Florida Part 5: Busch Gardens

Tampa was only a 35 minute drive away from where we were staying in St. Petersburg, so we decided to take the boys to Busch Gardens one day of our trip. It was just Jay, the boys, and I, and we had a great day! Neither Jay or I had ever been there before, so it was an adventure for all of us. We really enjoyed it and plan to go again next year.

Jay had picked out these "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" shirts for the boys when we were shopping on evening in John's Pass. I am glad I got a few pictures of them in them before we left that morning...

...because THIS is what happened as we were pulling into the parking lot!!! Yes, those are chunks! Hunter evidently got carsick on the drive there. He had been screaming and crying in his seat, and all of a sudden he threw up his entire bottle of whole milk, as well as his breakfast which had included cheese cubes. NIIIIIICE!! I was so worried he was sick, but he seemed perfectly fine after so we changed his clothes, (thank God I had an extra outfit in the diaper bag and we had Clorox wipes in the van!) borrowed a grocery bag from someone in the parking lot to stick his nasty clothes in, and cleaned up his car seat and the van the best we could. He was fine all day so we are chalking it up to car sickness. Let me tell you how lovely the van smelled when we got back to it after sitting in the heat all day.... But on to more pleasant thoughts! :) One of the first things we encountered when we got in the gates were the friendly flamingos. They are super tame, and let people go right up to them. Holden thought they were pretty funny!

Busch Gardens had the neatest topiaries throughout the grounds. Holden had fun spotting them and pointing out the different animals.

Hunter was too little, but Jay took Holden into the wallaby walkabout area. He got to pet and feed the wallabies, which he loved!

Some family pics

The majority of our day was spent in...Sesame Street World!!! We saw all of Holden's favorite characters, and even got to do"meet and greets" with Big Bird and Elmo. It is so funny to me that a little over a year ago, he was terrified of characters, because he was just beside himself with excitement at seeing them. :) Hunter didn't seem quite sure what to make of them, but he didn't cry.

Sesame World was so much fun! It was just perfect for Holden's age. He loved all of the little rides, the shows, and the play areas. I remember when I was young and we would go places, and my mom would say how much fun it was for her to just watch my brother and me having fun. I never understood why that would be so fun for her until I had my own kids. Watching his delight over everything just made my day.

There WERE, however, a few moments he did NOT care for....such as Grover's "Safari of Fun" roller coaster! I laugh every time I see this picture. Poor Holden. But seriously, hysterical. It was a pretty fast roller coaster for a kiddie ride. Needless to say, Holden would NOT describe it as fun! Ha!

And then there was the moment when he got absolutely drenched from the spray off of a roller coaster/water ride. There was a spot you could stand in to get wet when the ride went by. Jay thought it would be really funny to tell poor, clueless Holden to go stand by the other kids for a surprise. Don't feel too badly for him, though...it was incredibly hot, so he did get cooled off. And I made Jay buy him Dip N' Dots as an apology. :)

Other than those events, Holden had an absolute blast. Jay actually really enjoyed climbing in the Sesame Street "Tree House" with him. It was this huge play area with ropes, nets, trampolines, etc. I don't know who enjoyed it more; Holden or Jay.

Hunter spent most of the day in the stroller or being held, as he was really too little to do much. He was a very good sport and was happy for the most part. The boy is easy to please; give him food and drinks, and he is good to go. He did take a nap on Daddy while we waited for the train ride. And he got to experience his very first kiddie ride at Sesame World (see the bottom right picture). There was one that he could go on with Holden and me; it was like a ferris wheel but the cars were little eggs. I was a nervous wreck the whole time because I thought I could hold him on my lap, but they made me seat him next to me and belt him in. Only the belts were not too tight, and obviously he is too little to understand the danger of trying to climb out of the belt when we are up in the air! He and Holden had a grand time giggling while I clamped my arm over him and prayed!!! :)

We took a train ride to see some of the wildlife. When the boys are older, there are safaris that you can take to get up close and personal with the animals...even feed and pet the giraffes! It was neat to see everything and the scenery was gorgeous.

Back in Sesame World, there was a spray park area. It was in the mid-80's and sunny, so it was perfect for cooling the kids off. They must make a fortune there because I doubt many people (like us!) think to bring swimsuits/trunks. They conveniently have a little shop right there selling all kinds of water clothing/shoes/toys. Yes, we were suckers and bought two pairs of swim trunks. Holden had a blast. Hunter stayed in the water about 2 minutes, got sprayed, crawled out shrieking and mad as a hornet, and just watched the rest of the time. So glad we already have about 12 pairs of trunks for him. Just not there!

We had a wonderful day at the park. Holden got to hug Grover and Zoey goodbye on his way out. We can't wait to go back next year! I know it will be a whole new experience when Hunter can really join in!