Where did we go today?

Busch Gardens!! We spent all day (11 hours total!) at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, a theme park about 45 minutes from where we are staying. We didn't tell the kids anything (actually, we told them we were going on an all day hay ride, but I don't think they ever bought it), and they were so surprised, and SO excited!!



It was pretty hot all day, but thankfully Tuesdays are a GREAT day to go to Busch Gardens. We hardly had any wait time in lines, which was awesome.


Busch Gardens is great because its not a huge theme park, but has plenty to keep you busy. There are 5 major roller coasters, and several of our kids rode all 5! I was so proud of them! Bonita, Linda, Monique, Pedro and Lindsay (yes, the same Lindsay who wouldn't even go on the Log Flume last summer) rode all 5 of the coasters, including Apollo's Chariot 3 times in a row!! (They didn't feel so great after that, haha).

This ride is called the Griffon and has two 220 foot drops at a 90 degree angle. It was crazy!!


Escape from Pompeii (the one pictured below) was the only ride that all 11 of us rode together, and we all loved it. Miguel isn't much for rides (he is terrified of heights), but he isn't really tall enough to ride much anyway. He was GREAT today, though, as I gave him the job as map-keeper and route planner. He and I had several "meetings" throughout the day to discuss our next plans. When Shera and I were discussing changing some of the plans (we were all getting tired), Miguel announced; "Okay, we'll make this one change, but then we have to stick to the plan. I don't like it when people change the plan". I want him to lead mission trips someday. :)

Tasha rode every ride she was tall enough for, including the Alpengeist and the Big Bad Wolf. She is so brave!! Luis, Zuley, Shera and I rode a lot of the rides but we all kinda took turns hanging out with Miguel and Tasha (when she wasn't tall enough for a ride). I really enjoyed hanging out with those two kids, they are hilarious. I wish everyone else got to see the Tasha I see. Around most people she is really shy and quiet, but that's not really her at all. She's actually very talkative, silly, giggly, clever and fun!

In the middle of the day we took a break to eat a yummy picnic lunch that we packed the night before. Then, it was quickly back to the park where we stayed until it closed.

One of our favorite things was the 4-D adventure "ride" called the Dark Kastle. We felt like we were flying through a haunted house being attacked by creatures, but we never left the room. :) This was the only other thing that we all went on together, although we stayed as a group all day which led to even more fun as everyone shared exciting experiences.



By far our favorite part of the day, however, was the Pet Shenanigans show we got to see. They had trained cats, dogs, ducks, pigs, and even mice put on an amazing show for us. It was so cute!

They even had this parrot that did math!! Seriously! They had people from the audience shout out math problems. Then the parrot would walk to the number that was the answer and flip it over. He did addition, subtraction, multiplication and division! It was great!



By the end of the day, we all looked like this:


Okay, Shera and I didn't look like that (we had to drive), but we certainly felt like it!! All the kids are passed out asleep and I don't expect them to be up too early (except Miguel, he is always an early riser...then he wakes Lindsay up and they have breakfast together before all the other kids get up. I think that is so sweet!).

We all had a GREAT day though. As we were leaving the park I asked the kids if any of them were ready to go back to Philly...and I got a very resounding NO! They are ready to get back to the beach though. :)

Tomorrow will just be a relaxing day at the beach. We have a few more exciting things planned for the week, but we need a day to chill after all the excitement of today!