Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Nina Turns 9 and Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Since Nina’s birthday this year fell on Memorial Day weekend, we decided to take an extended weekend away at Hartfield and visit Busch Gardens and Water Country while we were down there.  We got to Hartfield on Thursday night then woke up early on Friday to start getting ready for our day at Busch Gardens.  The weather was beautiful – a perfect day to be at an amusement park.  While both girls enjoy the rides and the roller coasters, Nina is nuts about them.  Now that she’s over 52”, she can ride any of the rides in the park, and that’s exactly what she did.

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Her two favorites were Apollo’s Chariot (which she rode 5 times) and the Griffon (which she got to ride two or three times).  I was actually pretty shocked that she wanted to ride the Griffon, and and was the smallest person in line by far, but she loved every second of it.

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She’s definitely fearless when it comes to rollercoasters.  When I’m riding with her, I’m hanging on and screaming, telling her to hang on also.  Meanwhile, she’s riding with both hands in the air, having a blast.  The apple doesn’t fall far from her father’s tree on that one. 

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After a long day at Busch Gardens, we rode everything at least once, and we were all completely wiped, but we had a really fun day.  Cayenne, who spent the day at a doggie day car near the river house, was also exhausted from the day.  I guess it’s quite stressful to spend your first day at day care – even if you’re a dog!

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Saturday was Nina’s birthday, and the Williams family arrived to help us celebrate. 

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It was another beautiful day to be on the river.  The sun was shining, the water was calm, and everyone seemed to enjoy the nice ride on the boat.  Lyla reminds me so much of myself when I was her age.  I loved to drive my grandfather’s boat – it was absolute favorite thing to do when we were on the water. 

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We dropped off the boys back at the house so they could go play nine holes of golf, and we girls took the boat back out for some more fun.  Even though the water was cold, all the girls (including Mousey) got in the river to swim.   They laughed, jumped off the boat, danced to music, and generally had a lot of girl fun.

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They were cold when they got out, but that didn’t seem to last for long.  It definitely was a fun girls’ outing!

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By Saturday evening, we were ready to celebrate Nina’s birthday, so she got to open her gifts and have her birthday cake.  Nina is a frog lover, hence the cake theme for this year. 

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On Sunday, we headed out for Water Country USA – a huge water park that is a partner park to Busch Gardens.  We rode water rides for the day on Sunday, then again, made our way back to the house pretty wiped out.  Sunday was our last full day in Hartfield, so after a good night’s sleep, we packed up on Monday morning and headed back home. 

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We made it home with plenty on Monday left, so we unpacked out stuff and spent a few hours at our neighborhood pool.  I’d say it was quite a full weekend, but it was a lot of fun, and a it was a great way to celebrate Nina’s birthday and enjoy a holiday weekend with family.

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