Mad Hatter’s Wife

Our Pumpkins!

HAPPY “BELATED” HALLOWEEN!!!

T’was a really nice holiday in my neck of the woods.  With lots of  quality time spent with my daughter that is always very appreciated in my busy world………..=)

We did not have any “big plans” for the holiday! 

Just planned on tricker treating around our neighborhood for the first time.  We have lived here for a few years now but last year we went to a friend’s house for a party and tricker treating in they neighborhood so we have yet to do so around ours, until now that is.

Before I share the evening events with you let me summarize what occurred earlier in the day.

First, we all slept in and awoke just after 9am.

My husband played on the Wii, my daughter got ready to spend the day with her grandma and I headed out just before 10am for a 4 mile run.

The entire run took me a bit over 45 minutes in all.  I was scheduled to do a Speed Run, however with my past Knee issues……I didn’t push myself really hard as I don’t want to aggravate it.

Upon arriving home I got cleaned up and planned to head out to the grocery store after stopping for French Vanilla Hazelnut coffee and a Pumpkin bagel with Pumpkin smear at Einstein Bagel.

Coffee

Bagel

However, after eating I did not make it to the grocery store as the hubby decided he wanted to do a little shopping so I met up with him instead.

We shopped until it got too hot outside around mid-day and headed home to have lunch.  Along the way I grabbed us something to eat at Polo Tropical as I did not have anything at home due to the fact that I had yet to get to the grocery store so far this weekend.

I had their fajita salad, which was really tasty.

Fajita Salad

I finally hit the grocery store after having a late lunch.  Needed to get there and back before my daughter got home so we could get her ready.

Just after 6pm we started getting my daughter in her costume.  One she picked all on her own at Party City earlier in the week, that I must say fit her perfectly as her hair went with the characters hair perfectly….espically after we spray painted it.

I am sure by now you have guessed what she choose to be (gave it away in the title), but in case you haven’t………see below:

My Daughter's Costume!

Do you know it now!?!?!

She is the Mad Hatter’s Wife from “Alice & Wonderland”! 

Now of course the Mad Hatter did not really have a WIFE in the actual movie but there were tons of costumes for the made up character out this year that were so cute.  And, as you can see looked really cute on.  =)

Before heading out to go tricker treating just after 7pm, when it was getting dark outside, I whipped up dinner……….a homemade pizza that I prepared for earlier in the evening after I got home from the grocery store.

Homemade Pizza

It took us around an hour and a half to make it around our entire neighborhood.  Along the way we ran into some of my daughter’s friends from school and tagged along with them.

Once the candy was overflowing and the streets were starting to get quite we decided to head home just before 9pm.  My daughter immediately commenced to counting all the goods a/k/a CANDY after she changed out of her costume.

CANDY!!!

She had 186 pieces of candy in all!!!

And, lots and lots of CHOCOLATE……=)

Now of course my husband and I will be the ones that will most likely eat the candy she now has stashed in her Halloween bucket in the pantry as my daughter is not a huge candy eater.  In fact, she rarely eats candy aside from the occasional lolly pop or gummy candy. 

I know shocker right!  A kid that doesn’t eat candy or chocolate for that matter.  Tell me about it.  I raised her to love healthy treats like fruit, yogurt, crackers, etc……..BUT I never kept her from eating candy if she wanted it so it still surprises me to this day that she doesn’t care to eat the stuff.  Guess that is a good thing all in all of course.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday as much as we did! 

Looking forward to the next one……..Thanksgiving, which will be here before we know it!  Hmmmmm, I can’t wait!

Busch Gardens

 

Over the weekend I took my daughter to Busch Garden’s as a belated Birthday Celebration.  She had decided before her birthday that she wanted to go to the theme park instead of having a big birthday party this year.

Originally we were supposed to go closer to her actual birthday, however she was sick that week as you might remember so we post poned it until the end of the month.

Unfortunately, both her friend and cousin who were supposed to attend with us could not go on the post poned date so we went so solo……..which was REALLY NICE as it is not often that I get to spend the “entire day” alone with my daughter having fun!  =)

We sleep in a bit that morning and headed out just after 9am for the hour+ drive to Tampa Bay, Florida where Busch Gardens is located.

