Busch Gardens and a Bottle

To celebrate George finishing his Boards, Step 1 (and because we won't have another chance to do this for about the next two years due to George being in his hospital rotations 24/7) we decided to go to Busch Gardens--just the two of us!

So, April 24th we left Lance with his dad and Jude with my mom and jumped in the car for the three hour drive to Williamsburg. I was nervous. Not to ride rollercoasters with my husband... I had been looking forward to this for months. I was nervous because this was the first time I would be away from Jude for more than 3 hours and he had not successfully taken a bottle. In my mind, my little boy would be starving all day and my poor mother would have to endure a screaming baby for more than 12 hours. "She's raised 6 kids, she can handle it." I kept telling myself this to keep the guilt at bay. It mostly worked and we were on our way to a fun day!

In front of Apollo's Chariot

It would have been fairly empty at the park, but we just so happened to go during a High School Music Festival and the park was crawling with "kids". George and I kept looking at them and wondering if we really looked that young or were really that immature when we were in High School. It was fun to walk past the hoards and listen to their conversations. They probably felt the same way we did when we were 16--all grown up with real relationships and real problems and feeling like the world was about to come to an end every other day.

Get your Griff on!

Brisket and ribs...yum!

The day was really overcast and cold, but that didn't stop us from riding all the major rides twice. It was crowded, thanks to all the kiddies, so we went ahead and spent a "few" extra dollars to get the "Quick Q" passes. It was awesome! We'd jump in line, be ushered to the very front and get right on the ride. Totally worth it! At the end, George convinced me to ride the Roman Rapids, reassuring me that I wouldn't get wet and that the waterfalls were off. Trusting my husband, I bravely climbed aboard the raft that was bobbing precariously in the water. I could see little splashes crest the sides and the seat where I was headed looked soaked. Hmmm. As I positioned myself and buckled the seat belt, George turned to me and said, "Oh, you will get wet. And the waterfalls are on." Thanks. I don't feel too bad about it, though, because not only did George hit every single waterfall (as usual), we got to share the raft with three High School girls that squealed and screamed and complained about the water the entire way. Totally worth it.

Where the horses are kept. Appropriate name. :)

Even though it was crowded, it was fun to be there with all the High Schoolers because it brought back fun memories from our High School days. George and I dated off and on through HS--he asked me out our Freshman year right before Christmas and then I called it off in April because "I'm not supposed to date anyone until I'm 16." We hadn't even held hands. All we really did was eat lunch together and sit next to each other in class. I remember the butterflies I would get when he would look at me and my racing heart every time I saw him in the hallway. Even after we "broke up" we still hung out still liked each other.

Our Sophomore year, we went on a Musical Festival in the spring and went to VA Beach for our competitions. We had a great time seeing Phantom of the Opera and playing on the beach. On the way home, the bus stopped at Busch Gardens for a fun day with all our friends. How appropriate that we happened to come more than 10 years later on the one day all the High School band kids would be there.

So, our Busch Garden story--that year (our Sophomore year) I had just turned 16 years old. We were there riding the rides together with our other friends and having a great time. It was the first time I had been to this park and it was awesome! George and I separated from the group near the end of the day and went to ride "Escape from Pompeii". As we got on the ride, George turned me to me and said:

"You're awesome. I love you. Will you go out with me?"

I actually laughed out loud. It was just so cute. And, of course, I was happy. George saw me laughing and thought I was laughing at him. He dejectedly scooted over on the bench and looked really depressed. I laughed again, hugged him, and said, "Yes! Of course I'll go out with you."

We got wet on that ride, so we went to a shop and bought matching sweatshirts and then had to run to make it to our awards ceremony. The bus ride home was nice because we held hands (for like, the first time ever) and just talked. Perfect.

"Escape..." back in time

We had a great time! Oh, and my mom survived with Jude. He took a bottle no problem for her (something I haven't been able to repeat since) and spent the day running errands and playing with his grandma.

Busch Gardens has got to be one of my favorite places. I'm so glad George and I got to go together again and relive some our best High School memories.