Busch Gardens

I've been meaning to write about the great time we had at Busch Gardens in Tampa over Christmas break.  It's a combination of an amusement park and a zoo.  I really loved it because you could look at all the animals on your way from one ride to another.  Also, the park was not too big, so I didn't feel overwhelmed, the grounds were attractive, and there weren't a lot of hills or big loops that take you nowhere.   Adam and his stepmom both get motion sick, and Samantha doesn't quite meet the height requirements, so Adam's sister and I went on two coasters: Gwazi, a wooden roller coaster, and SheiKra, which starts with a 200 foot 90 degree drop before twisting you into a pretzel.  It was awesome!

We also saw an ice skating show (outdoors in the 75 degree Florida weather!)  Our tickets to the park and the show were given to us courtesy of the female lead in the show, another wonderful girl named Samantha.  My own Sam loved the show, and when she saw her namesake on the ice, she cried, BARBIE, BARBIE!  It was a fantastic day, and really kicked off our vacation in a good way.

Tonight I was reading Go, Dog. Go! to Sam.  We got to the page where there is a dog roller skating.  She pointed to the skates and said, DOH DOH, which is her way of saying, "what is that called?"  I said, "roller skates."   She said, BARBIE.