"So, what did you do this summer?"
"Well, I had a baby and a month later, we went on vacation to....er....Sesame Place."
"Oh..." (insert attempt at a polite smile).
I live in New York, and even though I'm in my thirties, none of my friends have children. In many ways, life has continued as it was before, but there are definitely moments when the two worlds collide.
I never thought I’d see the day when I’d trade in my carefree adventures abroad for weekend trips to kid themed amusement parks. But it has happened.
At least to an extent.
I will always be a globe trotter. I just, trot with a finicky entourage of the three and under demographic whose interests tend to keep my husband and I a little closer to home (for now…).
At first we did well. When my first son was born, our traveling lifestyle continued un-altered and strong as ever. We got him a passport and jetted off with our easygoing, compliant, sweet boy to Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Jamaica, on and on. Our little nugget has more passport stamps than many adults.
But then he turned two. Suddenly jetting off to Asia or Europe or to the grocery store down the street became a challenge. Then our second son was born, and it was clear we’d have to tweak and re-define the way we travel as a family.
Namely, trips needed to be as kid friendly and sanity preserving as possible.
So when our then two year old, launched an I want to spend my third birthday at Sesame Place campaign, we shrugged our shoulders, scratched our heads, got a little sweaty about the palms and said okay.
A quick two-hour drive from Brooklyn, Sesame Place, in lovely Bucks County, PA, was one of our summer vacation destinations.
I’m not a fan of amusement parks, but Sesame Place, I could handle.
Sesame Place it turns out is a fabulous place to turn three.
It was such a relief to be in a place that celebrated children. The rides were toddler friendly, the bathroom was toddler/baby/family friendly, snacks were easy to get, and the atmosphere was overwhelmingly happy and fun.
And it was so much fun! I mean, it was completely campy and corny, but just looking at the sheer excitement on Ohm's face as his favorite neon colored furry friends made their way down the street, made the entire trip worth it. The energy was infectious. Mark and I let ourselves go and cheered and waved with the rest of the under six crowd.
Sometimes, it's just not about you.
Sometimes, you have to accept that life brings changes.
This year, we did Sesame Place and not Rio, but I would have it no other way.