halloween spooktacular at sesame place
Last weekend I was given the opportunity to join a group of bloggers at Sesame Place for the Count’s Halloween Spooktacular. What an amazing time we had!
From now until October 28th, Sesame Place has been transformed into a not-so-spooky Halloween attraction featuring 2 mazes, character hayrides, three Halloween shows and your favorite Sesame Street charactors dressed to impress in their Halloween costumes. It’s good old family fun for kids of all ages.
New this year is Ernie’s Rubber Duckie Costume Party – a non-stop dance party with disco lights and upbeat music.
Families are encouraged to come dressed in costume. It’s too chilly for their water rides, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the dozen dry rides throughout the park! For those families looking for some Halloween fun, trick or treating stations are set up in various locations as well as special events such as the Count’s Halloween Party, Abby Cadabby’s Fairy Pumpkin Party and their annual Halloween Costume Party.
October 6th and 7th—The Count’s Halloween Party ‐ Take a break from all of your Halloween fun at The Count’s Halloween Spooktacular and enjoy the new dinner menu at Dine With Me! Celebrate Halloween with a terrific all‐you‐care‐to eat dinner buffet plus singing and dancing with all of your favorite Sesame Street friends at their very own Halloween Party! Dinner is at 5:00pm and is by reservation only. Children under 2 are free. Visit www.sesameplace.com for complete information.
October 13th and 14th—Grover’s Birthday Bash ‐ Celebrate the birthday of everybody’s favorite fuzzy, blue and lovable too…. Grover! Enjoy our brand new dinner menu at Dine With Me! plus singing and dancing with all of your favorite Sesame Street friends at Grover’s Birthday Bash! Dinner is at 5:00pm and is by reservation only. Children under 2 are free.
October 20th and 21st — Abby Cadabby’s Fairy Pumpkin Party ‐ Help everyone’s favorite Sesame Street friends celebrate Abby Cadabby’s birthday with her very own Fairy Birthday Party! This hour long party includes an all‐you‐care‐to eat dinner buffet, singing, and dancing with your Sesame Street friends. What birthday party would be complete without singing Happy Birthday to the Fairy‐in‐Training! Dinner is at 5:00pm and is by reservation only. Children under 2 are free.
October 29th and 30th—The Count’s Halloween Party‐ Take a break from all of your Halloween fun at The Count’s Halloween Spooktacular and enjoy the new dinner menu at Dine With Me! Celebrate Halloween with a terrific all‐you‐care‐to eat dinner buffet plus singing and dancing with all of your favorite Sesame Street friends at their very own Halloween Party! Dinner is at 5:00pm and is by reservation only. Children under 2 are free.
October 30th — Halloween Costume Contest ‐ Come dressed in a Halloween costume to compete in the annual costume contest at Sesame Place! Registration will begin at 10 a.m. in front of Monster Rock Theater and there will be competitions for boys, girls, and families. All of the contests will take place at Monster Rock Theater and winners will be posted at the Welcome Center. All winners will be invited to be special guests in the Neighborhood Street Party Halloween parade.
Don’t miss out on the special Halloween shows featuring your favorite Sesame Street characters!
Countdown to Halloween – A live character Halloween musical show. Guests are treated to a stage performance starring Count von Count, Elmo, Zoe and Prairie Dawn. In this musical show, Count von Count goes on a journey on his favorite night of the year – Halloween!
Show times for September 29th through October 28th (open weekends only) 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 5:30
The Not-Too-Spooky Howl-o-ween Radio Show – The Count’s Not-Too-Spooky Howl-o-ween Radio Show is sure to entertain the whole family. In this Halloween show, The Count Von Count serves as the master of scare-emonies on an old-time radio show.
Show times for September 29th through October 28th (open weekends only) 11:45, 12:45, 2:15, 5:15
Elmo’s World Live – Halloween Show – Today Elmo is thinking about Halloween! Join Elmo, Mr. Noodle and Dorothy as they explore this fun, fantastic holiday.
