5.13.2011 Bush Gardens

When talking with mom and dad about what they wanted to do when they came for a visit, they said they wanted to go to Bush Gardens, so on Friday we packed up our stuff (everything but the kitchen sink...) and went! Eli & Leah were ready for a day of fun!
Edgar was able to take the day off of work-he was the one taking the picture :) Ryan also joined us a little later.

Eli giving the gorilla a kiss.

Happy to be at an amusement park :)

Eli riding a hippo...

Ben getting eaten by a hippo...

Grandma & Aunt Jenny taking a little break.

Carly was so nice to ride a bunch of rides with Eli. She was the only one short enough to ride with him. She's the perfect height for Bush Gardens-short enough to ride the kid rides, tall enough to ride the big rides.

Riding the carousel with Eli

Leah LOVED playing in the water. She stayed in the water for a very long time just laughing and playing.

Happy girl!

After lunch we stayed in the Sesame Street area while everyone else went to ride the big rides. Some day we'll be riding the 'big rides' with our kids, I'm sure :) But for now we're happy to chill out on the kiddie rides. At least they don't make me black out like the big ones do...(though I DID get completely dizzy on the carousel)

Eli riding some rides with Edgar. It was so fun watching him ride rides this time. Last time we went he seemed to be afraid of most of the rides. Not this time! He had a blast.

We also caught the Sesame Street show. He was amazed! He LOVED seeing his 'pals' (He doesn't really watch Sesame Street very often, but has several books with those characters.)

He got to meet Elmo, but Elmo was in a room where they take your picture and you have to buy it-you can't just shoot a picture of your kid with Elmo with your own camera. It was very fun to watch him meet Elmo though even if I don't have a picture to show. He gave him a big hug and a kiss.

He also met Big Bird,

Abby, and Cookie Monster. I think he was pretty excited to meet Cookie Monster :)

Giving Abby a kiss

and Cookie Monster a hug.

We also went to a 4-D show which was pretty neat...until water sprayed out and sprayed Leah straight in the face. She SCREAMED and wouldn't calm down...so I left with her. I think everyone else enjoyed it though (especially Ben and Carly who were SO excited that it was a pirate movie and not a Sesame Street show...which is what we thought it was going to be.) We also hung out in the Jungala area and ate ice cream while Ben & Carly ran around playing.

After walking around and enjoying the day, we ended the day by watching a show in the AIR CONDITIONED auditorium (it got VERY hot). The show was amazing. The things these acrobats could do was unbelievable (and at points, a little freaky quite frankly...).

We headed for Ryan & Jennifer's house for dinner and hung out for a while. I think we were all pretty tired, though, so we didn't stay very late. We had a big day planned the next day!