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It was actually my idea.
A couple of years ago we took Satchel to see Sesame Street Live when he was deeply entrenched in his Elmo phase and he loved it. Since Monsters, Inc. is in Jiro’s current DVD rotation, I thought they might like to see the Monsters live.
I ran the idea by my mom (who had already been prodded by my niece and nephew) and my husband. They both seemed game. So I trotted over at lunch one day and bought tickets. I had the choice of $36 tickets on the floor, $20 regular seating, or $13 nosebleeds.
I went for the $20 tickets. (Thankfully, Jiro was free.)
Walking back to work, I was already beating myself up. I just willingly paid $60 to drag my family downtown on a Saturday night to watch some dudes dressed in costumes skate around. I started having flashbacks to the Sesame Street Live show where we were able to shuttle a young Satchel past the onslaught of merchandise for sale in the foyer, only to have some dude hawking $15 Elmo balloons sit in our laps during intermission. I also remembered our trip to the circus. Between tricks, the emcee showcased items they had for sale while people with giant bags of cotton candy roamed the aisles.
I immediately put these thoughts out of mind, and tried to look on the bright side. The boys will love it!
It took me awhile to explain to Satchel that we wouldn’t be ice skating, we’d be watching the monsters skate. He was extremely excited. “How many days until the ice skating?” he’d ask. “The Monsters are skating on TV!” he’d scream after the commercials.
When the big day arrived, we went all out. A trolley ride, dinner out, and the promise of one item from the kiosks, compliments of Gigi.
The boys were treated to $8 popcorn (in a Monsters, Inc. bucket), $8 blue cotton candy (with a Monsters, Inc. hardhat), a $5 lemonade, and a $10 plastic sword (for killing monsters?). My niece and nephew got giant $8 snow cones in monster heads and $20 light up toys similar to the ones we bought a year before at the circus. The children had interpreted one item to mean one toy and one refreshment, even though the refreshments technically came with a souvenir toy.
“I don’t think Gigi knew what she was getting herself into,” I said to Warren.
“With dinner, $10 parking, and the ticket prices we have all passed the $100 mark,” he said stunned.
“Next time I suggest something like this, put your fingers in your ears and start humming,” I said.
Despite the sticker shock, we all put on our happy faces and tried to enjoy the fact that the children were having the time of their lives—endless sugar andmonsters! What could be better?
As I watched the guy in the big Sully suit skate by I said to Warren, “God, imagine if that was your job!”
“It’d be cool, huh?” he said as he took another bite of cotton candy.
2 comments:
We've been debating Dora at the Orpheum- I'm pro (for more on my argument, see the pictures of your kids), Chip is con (for more on his argument, see your description of the price tag). One thing is for sure- if we do go, Spaghetti Warehouse won't be involved!
By their expressions, I am sure the children's memories of seeing monsters on the ice will be far more valuable than the 100$ price tag. Memories like these are priceless.
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