Mar 2; Busch Gardens

March 2nd, 2013:

Jamie, Kailey, and I headed to Busch Gardens for the day. We all have a fun pass that lasts until the end of the year. Taylor couldn't come with because she had a state debate competition she was participating in. It was pretty cold, but we bundled up and headed out.

Obviously I love to take photos of pretty much everything, but Jamie and Kailey do not enjoy it as much. I already started with the tram to get to the park.

We ran over to Cheetah Hunt since the line is usually long. We picked a great day to go because there was hardly anyone in line. We got to ride front row for a lot of the rides, multiple times. Jamie always insisted on taking goofy photos. I would've gotten some more, but the Kumba workers were onto me and would change the photo on the screen before I could take a photo with my Iphone.

The cheetahs were beautiful animals. Turns out Busch Gardens has 10 cheetahs in total.

We stopped riding rides for a moment to catch the ICEPLORATION Show they have going on. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it since it was about Ice Skating, but it ended up being pretty neat.

I didn't take great photos to do the show justice, but it was a nice break from the rides.

I made Kailey and Jamie stop to get a photo with the Cheetah Run behind them as the train was about to pass. Can't decide which photo I like better, so you get to see both.

At Busch Gardens they have an Animal Hospital with large windows for guests to watch whatever is going on. Every time we go, we walk through to see if we can catch an animal undergoing surgery or getting a routing check-up. They recommend that you get to the hospital first thing to have a better chance of catching something.

This time we saw a bird that got hit by a car an hour earlier. The vet gave her some antibiotics and pain medicine, and then wrapped her wing up. He said there was a lot of irreparable damage in the wing, but he didn't remove the wing since the little pieces left keeping the wing attached were large veins that could be more damaging to cut.

Kailey and Jamie - freezing:

We stopped at the Zambia Smokehouse for lunch. I got a kids meal because its a decent size portion for half the price of the regular meals. $6 vs $12. I felt a little awkward eating off the belly of a cheetah. hehe

Me and Jamie:

We got back to riding more rides, but eventually I started feeling a little too shaken up, so Jamie and Kailey went to ride a few without me:

When you zoom in on those photos, you can actually see them on the ride.
Being a good dad, Jamie participated in some games to try and win a stuffed animal. I'm not saying they did terrible, but we didn't come home with any this time.

Riding Sand Serpent:

Jamie and Kailey rode the one that turns you upside down in the big boat. I'm not so good with festival type rides.. I get nauseous very easily.

Watched the animal show:

Rode more rides, then went on the train ride:

I always tell Jamie the train ride is always different because of where the animals are at. I've been on it before where the animals are pretty close to being on the tracks. We actually got to see some of the rhinos up close!

One was on our side really close that he waited till our car got beside him, turned to look at us, then got spooked and ran away.

It was neat. The next time we go, I want to do their excursion tour to feed the giraffes from the trucks they have.

Jamie and Kailey went and rode another ride way in the sky:

We went and watched the hippo swim under water again, and this time got to watch him be fed!

We had another wonderful day. I was so tired that the drive back home felt like forever. As soon as I made it back to my bed, I passed out instantly.