Those Chapmans – Page 69 – Out Of Their Minds Design

Florida Summer 2011, Part VIII

Still in the Sesame Street area, the kids cooled off in the water park. (cousin Connor, Grampa Ray and Uncle Ben went on their own to do more Connor-appropriate things. That worked out well!) See this image larger.

I told him not to run. There were no casualties reported. See this image larger.

Somebody red and fuzzy walked by, here. See this image larger.

Ian and Kaylee had a lot of fun in the water, but it was time to move on. See this image larger.

This was a special show with the tall Sesame Street characters… the audience was feeling a bit hot. I can’t even imagine how hot it was in the Elmo suit. See this image larger.

Nina explains the identity of the red fuzzy gentleman currently dancing on the stage. See this image larger.

I asked Ian to smile as this was his first official train ride. Later when I asked him about his first train ride, he had no idea what I was talking about. A good daddy would have dragged him to the front of the train so he could see the engine. Alas, we moved on before I had thought about it, so he’ll probably tell you he’s never been on a train. See this image larger.

Ian and I had our own row thanks to the people that were sitting behind us, who moved for Ian’s sake. Those were some good people! See this image larger.

All the ladies on this side of the family in one row! (Grandma Barb’s taking the picture, and that’s Aunt Mel’s chin!) See this image larger.

Hi Puddin’! (Or Sweet Pea, or Punkin’… she’s got a lot of nicknames.) See this image larger.

Hi Mommy! (Or Melisasa, or Dissy, or Sweetie!) See this image larger.

Now some “mood” shots of the ride… See this image larger.

There’s three giraffes in this picture. Look at it large and see if you can spot them! See this image larger.

Z is for… See this image larger.

Rhinos are Daddy’s favorite animal. True story. See this image larger.

They had some big sleepy kitties on display as well. See this image larger.

This white one was gorgeous, but looked a little thin and unhappy. (Although I guess all cats look unhappy and thin when wet, right?) See this image larger.

Florida Summer 2011, Part VII

July 21st continues for the next couple of entries, we have a lot of pictures. Granted some of them are “mood” shots (like the next one, below) just to give you an idea of what the kids were seeing to make faces like this. (Keep in mind that the blog is for you and I for now… but someday this is for the kids. They’ll probably want to see things in context.) See this image larger.

We happened to be in time for a show with a bunch of trained wild critters. See this image larger.

Ian loved it! Kaylee loved it! See this image larger.

Nina loved it! See this image larger.

The weird lady in charge loved it! (This kangaroo-like animal, called a wallaby, was not nearly as in love with it.) See this image larger.

It was honestly enjoyable, even for adults – mostly because of the array of trained animals that they had there. See this image larger.

We left the show happy and perhaps a little cooler than before. Mommy posed with this happy boy! See this image larger.

It was around here that Nina noticed a familiar face on a nearby banner. See this image larger.

“ELMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” See this image larger.

Yup, Busch Gardens has a whole chunk of the park dedicated to Sesame Street! Of course, as a toddler, meeting the six foot tall version of your heroes is different than the one on TV, that appears to be about your size. Tears were involved. Ian wouldn’t even stay in the picture! See this image larger.

From that previous ride, Ian graduated immediately to the Air Grover. See this image larger.

If you squint, that’s us there in the background. See this image larger.

The Air Grover goes up, steeply down and to the left in a tight circle, then right in a tight circle, and is done. It is, for all intents and purposes, a very real roller coaster. So this counts as Ian’s first roller coaster ride! See this image larger.

Did he like it? You tell me! Wait, don’t tell me, I’ll tell you: He loved it. A second, and much later third ride on the Air Grover was in high demand by our little man. See this image larger.

Kaylee and her Aunt Dissy were right behind us on that first ride! See this image larger.

Of the millions of ways I adore Ian, this is one of them. This was a mini-log ride. It was an extremely flat track, except for one bump, that Ian had apparently overlooked as he was standing in line. He went from looking a little concerned… to what you see here… flat out terror… *WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!!* See this image larger.

…to understanding… See this image larger.

…to relief… See this image larger.

…and finally hysterical enjoyment! See this image larger.

Florida Summer 2011, Part VI

July 21st, we were treated to an amazing day at Busch Gardens. Let’s open up with a big thank you for a whole lot of fun. Thank you! See this image larger.

This is us arriving in the parking tram, Grampa Ray pretended it was like a roller coaster! See this image larger.

Welcome to Busch Gardens! See this image larger.

Grandma Barb gets a grin out of Nina regarding her zooey. Guy in background: *Pfft, babies and their pacifiers… mmm bucket of cotton candy!!!* See this image larger.

Mommy talks Ian through being safe and brave on his first real ride. See this image larger.

There’s a sweet smile or two! Hold on you guys! See this image larger.

Ian tries to determine if this is fun. See this image larger.

At some point, sheer terror starts to go away, and one learns to enjoy oneself and kick back and have a good time. You can see that moment here, but I’m not sure if we’re talking about Ian on the ride, or me letting him spread his little wings a bit. See this image larger.

And there it is, the smile that will break 1,000 hearts once he gets to high school. See this image larger.

Good smile, Kaylee! See this image larger.

King and queen of the jungle! See this image larger.

Nina may not look all that happy in this picture, but just you wait… because this day has just begun, and Busch Gardens has a secret… See this image larger.

…a red, fuzzy secret. See this image larger.