day 3 of family vacation 2008

after a long day in the car yesterday.. we arrived in williamsburg, VA.. woke up this morning and headed out to busch gardens !!

the day was beautiful.. not too hot.. but the sun was out most of the day (as you'll be able to see below)

we were all pretty excited..

but emma was REALLY excited.. can you tell ? LOL

this just about made my day :) the only thing that would have made it better would have been if it were real..

the cool thing about busch gardens.. is its not just a park with lots of rides and roller coasters.. they also have lots of shows.. and animal exhibits along the paths.. so its really a park that is IMPOSSIBLE to see and do everything in one day..

this was our first ride of the day.. griffon.. the world's tallest floorless dive coaster.. it was an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G ride !! even tho' while we were on it.. the coaster actually went thru some technical difficulties and we had to sit and wait for them to fix it and then reset the system.. we were down at the bottom just waiting to get off when it happened so it wasn't so bad..

ruby.. being her cute self :)

so anyway.. we rode griffon once.. sitting in the middle row.. it went thru some issues.. we got off and went to watched a show and ride another ride.. then got back in line to ride it again -- in the first row this time -- technical difficulties or not we were determined to ride in the front.. while we were in line.. the ride shut down AGAIN with technical difficulties.. what a bummer.. what was really bad tho' ? was we were standing in line when things started going wrong.. but there was a car sitting on the track going up the first hill.. everyone was standing around watching this car that was just suspended there.. eventually they got this blue car thing up the side of the track and pulled the car with all the people in it up to a level area until they had it fixed.. kinda scary.. but of course that didn't stop us from riding it later on in the day in the front row :)

stephen and a fellow photographer friend of mine :)

this is alpengeist.. the one coaster that i did not ride the last time we were at busch gardens.. but i rode it this time :)

part of the family.. i can't remember where the rest of em were at the time..

we ate in germany at the oktoberfest place.. where they sing and dance while you eat..

me and emma..

the loch ness monster's interlocking loops..

i think this is part of alpengeist..

more of the loch ness.. this ride is a big deal this year as 2008 marks its 30th birthday in the park.. we rode it 3 times with hardly no wait every time..

the loch ness and alpengeist.. lol

so yeah.. as you can tell.. i found this incredible spot to stand -- under the loops of loch ness and ride beside alpengeist.. and the time i was standing there.. the sun was just perfect :) it made my photography DAY..

ruby.. being a model again :)

at night they have this amazing show called 'kinetix' .. its all acrobats and music.. and just amazing stuff.. the musicians tho' ? just these 4 guys.. they are absolutely incredible.. like especially the dude on the keyboard.. he blew my mind how FAST he was playing with no mistakes.. i mean.. i guess you work for a show like this at busch gardens.. you aren't allowed to make a mistake.. but man.. they were all incredible !!

these things always blow my mind.. where they can hang from just what appears to be 2 sheets.. and here the dude is not only hanging himself but he's got a girl hanging off of him..

then omigosh.. these guys did these unicycle routines ? talk about WOW.. there really is no other way to describe it.. so.. you just gotta see it for yourself :)