Elmo!

Sesame Street Live! came to Fort Bragg today. Brian got us the free tickets a month ago. They sold out very fast! Sam hasn't watched SS in a month or more, but he still loves Elmo. I felt bad for the other characters who know they're not the reason all the kids are there. Poor Grover never gets any love.
A few years ago SS put together a DVD featuring Elmo that is specifically for kids with deployed parents. It talks about missing Dad, feeling sad, and how to be happy while they're away. I didn't realize the show was a live version of this DVD, so I spent most of it in tears, of course. Sigh. I'm WAY too emotional on the subject of deployment.
So anyway, Sam liked it. He was a little underwhelmed, but he did dance and point and scream and clap. Of course many parents let their kids run down into the aisles and get closer to the characters. I wouldn't let Sam. They said there would be a photo session with the characters afterwards and I had intended to get pictures of Sam with Elmo or whoever we could get without being there for an hour. Then my new camera battery died. Every once in a while the characters would come out into the crowd, but never really close enough to Sam. Elmo stayed away from us completely and got mobbed the only time he came out. So finally the last couple minutes of the show I took Sam right in front of the performance area to try to get him a hug from somebody, but we never got the chance. He was sad and is still asking for an "Elmo hug." Grrrrr....
Here are some pictures:
His free Elmo light-up toy

It's Elmo!


Watching the show



BTW: While I'm writing this, I hear this POP! and I'm hit with low-velocity plastic pellets from behind. I'm like "What the-" and Sam is holding a claymore mine he's detonated. He says quietly - "Sorry."
Turns out Brian has a practice claymore I never knew of and Sam, of course, discovers it. Thank God he didn't open it toward his face! Brian's in SO much trouble. This is what happens in a miliary family when you don't let your kid watch TV.