Friday night, we went over to a live music bar/pizza restaurant in Ybor City where our friend Jenny works as a bartender. You might remember some photos from this place from last year. Even though it is in Ybor, which definitely doesn't have a "kid friendly" reputation, this place is great to take kids early in the evening. They can run around, spill things and be crazy and no one bats an eye. In other words, this is the perfect place for Natalie and her pals. Friday night was a going away party of sorts for our good friends Ryan and Megan. I met Megan at the Y in early 2009 and we hit it off instantly, and Johnathan and Ryan did as well. Natalie loves their daughter Anna and asks for her often. Sadly (for us), they are moving back to Minnesota in a few days to be closer to their families. We will miss them, but plan to keep in touch on Skype and via email and we definitely hope to visit them and check out what real winter weather is like! We got some cute photos of Natalie, Anna and Jenny's daughter Scout. It was certainly challenging to get them all looking in the same direction but I think the pics turned out OK (or as well as can be expected).
Saturday morning, it was back to Busch Gardens for the first time since Natalie's birthday. We have season passes but had no desire to go during the summer when all the kids were on vacation. It was still a very warm day, but not too crowded when we got there, though it definitely started to fill up by the time we left. The lack of crowds meant it was a good time to try out some of the rides that Natalie enjoyed last time as well as a couple of new ones that we missed. Our girl is not exactly what you would call "patient" and even though there were only two or three kids ahead of her in line, she would start whining and squirming and acting like the typical two-year-old if she had to wait more than 30 seconds for the action to start. She was finally tall enough to go on the log flume ride and though she looked a little stunned at first, I think she enjoyed the ride because when it was over, she said she wanted "more." Same for the car ride. I think we will really be worried once it's time for her to get her license, haha. After we got the rides out of the way, I was on my way to change her into her swimsuit when we ran into Big Bird and were able to get some photos with him before he had to go take a break. She also enjoyed watching a little bit of the show with the characters. She was especially thrilled to see Elmo and waved at him and said "hi Elmo" repeatedly. When you are two, Elmo is probably the closest thing to a celebrity there is! Eventually we got over to the water play areas and let Natalie splash around. I left Dada in charge and went to ride the Sheikra a couple of times (thanks to the short lines) and when I got back, Natalie was pretty tired and ready to go home. She zonked out in the car almost immediately.
Enjoy all the pictures!
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