Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

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 Happy Birthday to Hope!


    To celebrate Hope's 4th birthday on October 6th, we visited Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.  Our plan was to go to the Peppa Pig theme park, but that park didn't open until 12 noon today, and we wanted to get an earlier start on our day.  None of us had ever attended Busch Gardens, but we looked forward to the day as the park has a mixture of attractions, such as roller coasters, Sesame Street shows, rides, and a playground, and animal enclosures. Since the hurricane, the weather here in Tampa has cooled significantly.  It feels like a San Diego Fall, high 70s low 80s with a crispness in the air.  Humidity about 78%, which is a nice change from 100% humidity. It was a great day to be outside.

 

 


Hope loves posing on animal statues.  If I spot an animal statue, I must show Hope and she must ride on its back and pose for a photo.  We saw four statues this day.  Here a our favorite photos. 
We were able to see real animals as well as the statues, but the real ones aren't as fun as the statues. 

Sesame Street




Hope loves the Sesame Street characters, so we were excited to visit the part of the park dedicated to Sesame Street.  We were happy to see a wonderful playground where Hope could crawl around and climb.  We also saw a good variety of Sesame Street themed rides.  Hope only wanted to go on one ride, the car driving ride.  Daddy's girl?  Oh yes!


Hope and Ray waiting in line for the ride.  Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long.



She had so much fun driving this little car on the track.  She went on this ride five times.  













Ray and Hope checking out the log ride to determine if Hope wanted to give it a try.  Hope said, "Maybe...I don't think I want to."















Watching the Sesame Street show.  Hope really liked the show, but held on to Ray the whole time.  She is not the type of kid who reaches out to the characters as they come by to get a high five. 
Cookie Monster!!! 
Elmo!
Oscar the Grouch, Ray, and Hope













Animal Time





Can you tell we have arrived at Hope's nap time?  For the last few weeks, Hope has been choosing to skip her naps, although I can tell she needs one.  Today she lasted all day at the park and even made it home without falling asleep on the drive home, but right after dinner she fell to sleep on the couch.

Checking out the birds, giraffes, and zebras. Some of the other animals we saw includes lions, porcupine, rhino, elephants, cheetah, crocodile and alligators, and hyenas.  










Hyenas!  We just watched the movie The Lion King a couple of days before our trip to Busch Gardens, so Hope was familiar with what a hyena is.  Pretty scary to think what can happen if these animals ever get out of the park and run wild.




Cheeeeese!


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