It’s going to sound extra weird coming from me but I hate flying. Really. No really. And this is coming from a person who as a child took 6 seater planes from one place to another in the middle of thunderstorms. The plane flew so low you could count the man eating fish in the water. Flying didn’t phase me then.

I do admit, it probably has something to do with not being completely over what I saw with my own eyes on September 11th and my fear that it will happen again but this time I will be on the plane and will be a coward and just there crying as crazy people do terroristic things. But it probably also has something to do with the fact that all the planes I have been on lately have been having quite a bit of turbulence.

I just got home from traveling this week and each time an insane amount of turbulence happens I think I need to talk with someone who flies even more than me — wait, that’s not possible — I need to talk with someone who has no problem flying so they can explain how I can calm down and not immediately have nervous flying symptoms.

If anyone knows someone let me know. I was going to ask someone I know but ironically, I am flying too much to find enough time to sit down with him. Pathetic I know.

Last Summer I sat out taking Natalie to Sesame Place eventhough she could be Grover’s biggest fan because her brother was not even 2 months old when she had her birthday party and I didn’t really want to travel with him in the car for hours unless we really had to.

So I’ll admit I definitely wasn’t prepared for what I saw today while at Sesame Place. It was supposed to start with a calm lunch with the Sesame Place characters. Oh, who am I kidding.. Natalie was so excited to see Elmo, Cookie Monster and Zooey she didn’t eat and refused to let Elmo leave the picnic area.

Poor Elmo sat with her and drank water with her until she calmed down. (And then a Sesame Place staff member went and got her milk with a straw because she was afraid to leave Elmo and get one herself.) It clearly was a dream come true to be surrounded by the Sesame characters and I think next time she will not be as excited because she will know what to really expect.

It rained a bit towards the end of the day but the Sesame Place parade still went on and as Natalie sat on the sidelines and watched Oscar, Bert, Telly and a character or two that I don’t even know. I could see she was very happy to be at Sesame Place and was really enjoying the parade, the different activities and even let me take a few photos of her in front of signs throughout Sesame Place. (I video taped a bit of the Sesame Parade with my Pure Digital Camcorder and I’ll put it up on the site when I get a chance.) After the parade, she finally wanted to eat so we went to one of the many restaurants selling Elmo containers of chicken fingers and fries and chocolate milk and she ate a late lunch.

When we were ready to leave, after a quick stop in the gift shop for Sesame Place crayons, lunchbox and an extremely lifesized Grover doll, she met her favorite Sesame character — Grover. He was about to go in for a break but we managed to get a photo with the Canon digital camera and the Sesame photographer took one of her as well which we of course bought so she could have an official photo of her first Sesame Place visit.

I’m sitting here thinking about her 3rd birthday… if I can get a weekend off from work, I’m thinking of taking her to Beaches Turks & Caicos so she can see all her favorite characters again otherwise we may just head back to Sesame Place for another day trip.