Busch Gardens

-
After Jack Hanna's Amazing Animal Show





Even better than paying $18.95 for theme-park hats: taking pictures and then putting the hat back


Josiah (in the middle)







In a rare moment of solidarity, Annika becomes Josiah's wingman








What a face! We were trying to catch him with that stub of fruit stick in his mouth--he looked like Winston Churchill...or possibly Hannibal



Lunch at the German pavilion










We went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg on Friday and we had a fabulous time! We all agreed that we had more fun at BG than we did at Disneyworld back in February. For starters, we got in for free--Anheuser-Busch is fantastic about giving active-duty military free tickets to their theme parks. I know that the fact that we didn't have to pay for the tickets (which would have been around $220 for the day) really helped. I didn't feel like we had to get there early and stay late and wring every last dime out of the experience because we didn't pay for it. That pressure was gone. We paid for lunch and parking, that was it.




Busch Gardens is obviously a lot smaller than Disneyworld, so we were able to see the whole park and not have to rush from one end to the other. There were a lot of people there, but it never felt crowded and the lines moved very quickly on the few rides that required a wait. Most of the rides for smaller children didn't have any lines at all and Josiah and Annika were able to get off the ride, run around, get back in line and immediately get back on the ride. We went to one show, in the Jack Hanna Animal area--really fun with dogs, cats, a pig and various other animals doing tricks. We were able to go on all the rides we wanted to--Hans even rode one of the big roller coasters (see his Facebook page for details!).




All in all, a great family outing for us. Just a very peaceful, pleasant, fun day and a wonderful way to mark the occasion of Josiah's seventh birthday!

Comments

I Love Barbershop said…
Looks like a very fun time. I like Annika's hair that way. And the fun face on Will. It looks like he has a cute little personality of his own.
Hope you have a great time when Grandma D is there this weekend.
May 23, 2011 at 4:45:00 PM GMT+2
DD4 said…
I loved seeing these new photos - Josiah's teeth have come in!! He looks so nice. I loved the joy on Annika's face.

I see that I have to get acquainted with Will. I feel like I barely know him - and I'm missing out!

I'm so glad you had a happy day for Josiah's birthday celebration.
May 24, 2011 at 2:23:00 AM GMT+2
Mom said…
Looks like you had a great time! Does this get offered every year cause I'd sure put it on your calendar to make a return visit. So Annie's doing a Lady Gaga thing, and Will's impersonating Churchill. Such talented children you have!
May 26, 2011 at 4:53:00 AM GMT+2
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday

-
Moody, cloudy Sunday morning in bed with coffee and a new book.  Wrapped up reading a book that could have been so much better, had the characters had a little more...character.  It was a skimmer, for sure.  As I've gotten older, I have given up the notion that all books were meant to be read start to finish.  I've waded in as much as a couple hundred pages before letting go and putting one down.  There are too many books and too little time to waste on a book that doesn't keep my attention. If the rain holds off, I'm looking forward to hooking up this cleaner spray to my hose and spraying my windows and siding.  I know, I know...life is so exciting, right?!  Have I described where I live, the pipestem?  That is the Virginia vernacular term for a little offshoot lane that branches from the main road, upon which are a few homes--in our neighborhood, probably 4-6 houses on each pipestem.  We have four.  Next to us is Car Hoarder Neighbo...
Read more

Cherry Blossom, Part II

-
Image
Tired of cherry blossoms yet?  Oh good, because here are a few more:     These are from just a few hours ago...the cherry blossom or sakura, is truly ephemeral.  The blossoms appear almost overnight and won't last more than a few days, depending on weather.  It's important to get out and appreciate them while you can.  The Japanese actually have a term, hanami, for the "sport" of viewing sakura and there are many, many places in Japan where people flock to see sakura in breathtaking settings.   I'll settle for CFAY, since I'm still single parenting and the Japanese school children are on spring holiday, so the crush would be intense anywhere we would go.  If you saw my last post, you know I had to bribe the kids with ice cream for a two hour trip down to Miurakaigan to view the blossoms a couple of weekends ago.   It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I had a new class start up, just the other half o...
Read more

This is 45

-
I think I need to get into it a little more to really FEEL it, but this is 45.  Middle of the road?  Maybe.  Both of my grandmothers made it past 90, so we shall see. All of the most important people in my life wished me a happy birthday today, including the adorable people who made me and brought me into this world.  It is my habit now to thank THEM for my birthday, because let's be honest, if that man didn't love that woman, I wouldn't be here,  right now.  Thanks, guys...totally, 100% serious. The Captain was out of town for my birthday weekend, he got back at supper tonight, unerringly arriving just in time to sit down and eat.  It's really OK.  I started out my weekend on Friday at my favorite shopping joint, then returned home, changed into sweatpants and settled in for some trash TV watching (in this case, the completely stupid "90 Day Fiancee" (don't get into it, it's like watching a car wreck that you could see coming miles away))....
Read more