Busch Gardens

A neighbor of ours was kind enough to give us some free one day passes to Busch Gardens a couple of weeks ago. On Monday, hubby was off so we went for the day.

Since it's December, they had a lot of special events going on just for the holiday season. We saw a couple of the holiday shows. One was called Christmas on Ice. There was live singing and of course figure skating. There were some really talented skaters there, including some that have won different competitions. There was a couple from Russia and a man from the Ukraine though I can't remember their names.

There was even one from the USA named Samantha Hunt. I'm not up on figure skaters so I really don't know who she is, but it seems she has a few medals.

Gigi was intrigued at first but towards the end she stated that was, "done with this show". J must have liked the music because he was up and wide-eyed for the entire 30 minute show.

I thought there were a lot of really cute parts.

There were also parts of the show that made me really nervous. Why? For one, the stage of ice was fairly small for all the people that were on it and it was raised. Twice, different skaters almost fell of the edge because they didn't stop in time. Luckily they caught themselves before the fall. Also, the Russian couple did so many moves that just made me look away. Like the time when the guy grabbed the girl by the ankles and swung her around in a circle, her head mere inches from smashing on the ice. Or when he lifted her up onto his head and let go. It stressed me out, but it was pretty amazing to see how much talent these skaters had.

After that show, we headed over to the Desert Grill where we had some lunch and then stayed to watch Christmas Celebration. This was a 20 minute song and dance extravaganza. this one held Gigi's attention better. There were parts of this that were reminiscent of Radio City's Christmas show. Like the part with the toy soldiers.

Next it was off the the Land of the Dragons - the kiddie play area.

I was probably just as excited as Gigi to go there because last time we went, I was pregnant and couldn't get on any of the rides with her. So, daddy had to sit out this time while I had some fun with my girl.

Gigi did a couple things on her own as well. She rode on the boat ride and jumped in the "dragon's nest" which is her favorite.

Finally, Gigi was able to visit with Santa yet again. She still did not want to tell him what she wanted for Christmas, but at least she sat with him.

We had a great day and are very grateful to our neighbor for giving us the passes!