On August 16-17th, we went with Wendy, Charlie and Jasmine to the Great Escape in NY state. We drove down and went there for the evening on the first day (come after 4pm and admission is much cheaper), and then upgraded our ticket for the next day for way cheap. These pictures were all taken the second day, some by us and some by Charlie and Wendy.
The first night at the motel - Jasmine got a little twin bed, and Elliott slept with us. Elliott insisted that he be able to sleep with Jasmine on her bed, and was really disappointed to have to go out to the other room with us. I wonder how long it would have taken him to want mama nummy if we'd said he could sleep with her.. still, they were super sweet together for the whole trip.	We could *not* get him to smile that morning.. I think he was just a little overtired and disoriented.	the running begins.. he spent a lot of time in the sling, because he WOULD NOT hold our hand - he would yank away and sit down like our hand was burning him. I don't know why. He doesn't have much practice holding hands - usually we either carry him or set him free. We'll have to practice, especially now that he's 29 lbs!
c'mon guys, let's GO!	this is one of the last times Elliott willingly held anyone's hand	While Jasmine sat down cutely inside the little red schoolhouse, Elliott refused to go in and spent the whole time gleefully throwing rocks and leaping off the front steps!
Hmm, what's in that whale? (he refused to go in until we'd all walked away)	Elliott and Mike on a dragon - Jasmine was worried, but Elliott just considered it a giant jungle gym	Elliott's favorite ride - choo choo! (we weren't on it in this picture of course)
Here we are riding it - Elliott didn't want to sit down until we reminded him that the conductor lady needed him to.. then he was pretty good.	Elliott standing next to an elephant sculpture from the world's fair ("mama, I go in?")	I bet I could ride that elephant!
So uhh.. what'dya say we take off for the roller coasters - think they'd notice?	a REAL snake, just lounging right off the jungle trail (I touched it, it WAS real!)	whoo, I look funny!
The kids loved the funny mirrors	Elliott trying to figure out how the vending machine works..	vroom vroom! "I ride modor-die-cle!"
Elliott drives a big rig	"I think you need to take a left up here, Elliott!"	I drive it? (kids are cheap at the age of 2 - they couldn't care less if we put money in the machines!)
BRrr! Driving with Alvin the chipmunk!	Beep beep!	Elliott gave Alvin lots of hugs!
We took turns using the sling since we only had one	snuggling up after getting cold in the water park (it was a cold overcast day, but the water slides beckoned)	Gotcha!
trying to climb up the flower in Alice in Wonderland (he wanted to go down the "slide" - a curved blade of grass that was part of the sculpture)	Aww, hugging the white rabbit!	riding on the merry-go-round - Elliott apparently does NOT like them and frowned enthusiastically the whole time, until he was distracted by how the horse went up and down, and stared up into the machinery, talking about pipes and motors and things..
Bye Bye park! (imagine a gorgeous rainbow on the left that I missed because we were driving)		Another rainbow appeared just as we left dinner to go home - Elliott was so overtired and grumpy that he spent most of the ride home being completely intolerable - sigh! He's great on short road trips, but over an hour is really pushing it. Both kids had runny noses just before we left, so they held up pretty well considering that they were a little sick, got freezing cold in the water park, ate little for the whole trip, and didn't have a nap until the car ride home after dinner..
Grandma, the closest person I know to a saint, has been coming over lately to help watch Elliott and clean and organize things - Elliott loves reading books with Grandma.	For her birthday party, we picked up a "chocolate bliss" cake from the local bakery - so chocolatey it was almost painful to eat!	Elliott manages to snitch a fingerlick
Elliott loves Grandpa	Rachel and Ian visit	blowing rasberries!
making music with Ian (We have several cousins' pictures on our fridge, so Elliott talks about Ian frequently and was thrilled to meet him)	Later that week, we went to ECHO, the local science center, with Grandma and Grandpa. Here, Elliott explores the "fog" outside the front doors	ooh! (zebra mussels in a tube) - notice that he's already soaked 5 minutes after arriving, from the display pool at the entrance
climbing up the slide	Oh, mama, fish in there! ("big bit-th!")	Elliott spies the turtles
looking at bugs with a magnifying glass	Elliott loved watching the ferry come in	a gorgeous evening to be on the water.. (this is double exposed accidentally, but I like the effect)
anemones	Elliott is a raptor	Dada is a Bald Eagle
Elliott's somewhere between a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Peregrine Falcon (I won't mention that Mom came out as closest to a Turkey Vulture - gobble gobble!)	Home again, Elliott works on his dog toy	Mike and our tomatoes
Kevin and Jillian came for the weekend! It took about 0.3 seconds for Elliott to warm up and become totally absorbed in Kid-Dom. We pretty much didn't see him for the rest of the weekend, as he took turned worshipping Kevin and Jillian	nice tower!!	Mike shares a nice snuggly moment with Fiona bona baboona mona
Ian's new earring	Aww..