busch gardens

last saturday we took our first family trip since BC (before cancer) to busch gardens. we were originally supposed to go a year ago but i was just not up to it and ruined the plans. i was determined to not ruin it again this year. i decided to leave the camera at home and just let the day be about fun, plus we've been having afternoon monsoons lately and didn't want to ruin my camera. of course there was no monsoon that day, not even a drizzle...just bright, hot, oppressive sun. all.day.long.

we are the true griswold family on any trip, so of course we had fun. there were the four of us, my parents and my grandma. papa griswold rented us a couple of scooters to make our way through the park. without this i wouldn't have made it very far. and i learned first hand that park go-ers don't understand the concept of "yielding". i promise i didn't plow into anyone. can't say the same for papa, but if he did...i didn't see it. =)

a few highlights of the day...

kelley and bethany's first "up side down" roller coaster the scorpion. kelley rode it just to say she did, but bethany loved it. in fact we rode that one with her more than once.

then there was the gwazi. a wooden roller coaster with speeds up to 100 mph. we are a family of coaster enthusiasts and other than bethany...we all hated it. it was the most brutal coaster ever.

we did love kumba, but unfortunately both girls are about a half a foot too short for that one. so that was left for my parents and me.

there is also a zoo at busch gardens. that's always neat. we saw lots of chimps and gorillas, fabulous elephants, gators of course. the girls fed a rhinoceros some apples. but by far our favorite were the big cats. gosh they are just so gorgeous!







by the end of the day, we'd had lots and lots of drinks, our fill of treats including yummy ice cream. the girls made out like bandits at the souvenir shop. it was definitely a day of fun.

by the end if the day, we were all feeling pretty rough. but were ecstatic that papa griswold had learned about valet parking too!