Busch Gardens 2010!

Yesterday was Pass Member Preview day at Busch Gardens, and we decided that we wanted to go as soon as we found out how beautiful the weather was going to be! We took our time getting there, and that was a big mistake! We got to Williamsburg around 11:30, and by then the place was packed. Brian has a Platinum pass, which gets us into all the other parks (like Sea World and Water Country) and also gives us an added bonus of preferred parking. I hate taking trams with the kids and the stroller, and the ability to park and walk into the park is phenomenal. Unfortunately, that lot was full and we had to park and take the tram. Not fun. It's like loading and unloading the kids two extra times.

As soon as we got to the park we stopped to do the two most important things of any trip we take as a family. The first is stopping to let Wyatt go to the restroom (he spent the entire day in his big boy pants - and didn't ask to stop on the ride up or the ride home), and the second is slathering Reese in sunscreen (Wyatt of course gets some too, but for Reese it's crazy important). The first stop inside the park was the Highland Stables to see the Clydesdales. The new Clydesdales are black and as big as ever. Wyatt immediately wanted to ride the Clydesdale ride, and he had a blast.
Of course, when we usually go (even at the peak of the summer), he can just stay on this ride for as long as he wants. But it was so crowded yesterday that he could only ride once.

After the Clydesdale's we went to Sesame Place, where Wyatt was pretty much obsessed with finding Elmo. We thought that this might be a turning point in his "I hate mascots" phase (which I'm desperately hoping he's over by December when we go to Disney World), but no. He just wanted to see Elmo, not actually get close to him. He looked all over the place while he and Brian waited in line for their next ride.

Reese and I hung out while the boys waited in line, and when it came time to get on I passed her to Brian so she could ride with the boys (I get sick from the littlest things. Seriously. Me + this ride = pukefest). She was very excited!

This picture is just a crop of a bigger photo (that includes crazy 80's hair and a screaming kid), but I thought it was a great photo of the family! I love the look on Wyatt's face!

Our last stop for the day was the roller coaster in Sesame Place. We were so excited when we measured Wyatt and he was tall enough to ride. He waited patiently in line with his Daddy, and was super stoked to go on the roller coaster (which Reese thought was a train). You can kind of see the boys peeking out from the next to last car here.

This one is far away, but Wyatt had so much fun. He got off the roller coaster and wanted to go again. But after riding three kids rides we'd already been there for 3 hours, and we were dealing with hungry, tired kids. We stopped and got some kettle corn (yum!) and water and made our way to the car. After this we decided that under no circumstances will we ever go to Busch Gardens on a Saturday again. We actually usually stick to Mondays, since we have insider knowledge of the industry and the slower days (let's just say there's a reason that Brian has Mondays off during the summer).

Both kids fell asleep in the car after their bellies were full of McNugget Happy Meals, and we got to take the nice, scenic Monitor & Merrimac tunnel on the way home because of a major back up. Then we spent the afternoon in the backyard playing baseball and running around.

Brian and I got to go on a date night to our local sushi place, which is quite delicious. I had Hibachi last night, and it is sooooo good. It was hard for us to leave our favorite place, but it's 40 minutes away, and it doesn't have Hibachi. The Volcano rolls aren't as good out here, but Brian seems to like the Baby Octopus just as much (ew.). We finished off our date night with a trip to the mall to buy Brian some new shirts. So fun! The girls in the shop kept joking him because for awhile he was holding like 4 navy blue shirts in his hand, and he finally broke down and got a few different colors. I was also got a new Yankees shirt. Score!