Elmo!!!

Some pics from our recent "Sesame Street Live" experience...although the event itself was memorable, the back stories behind these pictures are more interesting...

First, this looks like a simple shot of Tate wearing a cute Elmo shirt:

The Backstory: Not simple at all. You see, I ordered that shirt special for this show. I got it just in time and decided to wash it the night before. About halfway through the cycle, I peeked in to see pink water. Uh oh. I pulled the shirt out and it was completely PINK. I panicked. I threw something. I taught Tate some more new curse words. My mom and I both got online to find a remedy. Rob was sent to Walgreens for Clorox 2. Around 10 p.m., Mom headed to Walmart for Rit Color Remover. We tried it all. We soaked it. We washed it. We agitated it. We washed it again. With each attempt, the pink faded and faded. Eventually it was white enough that it passed Rob's eagle eye test, and Tate was permitted to wear it. Just don't look real close at it...

This picture shows Nancy and Blake attending the event for what appears to be a sweet sister/cousin outing:

The Backstory: It was supposed to be a sweet Mom, Dad and Tate outing. But then the US Hockey team (who knew we even HAD a hockey team??) went and won a bunch of games in the Olympics and were scheduled to play against CANADA for the Gold medal....at the same time that the Elmo show was starting. Rob waffled back and forth about which he wanted to do more: watch a big red furry guy or watch a bunch of big furry guys wearing red. Then we heard a TV commentator call it "the biggest game in hockey history." I didn't even say anything to Rob....I just sent a text to Nancy and asked if she and Blake wanted to join Tate and me at the show in an hour. She agreed, and we had a great time. Blake clapped along with everyone and loved the light show. And Rob got to see the United States lose in a sport he's never cared about. Score Jenny!

We had a great time seeing Elmo in Dallas, but the best part was that Elmo actually remembered seeing Tate there and sent him a little shout-out from DC last week:

The Backstory: Rob's brother Lamar helped write a script for a press conference that Elmo was participating in related to children's TV programming. He was somehow able to get Elmo (the REAL Elmo) to say hi to Tate. Our two-year-old son has a football helmet signed "To Tate" by Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. He has a NASCAR car signed "To Tate" by former Rookie of the Year Denny Hamlin. But this. THIS is what impresses him (and us) the most! Elmo said his name! It just doesn't get any better than that for a two-year-old.