Dora the Explorer (and Diego, too!)

Ok... here's a crazy question- are you or someone you know around 5 to 5 ft. 3 in. tall and interested in wearing a Dora or Diego costume at a Carolina baseball game? We will treat you to dinner! It could be a fun experience. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks!

That is the Facebook status that started it all. My friend Jordan put out a request for people who would be interested suiting up. I put that I liked her status and that ended up leading to me volunteering to be Dora. This would be my first time suiting up in any type of full costume with a head and I wasn't sure what to expect, but it is something I have always wanted to do. That still left the position of Diego unfilled. So my other friend, Laura, stepped up and agreed to be Diego!

When we first arrive at the baseball stadium, our costumes were in huge black cases. Luckily we opened Diego first because he came with dressing instructions that were needed to get the suit on in the correct order. You would be surprised, but the costumes come in ten pieces. Once we got Diego figured out, it was on to Dora. The oddest part of the costumes are the thong like body suits that give you the shape. The shoes are the hardest part because they are so big it makes it hard to walk. Dora has the extra complication of having to hold Boots with her right had, which gets pretty heavy.

The day consisted of two 20 minute stints where Dora and Diego went out seperate and then one time where we went out together. It was really cool to see the excitement of the kids when they got to see us. The only down side was that is was soooo hot in the costumes. By the time we suited up for the third time, our costumes were still wet from the second trip.

We were almost finished with our last trip when I got surrounded by middle school boys who were screaming at Dora and banging on the head and pushing. At that moment I felt assured I was going to fall over. It is not easy to balance and they were pushing so hard. The guy that was escorting me was trying to get in but it was my cousin Diego that came to the rescue. He came swimming through the crowd and grabbed my hand giving me a pull and helping me get away.

That pretty much wrapped up our day as Dora and Diego, but we were now starving for food. One problem: we smelled really bad (not to mention we didn't look great either!). Ended up that hunger prevailed and we sprayed ourselves with some travel lysol i had in the car that took away our smell long enough to let us eat!