Busch Gardens part 1

When Mel & I decided that we would go to Busch Gardens I told the kids about it. For days it was all they could talk about - Aunty Mel is coming to visit and she is taking us to Sesame Park to see Elmo. They all said that they were going to give huge hugs and kisses to Elmo and Cookie Monster and Big Bird.

We had planned to go on Sunday but it was pouring rain all day, so it was postponed to Friday, which turned out to be an absolutely beautiful hot day. When we arrived at the park we could see one of the roller coasters. The kids thought that looked fun and wanted to keep hearing all the big kids screaming.

The first thing we did was go to the Sesame Street 4D show, which they all really liked. But I think it was a good thing that Carlee happened to sit in the only seat that did not spray water. I was worried she would freak when the water sprayed her.


Next we went into the Sesame Street Park area. They have an area set up where you can see the characters and have your picture taken with them. We saw Elmo first and my kids turned into three frozen statues - they would not go near him. We also saw Bert & Ernie and Big Bird, but nothing I said or did would get them anywhere near the huge scary monsters!

So we gave up on that idea, went on a small boat ride. There was also a water playground and some other rides, but there were lots of people in this area and so we went on a sky tram to the other side of the park. This was very exciting for the kids and they said liked being above the trees. Here was Ben's expression on the skytram.


The area we ended up in did not have much for kid attractions, so Mel went on a huge rollercoaster while I had ice cream with the kids. I like roller coasters, but ice cream is pretty good too! Then we went to another area that was for kids, called the Land of Dragons. The first thing we did was ride the "orsies" on the carousel. I took their pictures before the ride started and each of them has a look of expectation on their faces. I guess they weren't too sure what was about to happen. And Aunty Mel, well, nice try trying to get out of the shot hahaha



Then we climbed up into the dragon's treehouse and at the top was a slide to go down. Sam and Aunty Mel went down with no problem, but Ben & Carlee both refused to go and started to have meltdowns. I finally had to grab both of them and carry them down the stairs kicking and screaming. Carlee recovered fairly quickly when she realized that we could go on more rides. Ben took a little longer, then he saw the "ay-dee bug jeeps" and he really really wanted to drive one. And of course a little bribery in the form of "if you stop crying you can drive a jeep" always helps to reverse a meltdown. They all had fun on this ride. At least until I tried to get Ben out - instant meltdown! Good thing the next ride was a boat ride, because he really really wanted to drive a boat...more bribery.



After the boat ride was the dinosaur egg ride, and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with eggs. He was done, so we sat on a bench - rather I sat on the bench and he continued his meltdown beside me. Aunty Mel took Sam & Carlee on the egg ride and they enjoyed it. Then we decided it was time for a drink, but this was about the time that they all decided to have meltdowns. I was done - time to go. But the skytram was broken down, so now we have to walk through the entire park (a very very large park) to get to the exit, then to the trams to take us to the parking lot. It was hot, there were lots of people, and it was a nightmare. At this point I was upset with myself for even taking them there - we were not having fun.

I will post more tomorrow to let you know how the day ended, maybe you will be as surprised as I was!