My mom bought us a family fun pass to Busch Gardens that expired on the 31st of December, so we headed up to Tampa for a last hurrah on New Years Eve. We arrived on the evening of the 30th and Nathanael and I were able to go on the Cheetah together (more on that in a post coming up) while Hunter, Daddy, and Levi went and watched a Christmas show until we got off the coaster. By that time the park was closing, so we headed to our hotel for the night. It was just a two-minute drive away, so the next morning we were some of the first in line to get in the park when it opened!
I have no idea what Nathanael was doing in this picture.
They still had Christmas decorations up and there were some big, gorgeous Christmas trees!
This time we got to feed some kangaroos!
Only children over the age of 5 were allowed in the kangaroo feeding area, so Levi and daddy hung out and fed the ducks instead.
I think this is a wombat and not a kangaroo....
Next we headed to a great bird exhibit called Lory Landing. You can buy little cups of nectar to feed the birds. The last time we visited we were in this area too late in the day so the birds were full and not interested at all in eating.
This time they were hungry and they were all over us to get to the food we were holding!
It was a very fun experience! :)
It was in the low to mid sixties on the day we were there. In the past I've learned that even though I think it's too cold for the boys to get wet, they always end up getting wet anyway. So I put them in their swimsuits before we got into the park.
By about noon they were in the Sesame Street area going at it. People were looking at me like I was nuts. But, they changed into dry clothes immediately afterwards and got it out of their system, so they were content to stay dry after that.
This water hippo boat ride was a favorite of Nathanael's last time we went and this time too!
Levi cried and cried with frustration while waiting in line for this
(he is VERY impatient when it comes to waiting for his turn...we're working on that),
but he was all smiles once he got in the hippo ride with his big brother.
We tried to talk Levi into going on this elephant ride, but he wasn't having it.
So, the big boys went by themselves.
Besides the Sesame Street area, the Treeetop Trails is a place the boys love to go at Busch Gardens. I took this picture, sitting next to Nathanael, on top of a ride that takes you up a big pole and lets you free fall a bunch of times, stopping before it hits the ground. Hunter isn't a fan of rides like this, so he watched us from a second floor balcony. :)
This area has a bunch of rope tunnels going all over the place. Hunter IS a fan of this kind of a thing. Here he was showing me a cage of large bats that were hanging upside down and sleeping. I didn't get a photo of the bats. :(
Nathanael was also thrilled to find out he was tall enough to ride the hang-glider ride in the Treetop Trails area. Hunter rode it with me last visit and wasn't a fan of this ride either. Nathanael had cried when he found out he couldn't ride this ride last time, so I was so happy to see him ride it this time! He thought it was awesome, but short-lived. He wanted to go again and again.
We got a chance to see the Castaway Critters show this time after it was rained out when we visited in the summer. It was super cute and had a story line of a couple getting shipwrecked on an island where animals do all sorts of fun tricks and stunts and chores. I thought it was a great show. Levi loved it too! The big boys thought it was a little better than okay, but not the greatest.
Josh and I were able to have a sweet time together talking on the way home as the boys slept. Peace and quiet are two things that are hard to come by in our marriage these days. I am so thankful when I get the opportunity to spend some "alone" time with this man, even if it's just in the car on a 3-hour drive home with three tired boys in the backseat. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment