On Friday, November 20, we went to Busch Gardens in Tampa, which is just over an hour away from Kissimmee where we were staying.
This T-Rex is outside Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry. He is made of recycled material.
Although it looks like it was about to pour in this picture, it was actually a beautiful overcast day with a high of +28 and no rain.
Again, the Christmas decorations just got me!
First ride of the day
Again, this was another beautiful park
I loved the plant sculptures!
There was a kids area called Sesame Street Safari of Fun, so I stayed with the kids in this area while Jared went on a big roller coaster called SheiKra. I went on it after him. It's a dive roller coaster that is 200 feet high and has speeds up to 70 mph! I closed my eyes during the long climb to the top but opened them before we dropped!
We went on the Skyride, which allowed us an overhead view of the park while travelling up in a cable car.
Here you can see the cable cars, as well as part of Falcon's Fury, which Jared went on later. It's a 335 foot tower which pivots riders 90 degrees so that they're facing the ground and then plummets down at 60 mph!
You can see some Black Crowned Cranes on the ground below
The safari jeep, which was a ride that people paid extra for
This gorilla turned around for a picture at the perfect time!
Blake and Haley went on this small drop ride the first time but didn't want to go on the 2nd time.
I love the pink tree and how it's next to the Christmas display. So bizarre!
We went to another pet show called Opening Night Critters.
This was right next to Falcon's Fury, which was what Blake was looking at as his Dad was about to go on it! I took a video and watched safely from the ground below.
We ate lunch in this big open building.
Kiera's first time going on a roller coaster with a loop! Even though she kept her eyes closed, I was amazed at how brave she was!
There was a group from our church who went to Africa at the same time that we were gone, so I was really happy that I still got to see some incredible animals even though I didn't go all the way to Africa!
Antelope lounging around
Again, a perfectly timed photo!
It was neat to watch the giraffe walk right up to them!
The second half is still to come...