Show times for September 29th through October 28th (open weekends only) 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, 2:15, 3:15, 5:00
The Neighborhood Street Party Spooktacular Parade – The Count’s Halloween Spooktacular, the “Neighborhood Street Party” parade will be enhanced with Halloween elements, including an all-new parade stop that will feature “spooktacular” music and new performances by the Sesame Street characters.
Show times for September 29th through October 28th (open weekends only)
4:00
Thanks to the people at Sesame Place for letting us enjoy a fun filled family day at their park including a cup cake happy hour with some of Sesame Streets most beloved characters! (Unfortunately I was only able to capture a phot of my daughter with Abby Cadabby!)
We had a blast and look forward to our next trip!
Thanks to Paola for covering this for Girlymama! It looks like SO much fun and we can’t wait to go again soon!
Disclosure: Paola received complimentary admission for her family to provide coverage for girlymama. as always, all opinions are our own.
living room makeover
My old living room looked like this:
Excuse the old picture from when our house was on the market 3 years ago. I naturally forgot to take a picture before I started cause that’s how I roll. It was nice, but a bit dark. The tan walls had a bit of a green tinge that drove me crazy and the red curtains didn’t lighten things up any.
So I grabbed a bucket of paint and went to town. This is Natural Almond by Behr. Then, I headed to Target and picked up new orange drapes on sale for $14 each. Added two throw pillows and voila!
Its so much brighter, isn’t it? I just love it! Blue and orange is my new favorite decorating combo!
fashion friday: boden shopping list
The Boden Catalog arrived this week. *Cartwheel*
I love Boden. They are stylish, classic, flattering and last forever. Every single thing I’ve purchased from there is still in my closet. What is my wish list from this season?
This cardigan and lace shell are perfection…
What do I want more… a red wrap front jacket or a red mole skin blazer?
Or maybe I want a cord blazer instead…
Nevermind. I want THIS!
Happy Boden-ing!
international day of the girl
Imagine not being able to go to school… just because you’re a girl. That happens all over the world, every day.
Imagine being a 14-year-old girl, shot for her beliefs and for speaking out against the Taliban. Imagine having your school bombed by militants because girls are being educated there. Watching your young daughter being forced into marriage or forced into prostitution. Having that young daughter die in childbirth soon after.
This is the reality facing girls – and their mothers – all over the world. WE are so so blessed in this country that so highly values its women.
These girls deserve better. To help, click on the image below, and you’ll find information written by Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good. She has listed the three organizations that are organizing events for today. Follow the hashtag #DayOfTheGirl on Twitter.
Slow-Cooker Pork Carnitas
I headed to Costco this week to pick up some sirloin tip roast, that is on sale for only $1.99/pound. A full shopping cart later (seriously, Costco needs a warning label on the door) I came home and now have a stocked freezer and I’m ready to go for meals this month! The sirloin tip roast comes in a four pack of individually wrapped roasts, that are around 1.5-2 pounds each. So you can make tons for a crowd or just what you need for a weeknight dinner.
I threw mine in the crockpot (a busy mom’s best friend!) before going to work and we ended up with a feast that night! We had fresh guacamole, black beans and carnitas tacos with all the fixin’s. I’m going to have to make this next time we have people over – a fiesta with carnitas tacos! It would make a perfect casual party – especially for when people might all be eating at once.
For a more formal dinner, I would probably roast the pork and serve with roasted potatoes and asparagus. Yum! The USDA reduced the temperature guideline for pork loins, chops and roasts from 160 to 145 degrees F, with a three minute rest. This will yield a juicy, flavorful product that may be pinker in color than most home cooks are used to. Ground pork, like all ground meat, should be cooked to 160 degrees.
Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
1.5-2 pounds pork sirloin tip roast
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 large oranges)
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 large lime)
8 cloves garlic (whole, peeled)
½ tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ cup beef broth
corn tortillas
sour cream, salsa, sliced avocado, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce (whatever you like!)
Use a 6 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the salt and cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into the slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Squeeze on the citrus, and pour the beef broth evenly over the top.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until the pork shreds quite easily with a fork. It should pretty much fall apart when you poke it with a fork. Shred and serve with warm tortillas.
Don’t forget to enter my Costco giveaway! I’m giving away a $50 gift card in honor of National Pork Month and you must enter by tomorrow!
