two very small, squirmy kids.  The ride lines are also fairly short after the parade, so its a good chance to do things that are super popular.  Sesame Place doesn't open until 10:00 a.m., so unfortunately the advice to "go early" isn't that much help with small kids - they all seem to get up at the crack of dawn.  One big value, however, is the "preferred" parking - at $18/day, its only $3 more than the standard $15/day parking, you don't have to cross the street to get to the park, and its practically as close as the VIP $30/day parking.  It was worth it to skip a locker the second day and it was nice to have an airconditioned escape with the baby if needed.  The tickets are the same price for one day and two days, and there are reasonably cheap hotels in the area, so it really is worth it to stay overnight.

ChaseKBH was completely worn out before leaving the lot.

The New Space Airplane Museum

ChaseKBH's current favorite destination is the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center - or, as its called in our house, the "New Space Airplane Museum" and occasionally the "Space Airplane Museum at Dulles."  I try to remind ChaseKBH that the Udvar-Hazy Center predates him, but he seems to disbelieve me.

The Udvar-Hazy Center is a fantastic destination for a toddler -- there are cool planes and other large objects to look at, the space is large and fun to move around in, and there's a nice observation deck from which you can see takeoffs and landings at Dulles.  Though the Udvar-Hazy Center is part of the Smithsonian, and therefore admission is free, there is a parking charge of $15, and its hard not to drive to get there.  Its a bit of a hike, requiring travel on I-495 and the Dulles Toll Road, so we avoid weekday travel there if possible.

ChaseKBH likes to go up to the observation tower - its fairly short, but it gives a great view of takeoffs and landings at Dulles.  The windows are floor to ceiling so short people have a full view.  There's also a nice view of the Virginia countryside.  The observation deck and the floor below host an exhibit about air traffic control.  The tower closes before the rest of the building, and the lines can be rather long to get onto the tower elevator, so we either do the tower first or skip it entirely.  Strollers are not allowed on the elevator to the tower, but there is stroller parking at the entrance to the elevator.  http://airandspace.si.edu/visit/concessions/tower.cfm 



The Boeing Aviation Hanger houses aircraft ranging from the time of the Wright brothers to modern warplanes.  The McDonnell Space Hanger currently displays the space shuttle Discovery, as well as exhibits ranging from missiles to rockets and the containment trailer used by the Apollo 11 astronauts.  The space shuttle seems to be of particular interest to the parents walking around - particularly those of us in our early 30s to early 40s who remember the heyday of the shuttle program.  The kids seem more interested in the rockets than the space airplanes.