Busch Gardens

We had a great time at Busch Gardens while we were in Florida - Busch Gardens is like a combination zoo and amusement park and is divided into sections named after African nations.

We were advised (by Ali) to wear bathing suits and shorts because not only was it hot there, but there were also several rides that would get you totally wet. It was good advice, but more on that later!

Here we are at the entrance:

Eager to explore, the girls are off . . .
The little ones had fun in the area for younger children - here are Ellie, Josie and Anna on a ride:
Lala took Mari and Ellie on the dragons - kind of like the teacups at Disney:
Josie and Katie posing:
We saw a great show that told tales from Africa, the girls loved it and afterwards we got to meet some of the cast:

Anna on the carousel:
And Jo (they were reluctantly riding because they were deemed to short to ride the roller coaster that the bigger girls were on at the time):
Anna and Ellie in the water area:
And Lala and Mari:
We ended up having to divide and conquer since many of the rides weren't suitable for the younger girls - and Anna wasn't a big fan of the roller coasters anyway. One of the rides was called the "Tidal Wave" and involved going down a steep waterfall that sent a "tidal wave" sized splash onto the bridge where the onlookers stood. We rode the ride, but I think the girls enjoyed just standing on the bridge getting splashed even more! I attempted a picture of the splash from the deck below and this is what it looked like:
The aftermath - the girls are crouched down behind the rails of the bridge:
This is what they all looked like coming off the bridge:
Some of the cool looking wildlife we watched:
Mari and Mimi waiting to see the girls coming down the rapids:
Here they all come:
Mari and Ellie all tuckered out:
More wildlife:
Just a cute picture of our gaggle of girls:
Meggie loved seeing the beautiful Clydesdales - unfortunately I couldn't get positioned to get a great picture, but they were awesome.
Finally, a cute duck - or something like that!

Busch Gardens has some amazingly fun roller coasters and we rode several but they didn't allow you to take bags or cameras or anything else that might fall off of you as you where whipped around and upside down and sped here there and everywhere. It was fun listening to the girls on the ride home describe which ones they thought were the most fun, which were scariest and which ones they were to scared to ride this time but would surely attempt the next time they came! All in all it was a ton of fun and we Morrisons look forward to the next time we're in Florid and going again!!!

Meggie and Clara

I'm still catching up on blog posts but we did make it home yesterday after 31 hours of travel. We were exhausted but the girls did really well and we arrived minus only one bag this time - last time the airlines lost all of our checked luggage for 3 days! Of course the missing bag is the one with the gifts we brought back for people. . .

Anyhoo - when I asked Meggie what she wanted for her birthday this year she said she wanted to see her best friend Clara again. Meggie and Clara had known each other virtually all their lives in Tyler and shared a close friendship. Both are the oldest siblings of four, and Clara's brothers are just about exactly the same age as Meggie's sisters. As fate would have it Clara moved from Tyler to Colorado only a few days before we moved to New Zealand, again they had something in common.

Since I was still in the planning stages for our trip to the States it was easy to honor Meggie's desire to see Clara again - after talking with her mom, Jessica, I booked Clara a ticket to fly to Tampa and spend a few days with Meggie. She bravely flew alone and arrived the day before Ali and I got back from NYC so Mimi and Big Daddy took Meggie to pick her up and shared these pictures:

Lovely little girls at the airport seeing each other again for the first time.

They spent their first day together frolicking on Clearwater Beach (and I'm not bitter or anything, but while these lovely pictures were being taken Ali, Anna, Josie and I were sitting on the airplane on the tarmac for three hours waiting for the weather to pass so our plane could take off) - Clara loved it and mom said she built a fantastic sandcastle but the battery on mom's camera died so she couldn't get a picture.



The girls' friendship picked up right where it had left off, it was a joy to see them together again!
After Josie and I got back we all went to Busch Gardens to celebrate but I have so many pictures I'll put them in another post - sadly Clara's visit all too quickly drew to a close. I took this picture of the girls at the gate just before Clara boarded her plane back home:
Friendship is such a blessing!

The Big Apple - Part Three

I'm typing this post from the Tampa airport as we are about to board our first flight - we've just finished the first hour of our 30+ hour journey home to New Zealand.

Our third day in NYC we decided to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had so much fun seeing Lady Liberty and playing in the park around her that we didn't make it to Ellis Island, that will be something to look forward to on a future trip.

I haven't actually gone to the statue before, I've only seen her from a boat circling the island and didn't fully appreciate how huge she is! The information we read about her said that she was shipped to America from France in 350 pieces place in 215 crates.
That evening we went to see "The Little Mermaid" on Broadway and it was incredible! The cast was amazing, the set design awe-inspiring and the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. Here they are all dressed up and ready to go:


After the show we walked through Times Square to get to our subway for the ride home:
We also visited the largest Toys R Us store in the world and the girls loved the Barbie section
On the way home in the subway we ran into a sorority sister of mine in Grand Central Station - so fun! Here we are at our stop before walking home:

The Big Apple - Part Two

Day two of our NYC adventure included time at the seaport, a trip to the American Girl Store, afternoon tea with our new American Girl dolls at the American Girl store and a lengthy wait to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Josie says that the time at American Girl and getting her doll were her favorite parts of her trip!

Here we are down at the seaport:

Josie and Anna with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background:
In front of the American Girl store display window:
We once again took advantage of the "Personal Shopper" service at the store and were very excited that Kim, the girl who helped Lilly and Katie two years ago, was still there. Here is Josie looking through the catalogue to decide which dolls she'd like Kim to bring her to look at before deciding which one she'd like to buy:
Discussing her options with Kim:
Waiting patiently for Kim to come back with all the dolls:

Making a decision . . .
Anna chose Rebecca Rubin - her story is that she's a Jewish girl growing up in New York in 1914. The dolls each came with a story that told their personal history.
Josie chose Felicity Merriman, she is from 1774 and lives in Williamsburg, Virginia just before the Revolutionary War.
Getting the doll out of the box:
The tea was a real highlight for the girls - they get to bring their dolls too. Here the waiter is seating Felicity in her special chair that attaches right to the table:
All of us enjoying our treats:
Even Felicity got a cup of her own:
Dessert was very special:
We walked around and shopped some more after our tea - I got to browse one of the biggest Barnes and Noble bookstores that I have ever been to in my life which was a highlight for me and resulted in my lugging an extremely heavy bag to the top of the Empire State Building!

We got in line at twilight, but by the time we made it to the top it was dark outside. It was still an incredible view though!!