Just wanted to let everyone know that we are back as of late last night, and everything went well
It was nice to finally be able to take a real vacation (especially for the kids) after having to wait 3 years because of my Crohns.
We visited Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA for their first ever Christmas event:
http://www.christmastown.comIf you watched the following webcam in the park for the past few days, you would have seen us. lol They only have the webcam on during the Christmastown operating hours, btw:
http://www.buschgardensnews.com/page/bgwcamThe weather was freezing at times and moderate at others, so it was difficult to negotiate clothing at times. lol. Yesterday it was supposed to be around 55 degrees...and ended up much lower than that by the time we got to the farthest point away from the van (typical, no? lol). The first day was VERY cold in the park. Got to ride their newest ride 'Griffon'. WOAH. LOL. Quite the awesome ride...but froze ourselves silly in the second row. There was no line when we got off, so we got back on again in the front row (the best view). That........................................was a mistake. LOL. Little did we know that the view was spectacular in the front...but also there was nothing to block the wind from whipping you in the face (just imagine sticking yer head out a car window in below-freezing weather with the car going around 65 mph...and staying there for around 3-5 minutes). Yeah...it was beyond cold. Few people in the park, though, so we braved the cold and did the park. Had an awesome time. Peppermint fudge hot chocolate and Wassail. Eggnog cheesecake. Sigh...
Second day we did the park again. It was much more mild...but it was PACKED! They actually closed the park because it reached it's maximum capacity for the Christmastime event (around 11,000 people). They also closed their 'North Pole' building (their 'Festhaus) because it was maxed out. Just imagine a sea of people...lol. Still, we got into a couple shows and had a blast anyways.
Third day: rain. Big time. So we did some of our favorite shops around the Williamsburg area, and ate a nice dinner out. By nighttime, the rain has stopped, so we decided to hit the park since there were about 4 hours left till it closed. WOW! We practically had it to ourselves! Rode Griffon 2 times in a row (no lines). LOL. Fantastic view from the top of the ride at night. Still came off it freezing, but well worth it
Had a couple shows practically to ourselves. Just kindof took the park at a slow pace and had more fun.
Fourth day: Colonial Williamsburg (historical area). Dressed light, but it got cold once we got far from the van. Still had fun and everything was decorated so nice. Beautiful place. Took alot of pics. Haven't been there in years, so it was nice to walk the main road again and see the sights. Also, it's usually about 100 degrees everytime we go there...so the cold was bad, but welcome...if that makes any sense at all. LOL.
Best of all...the kids had an awesome time...which was the most important thing for us. The long wait for a vacation has been rough and trying for us. Thank God we were able to get away and have fun as a family. We needed it
As far as VFK goes, we were able to keep up while we were away. We paid for a day of in-room Wifi ($6 was a steal). We happened to get it on the night the 4th mural panel came out, so we were able to do the panel runs for our ppl and start all of our snowman quests. So we're actually fine on everything VFK (except the new host hunt prizes, but hopefully they'll do more hunts for those)
Just trying to catch up now with the new things that are for sale...but that's no biggie.
Can't thank everyone enough though for thinking of us and offering to supply us with anything we missed. We all really appreciated it.
Flame...now if I can only catch up on all the sleep I lost and thaw out...