Where's Curious George?

With so many different venues to choose from, we really struggled to decide where we should go today. In hindsight, we made the wrong choice...

After reading online revues, we chose Universal Studios because Gracie loves Barney and Curious George right now. I even asked the attendant at the gate if the tickets we were buying were for the part of the park with those two character areas. She didn't bother to mention that the entire Curious George section of the park was closed for maintenance. Ugh!

I do think Gracie's experience with Mickey and Minnie helped her to warm up to the idea of full-size, furry characters, though, because she loved seeing George, Woody Woodpecker, and Scooby-Doo on the traveling character trolley. She even hugged Curious George and followed him around, still waving as the trolley drove away.

The E.T. ride and the Barney Show were the favorites for the day, except for the ball pit! She loved singing along to "I love you. You love me. We're a happy family," catching the snowflakes and leaves that fell from the ceiling during the Barney show, and even getting her picture taken with the purple dinosaur. We sat in the front by the stage, she danced around to the songs, and "ooohed" and "aaahhhed." I will never forget the joy on her face. I guess that half hour was probably worth the admission cost to the park.

After the show, we headed back to the ball pit even though it was pretty grimy from being outdoors in the middle of construction and repairs. She jumped, squealed, threw herself backwards, and tried to bury herself under the balls. By the time she said, "I have to go potty," it was too late and her panties were wet. I took her to the bathroom, rinsed out her panties and skort, and put the skort back on without her panties. She was not happy about that at all, but we didn't have too many options and it was time to go back to the hotel. I'm sure that the damp, cotton, shorts were really uncomfortable. She was even more unhappy when I wrapped the damp underwear in some dry paper towels and had her carry them back to the car. She kept telling me, "No, Mommy take it!" but I told her, "No, they are Gracie's panties." I really believe that the best lessons usually are learned when kids have to deal with consequences that flow naturally from their actions. I just hope that her strongest memory from today isn't a wadded up paper towel...