Lions & Tigers & Big Bird- Oh my!!!!

Day 2 of our trip was spent at Busch Gardens in Tampa. I have to say that throughout the years, it has remained one of my favorite places to go and visit. It has the best roller coasters of anywhere around. It has never been crowded when we have been there. There are a lot more shady areas and when you get tired of the rides, you can stroll through the animals. because is a full zoo also. This year they had added a new part- Sesame Street Safari of Fun.

The rest of the family joined us on Day 2. Annistyn didn't need a stroller- her grandaddy was there. He was her taxi the whole day.





And don't worry, when he is around, she is the queen. We had not been there 10 minutes when he bought this $15 fan so that she wouldn't sweat. (We had a small fan that we had gotten. I know he didn't think it was big enough.)



We started out by walking through the monkey "reserve". Since she was wearing her monkey outfit, I thought it would be great to take her picture by the monkey statues.

This is what she did instead of saying cheese...




I never did get her to even look at me. She was too fascinated with that monkey and his nose.

She liked the real monkeys too. I know these are not just "monkeys" but I am no expert at distinguishing orangutans from gorillas or whatever. To me, they are all monkeys.

One of them had a birthday, so some of the park workers were throwing a "birthday party". They were tossing Popsicles made of orange slices and some other treats to all the monkeys. We had not been able to see them, but of course, they ran to the glass when the treats started flying down. I was so excited that they did that because Annistyn's eyes about popped out of her head when those monkeys were standing right in front of her. She loved it. It was amazing to watch too.






She made monkey noises the rest of the day and has had a new fascination with them since then.

Annistyn enjoyed Disney World, but the Safari of Fun was ADORABLE.



As soon as we got over there, 2 characters were out for us to meet and take pictures. Of course, she had a fit to go see them. I put her down and she ran over to them just like Mickey and Minnie.




There were tons of kid rides with only 2 or 3 ahead of us in each line.





She even rode this one by herself because I was too tall to get on it. This little girl's mom said she would ride again with her so she wouldn't be alone in the car.



When these characters came out a little later, we went over to meet them. Annistyn loved them too.



We paid $25 to get pictures with Big Bird and Elmo. You had to pay if you wanted to do those. Big Bird was literally about 8 1/2 foot tall. I will try to scan those pictures in later.

Annistyn's hair was curling like crazy in the humidity outside!



There was a nice water play area, several more rides, and a big tree house in the Safari part also. I would recommend it to anyone who is going to be in that area.

While Annistyn napped, Mommy and Daddy got to play! She stayed with her Granmommy (who she calls MeMe sometimes now) and Grandaddy in a cool restaurant and we took our fast passes and rode roller coasters!!!

Now is a good time to add that Annistyn has already been to Busch Gardens and she has been on all the coasters. When we got home from out trip two summers ago, I found out a few weeks later that I was about 4 1/2 weeks pregnant when I was riding all those things. Ha!

We visited more animals and stopped to take some more pictures.



Can you tell how rotten she is in this picture??



She has started putting her hands up like that for pictures.

I like this picture. It takes you a minute before you realize what she looking at. Can you see the giraffe in the background?



Her other favorite spot was the hippo area. Since hippos stay in the water a lot (which is odd to me) you can view them underwater.
This hippo came right up to me for a picture.



Annistyn really liked the fish.
Here she is telling us all about them!



She thought they were so fun!



I like this picture....



I think she really enjoyed Busch Gardens and I hope it is somewhere we can continue to visit as she grows up.





For all you adults that love a good roller coaster- there are 2 that are our favorites. The Montu is a great coaster and it is one of the longest ones I have ever been on. Most of them are really short. This is one of the world's longest. It's a good one!

The other is the SheiKra! We rode it twice in a row with our passes. This one is not for wimps! First, you go 200 ft. up, then you dangle in the air looking down for 4 seconds. Then, you drop at a perfect 90 degree angle. We rode it on our last trip (yes, when I was pregnant and didn't know it!) and it was no less intense this time. I have been on TONS of coasters- I LOVE them. This is the most intense. Something about that feeling of falling 200 ft. and the 90 degree angle... Wow! It's awesome!!!

Well, I'm off to bed. We bought 30 lbs. of fresh shrimp in Pensacola today, so I am pooped from that trip!!!!