Disclosure: This post is part of a campaign with The National Pork Board and The Motherhood. I am receiving a stipend for my participation. Opinions remain my own.
and we have another pet
Sigh. Remember Bob? Our pet salamander the kids found in the backyard that lived in our house for 2 weeks?
Meet “Slimey.”
The biggest slug EVER. That is now living in a takeout container in Ellie’s room.
He eats cucumbers, in case you were wondering.
pork makes a party easy *GIVEAWAY*
I am thrilled to be partnering with the National Pork Board this year in honor of National Pork Month. (Didn’t know pork has it’s own month? Today is also National Kick Butt Day, in case you were wondering.)
To celebrate October as National Pork Month, Costco is offering discounts on top pork cuts from chops and roasts to pork tenderloin and boneless loins. Costco members can take advantage of weekly savings ranging from $2.00-$2.50.
Between October 8 and October 14, Sirloin Tip Roast is $2.00 off. Available only at Costco, the sirloin tip roast is a flavorful, marbled cut perfect for the slow cooker and great for entertaining. Not only does this slow-cooking, low-maintenance roast give the host more time to actually enjoy the party, it also comfortably feeds a big crowd on a small budget.
We love pork – just last week, I made a honey mustard pork tenderloin that was divine! Pork is easy, inexpensive and makes great leftovers! Check out this great video sharing a recipe for Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Slow Cooked Pork . YUM!!!
Want to head to Costco and take advantage of this fabulous sale?
WIN IT!
I’m giving away a $50 Costco Cash Card plus a meat thermometer to one lucky winner. If you’re not a member, you can use your cash card to join! To enter, simply watch the video above and tell us your favorite part in the comments.
Additional entries:
(please leave an additional comment for each entry completed)
2. Follow Melissa on Twitter and tweet:
I entered to win a $50 Costco Giftcard from @MelissaAngert #PorkParty http://girlymama.com/?p=5397
One winner will be selected at random using the WordPress plug-in And The Winner Is… and will be notified by email. Please have a U.S. Mailing address. For other contest rules, see my giveaway policies page.
Disclosure: This post is part of a campaign with The National Pork Board and The Motherhood. I am receiving a stipend for my participation. Opinions remain my own.
fashion friday: crunch time
I have a wedding in less than a month. And no idea what to wear.
HALP!
Which one?
This is cute… too cute for a wedding?
Or maybe I should just go black…
Or maybe something like this. I’ve been wanting a navy dress!
Or maybe raspberry and lace….
oooo – maybe this!
HELP!
dealing with arthritis – exercise is key!
Today the lovely Sam from Have Sippy Will Travel is guest posting for us on her struggle with RA. She’s a fabulous girl with a huge heart, who I’m always so happy to see, so I hope you’ll welcome her to Girlymama!!
I love to exercise. Maybe not in all it’s forms- but I enjoy sports (playing, not watching!) yoga, Zumba, pilates, and doing the circuit on even days at the gym. The release of stress, working up a healthy sweat, all in a child-free environment is something I look forward to. Just keep those “spinning” bikes away from me and we are all good.
One thing that I don’t love about exercise is the pain I often feel due to my arthritis. Being young, most people don’t expect that someone my age can have this issue. For me, arthritis came with an auto-immune disease in my early 20’s, and has been a struggle since. Mostly, it is in my fingers, wrists, and knees- but with regular movement, and learning how to take care of my body with proper joint, muscle, and bone care, I have learned to manage the pain and swelling.
There is no known cure for Arthritis, the nations leading cause of disability. Impacting one in every five adults, and affecting millions worldwide, The Arthritis Foundation wants to encourage all Americans to take simple steps that will prevent or decrease the pain and disability of arthritis. The Foundation is launching the Take Action Against Arthritis initiative in support of World Arthritis Day on October 12, 2012. Observed every year on Oct. 12 since 1996, World Arthritis Day is part of a global awareness initiative by the United Nations-endorsed Bone and Joint Decade.
Take care of yourself and your joints. For myself, daily yoga has been enormously helpful, as have been supplements like chondroitin and glucosamine. Check out fightarthritispain.org/