Before hitting the highway I stopped and got some Iced Coffee, plus a muffin for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.  I wanted a Pumpkin Muffin but they were out so I got a Blueberry Muffin instead and it was very good.

Coffee & Breakfast

We arrived at the park a bit after 11am, only an hour short of opening time, and were happy to see that the parking lot was nowhere near full so we knew we would have a an unpacked park. 

That along with the beautiful weather outside……..clear blue sunny skies in the mid 80’s with a nice breeze, was sure to make for a wonderful day!  =)

Upon entering the park we decided to head counter-clockwise through the park starting at Garden Aviary where we got up close and personal with many Kangaroo’s of various ages.

Kangaroo1

Kangaroo2

Kangaroo Babies

Aren’t they the cutest!?!?!

After leaving the Kangaroo’s we headed towards the Flamingos and found A LOT of them……..it was like a sea of “pink”!

Flamingos

My Daughter & the Flamingos

We then headed into Lory Landing, which had more Birds for us to enjoy seeing…………

Birds1

Birds2

Birds3

Bird Feeding

Next, we headed through and right past SheiKra!  For those of you who are not familiar with SheiKra it is a huge roller coaster that has a 90 degree angle drop at the beginning. 

We discussed going on it but quickly decided it was TOO MUCH for us and walked on by to Stanley Falls Flume & Tanganyika Tidal Wave.  My daughter changed into her bathing suit at this point so she could ride both of these water rides.

 

 

 

Stanley Falls Flume Tanganyika Tidal Wave

After getting soaked on the above rides we headed towards one of the funnest parts of the park called Jungala, which is basically a huge jungle themed play ground for “all ages” and YES I joined in on the fun with my daughter!  =)

Jungala

Playing in Jungala

Yes, I am high above in one of the robe areas of Jungala taking pictures of my daughter playing below……..it was SO FUN, like being a kid again!  =)

More Playing in Jungala

Oh, and let’s not forgot about what lives in Jungala………..

BATS!!!

Luckily, they were sleeping!  =O

After departing Jungala we walked past the Chimpanzees before we headed into the Tiger exhibit.

Chimpaznee

Tigers

After gazing on the beautiful animals for some time and also visiting the gift shop where my daughter bought a “white tiger” stuffed animal with her birthday money we headed to Congo River Rapids and Kumba.

I skipped Congo River Rapids as I knew I would get soaked but I rode Kumba, one of Busch Gardens many roller coasters with my daughter as it looked to not be too scary and to my pleasant surprise was actually kinda of fun…..aside from some of the jarring around that was involved on the ride.

We settled ourselves as he headed into the next section of the park and decided that we were famished so we got lunch at an eatery there.  I decided to try to stay semi-healthy by having a Chicken Cesar Salad for lunch.

Lunch

We played some Carnival Games for a while before hitting our next ride………..the Pirate Ship! 

NOW, both of us thought it just went back and forth but soon found out after we were strapped in and going that it in fact went ALL THE WAY AROUND……….=O 

We of course gasped and wanted off immediately but the ride was already going and that wasn’t possible so we hung on for dear life and made it through. 

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, however it would have been nice if it didn’t hover straight up side down for as long as it did……felt like an eternity and I felt the effects of it through the next day.

That was it for us ride rise!

We spent the rest of the day taking in the wonderful animal views of below……

Elephants

Rhino

Turle

Gorilla

Alligator

At late-day we decided to load up on some sugar as we both were feeling pretty tired after the entire day of walking around and got one of our favorites……….YUM!!!

Funnel Cake

We also road the train around the park, which was very nice and relaxing!

Train

And, got to see lots of views of the Serengeti Plains along the way.

Serengeti Plains1

Serengeti Plains2

Well that wraps up our trip!

We stayed until closing at 6pm and got home to Orlando just after 8pm.

It was a GREAT TRIP and day with my daughter that I will never forget!  =)