Chasing The Clouds Away.....

My friend Shelley got free tickets to Sesame Street Live. Her little girl, Alex, is the same age as Hazel and they love each other (sometimes).

Hazel and I talked beforehand about what this performance was. She has never been to anything like that, and it was kind of hard to explain. She asked if it was going to be at a movie theater and I said "No- it's the real characters from Sesame Street dancing on a stage." She thought about that for a while and then said "You mean there are people wearing costumes from Sesame Street?" She's always one step ahead of the game.

I had no idea what she would think of it. She was excited when we walked into the theater and saw them dancing on the stage. Then we were led to our seats.....three rows from the stage. She got quieter and quieter the closer we got. She sat down and assumed a timid position of uncertainty:

Almost immediately, this girl:

got reaaalllly close and was touching children close by. Hazel freaked out just a bit and didn't completely let her guard down for the rest of the show. Even when the girl wandered away, she continued to look around the theater and ask every couple of minutes "Where's the girl with the blue headband?" And I don't mean in an excited way...I mean in a preparing for danger way. She would lean towards me and look around anxiously as if she thought headband girl would jump out from behind her at any moment.

Everyone got a little more comfortable as the show went on. Hazel would relax and actually let go of the armrest for a moment, and then some other character would creep over and she would resume the lean and clench position.

But in her defense, wouldn't you be slightly worried if this glob of fuzzy spasticness was towering inches from your personal space?

Luckily Mommy was there to keep her safe.

I loved seeing their precious little entranced faces.

Even Shelley was too spellbound to pose for a picture.

Then Hazel got pregnant. No, seriously....what's up with her shirt in this picture?

Thanks to the amazing lighting technicians (whatever they are called), it even rained on stage! Pure magic.

But not near as magic as the cotton candy. Hazel didn't want her hands to get sticky, so she just dove right in with her teeth.

All in all, she was a happy camper and enjoyed the show.

However, here are a couple of videos that cracked me up. This was toward the end of the show when she was a little less leery of the performers. She was dancing and enjoying the music, but in the second video, you will see that The Count got a little too close for comfort. She practically dove towards me and clung to my arm with fear.

These girls are so funny. At the sitter's, they are inseperable. They talk about each other at home. But when we finally get them together (away from their normal meeting place), they will barely make eye contact. It's so weird. Here is the one brief moment that they touched each other.

But when I tried to get a better picture outside, they wouldn't even stand close to each other. Funny girls.

Thanks Shelley and Alex for making our day so memorable!