Week with Dad~5

Busch Gardens
As the grand finale of our week with Dad we visited Busch Gardens in Virginia.  Since someone would have to stay off the rides with Nathan we decided we needed another adult to help supervise.  We couldn't think of anyone we would want to hang out with more than
our Aunt Jenny.  She made the day go so smoothly.  Thanks for coming to find us Aunt Jenny!!!

 

Since the park doesn't open until 10am we let the kids sleep in as long as they would.  Daniel and Bradley won the sleeping in contest.

 

The kids wore their costumes because we missed our ward party and it was so close to Halloween.
 

We got a lot of compliments on Eliza's hair and costume.  She makes a cute Minnie Mouse.
 

 

Sesame Forrest was our first stop at the garden.  The rides here were just perfect!

 

The boys were excited to do this "drop" ride.  Andy doesn't like heights, but he has a need to scare himself so this ride was just right.
It got the adrenaline going, but not too much.
 

 

It was actually more of a bounce than an actually drop.  The boys loved it!

Bradley, Dad and Daniel

 

 

 This swirly ride was pretty fun.  Eliza looked horrified the entire time and kept saying, "I want Mommy."  However, as soon as she got off she said, "I wasn't scared."  :0)

 

This roller coaster was perfect.  Andy kept Nathan so I could go with the kids.  Eliza didn't want to wait with Dad, so she rode with me.
Eliza was terrified the entire ride.  The look on her face for the picture they take on ride was priceless!  I almost had to take a picture of the picture.
 

She was all smiles at the end, but she really was scared.
 

The Clydesdales were in the Scotland part of the park.
 

 

Back to front: Eliza, Jenny, Daniel and Bradley

 

This was Eliza's favorite ride.  She loves horses.

 

 

Jenny and Dad were good sports to take the kids on this tea cup ride.  I was the smart one and stayed on solid ground!

Daniel let go of the center for just a second and the ride throw him off his seat.  He ended up with a good bump on his head and a bruise, but he was really brave and didn't cry.

 



It was a wild ride, but no one lost their cookies.  Andy did say he was tempted, but he did hold it together.

Daniel, Jenny, Bradley, Eliza, Nathan and Dad

The train was a big hit with everyone.

 

Bradley loved this ride.  He felt like superman flying around.

 

Eliza and Bradley waiting for Daniel to finish a ride with Dad and Aunt Jenny.  Daniel really surprised me this trip.  He wanted to do all the wild crazy rides and Bradley didn't.  Usually it  is the other way around.  It was kind of fun actually.

 

Aunt Jenny on another crazy spinning ride with Daniel.  She was such a good sport to ride with him.

THANK YOU Jenny!!

Dad and Nathan waiting for kids to finish their ride.

 

Eliza and Bradley on the mini swing ride.  It was super cute!  Daniel was the only one that wanted to do the big swing ride.  Aunt Jenny was to the rescue again and went with him.

Another favorite ride was the bumper cars.  They had a small children's section.  The kids loved it!!  They would get off and run around to go again.  We were fortunate that there weren't big lines that day.

Even Eliza was big enough to ride alone.

Andy and I walked next door and rode the big bumper cars. Aunt Jenny was good enough to keep track of all the kids while Mom and Dad saw who was the best driver.

Andy driving for his life...trying to avoid the inevitable...a run in with me!

 

I won of course!

Then he tried for revenge!  It was a lot of fun.  :0)

Daniel and Bradley on the carousel.

We ate lunch in Germany.  They have some really good pretzel sandwiches!

 

Dad with a pretzel stache!  I kind of like this look.

Daniel and Bradley 

Dad and Eliza

The kids wanted to ride the sky ride all day long.  We didn't get around to it until it was almost time to go because someone was going to have to walk the stroller and Nathan to the end of the line.  Dad volunteered.  Aunt Jenny and the boys caught the first bucket.

Eliza and I followed in the next bucket.  We got to see some really pretty fall colors.

We had to hit Sesame Forrest on our way out since it was so much fun!

While we were there a couple of celebrities came by and we got a picture with them.

I love the Count!

Daniel was more excited about Elmo, but Eliza didn't care for either one.

Dad and the boys pretending to be dead.  They can be so dramatic!

I loved this Oscar the Grouch in the garbage can.  I might need one of these some day.

It was a super fun day at the Gardens.  We were fortunate that it didn't rain on us at all.  We weren't sure how long we would be able to stay at the park since Sandy was racing up the coast, but as luck would have it the rain held off until we were leaving the park.  It started to sprinkle as we walked to the car.  We had to leave because all the Halloween characters were starting to come out and some of them were pretty gross.

Nathan was pretty tired after our long day.  We found out on this trip that Nathan is not a good traveller.  He screamed until he was almost choking on his spit up.  We had to stop a few extra times to get him calmed down and feed him.  We hope he grows out of the terrible traveller stage soon.

We want to thank Aunt Jenny for meeting us and helping us celebrate part of Andy's week off.

Oct. 27, 2012