Busch Gardens. Finally.

He still loves me even though I'm a scare-dy cat with heights.

We finally made it to Busch Gardens and Alex got to witness my roller coaster screams for the first time. The first ride of the day is always tough for me; I don't like heights and the feeling of falling paired with it is frightening to me as well. I sat with Kaitlin so Alex wouldn't have to experience my full set of lungs. Kaitlin, as always, is super comforting when I'm stressed. So after getting on Montu first thing, I had my adrenaline. The rest of the day was on and off with rides because of storms (they have to wait 10 minutes after each strike because all the rides generate heat).

AH! <3

Luckily there's plenty to do between rides-- watch Elephants play and eat, see Kaitlin burn for Otters lol. My favorite, of course, were the elephants. They were playing and puzzling over these toys with food inside them. It was so fascinating to watch them learn.

Baby elephant statue

I didn't know my phone zoomed... would've been handy at comic con.

My favorite ride? Cheeta Hunt. Combined with speed and height, the relaxing slow-down spots were marvelous. For me, it was worth the wait-- just wish it wasn't over an hour.

The Rhino Rally ride was fun too, though it should have been longer-- I want to see ALL the animals! Just like with the elephants, I find such simple magic amongst the animals-- they live and love just as we do, always working to figure things out and survive. I feel that there is some lost beauty when simplicity is overcome with frill and profit. I take comfort in thinking about how spending money at the park goes towards taking care of the animals. While they may not be in their natural habitat nor do they have the immense room to roam that they should, it's nice to see that they can still find ways to be happy... At least some of them. There are animals at zoos that when you look at them you see this almost inherent sadness in their eyes-- whether they were born in captivity or saved from unnatural injuries (bald eagles with shot wings).

While Busch Gardens was lots of fun (and I'm super happy Kaitlin got to come) it was not my favorite event of the week. My favorite was still yet to come.

 

Featuring MOSI

Alex making a funny face before we see IMAX Sharks at MOSI theater.

It's time to fess up, I'm not fooling anyone-- I haven't been doing a good job at keeping up with my daily blog posts. This is the last time I'll talk about it, I just wanted to let it go. It's good that so much is going on I can't keep up-- it's a blessing to be busy and have places to go out to (and the time and money to do the activities). Tomorrow after the Zoo I want to go to Joann to use some of the coupons I got in the mail to get some fabric and start working on some small projects. Next week is the perfect time to use for sewing because Alex's little brother Austin will be back home and the gym won't have group workout classes (i'm on my own until the 25th). So I'll need to be working on my fitness at-home stuff and be working on my crafting.

So as I've said, I've been pretty busy. This week we bougth the Tampa City Pass which includes MOSI (plus an IMAX movie, and a planetarium show that day), two local aquariums, Busch Gardens, and Lowry Park Zoo.
On Monday, Alex and I took Austin to MOSI. It's the local museum and while many of the exhibits are really geared towards younger kids, we had a decent time. Alex and I had thought there were more exhibits in MOSI and perhaps that's because it seems like there should be so much more for family not just the kids. The 3D Printing visiting exhibit was nice yet small-- and you really can't expect too much from the 3D Printing because it's still a new technology. There was an anatomical heart that was printed, though, and it was awesome. Austin had not yet seen what the inside of a heart looks like.
Afterwards we went to another one that was informative but just... too much and not enough of the right stuff. It was about the human life and our growth and decay, pretty much. A bit too heavy at the end for me-- I go to the museum for fun and to learn stuff not to brood over negative thoughts.
There was a cool magnet section though and it was awesome. It was called Magnet Circus and you can guess the cute theme. Then there was Disaster City which simulates natural disasters and allows you to play around with toy structures and stuff to prepare for disasters. Pretty cool, actually. So if you're my age and you're planning on going to MOSI, you could probably just head to the Disaster City and the Magnet Circus and be content. You absolutely do not need the whole day for this venue-- you could get through all of it in a couple hours.
On Tuesday, we FINALLY made it to Busch Gardens. Post on this will be coming soon, we're heading to the zoo today and I need to get Alex up and make some sandwiches.

Yes, It Is.

I really need to get some fabric and/or something to paint. Yesterday I spent hours watching Say Yes to the Dress and my brain feels fried. I also need to get back into the habit of laying down earlier. Alex's 4 AM's make it tough because we usually lay down at the same time but he's been napping during the day so by the time he's up again, I'm just starting to feel tired. I'd also really like to get back to my gym classes. I was supposed to start back again this past Monday but the schedule was changed for the new summer semester (which started weeks ago but I haven't been since after the cruise) and Cardio Craise, which was at 10 AM is now 7 PM. I know this is good for the instructor since more people will attend her class (when I went last semester, there was only ever like four other girls and I don't think one of them was a come back). It's just a bummer because I like to work out in the morning to get it out of the way and not worry about making time for it once the day really gets going. 

It may be possible to do later classes now with Alex sleeping during the day. That might be what I need to do. 

Speaking of working out, the gym is calling. I finished my banana so I'm going to head over to my apartment complex's gym. Snoozy elliptical but it's something!

Put On Your Sunday Clothes

Summer is in the air!

Beautiful beautiful moments to come.

Crafting, painting, sewing- oh my!

Susy Tuesday, TBCC, moving to a new place- that's right!

So much to wonder, so much to see.

Summer is finally here and I can't help but jump with glee!