Toddler Tuesday

Last Tuesday Jon took the morning off and we headed to the Mall of America for Toddler Tuesday. This day they were having a meet-and-greet and story time with Curious George. Eli was dressed in his best Curious George outfit and we waited in line line to meet George. When it was his turn Eli was all smiles and he went up and gave him a giant hug. We could tell that he was in monkey-loving heaven. Unfortunately we forgot the camera and were not able to capture this cute moment. They also had free snack and coloring sheets for the kids, which Eli enjoyed. We didn't stay through much of the story because he lost interest when George left. He isn't familiar with Curious George books, just with the cartoon on PBS.
When then went to the new Nickelodeon park and use some free ride tickets we received at the Fourth of July parade. We found out fairly quickly that Eli is going to be a thrill ride junkie. Amazingly enough, as a little two-year-old he is able to ride most of the kiddie rides with daddy (mommy was rejected because of baby). He loved the Swiper's Sweeper cars that wipe you around the turns, the Diego bus that twirls up in the air, the Big Rigs trucks with the steering wheels and horn, and the kiddie roller coaster. We thought it was interesting that he was not tall enough to ride the flying Blues Clues (a mini version of the Dumbo ride) but he could ride the roller coaster?!? He loved the "thrill" rides so much that when he went on the little Dora train that goes around a circular track he just sat there with a bored look on his face. He only cracked a little smile when they sounded the horn.
Worn out from the rides we then had lunch in the food court and headed out to drop Jon of at work. Elijah talked about driving the cars and riding with daddy on the bus for the next couple days. We will definitely head back in the near future to use up our leftover tickets!