Fields of Green: Tour De South 2012, Busch Gardens

Before I get to a bunch of pictures that no one will really cherish except me and my Grandma, I have to say something.

Busch Gardens is perfect for tiny kids.

My grandparents love Busch Gardens. They have season passes. They know the lay of the land and which shows are the best and who sells the best ice cream. They hadn't taken anybody younger than about 8 there yet, but my grandma thought Sweet Pea would love it because- wait for it- they have Sesame Street Land. And yes, that means they have Elmo.

Sweet Pea was so excited she decided to map out our trip during the car ride.

We spent the day at a fairly leisurely pace, watching several cool shows and walking around the park enjoying all of the animals. The Tampa area Busch Gardens is themed around animals, so it's a lot like visiting a zoo. My grandma says it's better than Animal Kingdom, and I think I would have to agree. The Sesame Street play area is perfect for kiddos under five, plus there are kiddie rides in another area. There's a neat train ride and you can see animals everywhere. We saw three shows (one had all trained animals rescued from the Humane Society- really neat!) and kept at a pretty good pace from 11-6:30 and we still didn't see everything. I would definitely recommend going there if you're ever in the market for a theme park for the family. That's even coming from a group of people who don't normally love theme parks!

Sweet Pea fell asleep during the first show. It was all dark and cool and comfy in the theater- who can blame her? I kept trying to keep her awake because the ice dancers had amazing animal costumes and I knew she would love it. She did love it, for all of about 10 minutes. Then she was out like a light in her G-Pop's arms.

It was such a fun day. We started with a visit with the Easter Bunny, then took off running and enjoying.

This did not bode well for future furry creatures.

My grandma made friends with a kangaroo! Kangaroos are smaller than I thought.

That baby wallaby made my day!

Interestingly, Elmo was scary to her but Big Bird has become her new obsession.
She stared at him adoringly.

Every time we turn on Sesame Street now it's, "EEEBERT!" instead of "Eh-MO!"

Lately my arms are looking oddly beefy. Either all of the cheese I eat is going straight to my arms or
it has something to do with carrying around a 21-lb baby everywhere.

Post-nap and stating at doggies on the stage. She LOVED (and I mean LOVED) that animal show.
She squealed out each animal name as she saw them.

No, that is not our friend Steven there with that crane. But doesn't it look like him!?

That's a stork. I don't know why I included this picture. I guess I was just wondering what made people
decide that these guys were responsible for babies.