Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?

The short answer to that question is definitely, Romney. But more on that later. . .

Our first full day in Williamsburg and all 3 of my boys were revving to go to Busch Gardens. Our original thoughts were that we would go every evening for a few hours when it got a little cooler in the day, as we had a week long pass, but $12/day parking and an 84 degree day made us rethink that first plan, and we headed over for as much fun as we could all stand for one day.

The park was my home away from home most of the summer, with a season pass and a desire to be out of the house as much as possible and it brought back fun memories to go back and visit. However, like the town of Williamsburg, the park has grown by leaps and bounds. Always a very beautiful theme park, that aspect remains unchanged, but now with 5 major roller-coasters and countless other additions, it is simply amazing now. We spent 7 hours today and didn't get even 1/2 way through what we wanted to. Bill rode his first roller coaster in this park when he 11 years old -- The Big Bad Wolf. A hanging coaster that was pretty revolutionary for it's time and is still a great ride, is being retired (don't ask me why, I just don't know!) on September 7th. Bill was very sad about this news and we had to hit that ride first. Only problem: it didn't open until 12:30 so it was more like his 3rd ride. It is also a coaster that all 4 of us are tall enough to ride (no, not me, Romney is the short one for now). Romney was gung-ho to ride, until we got to the front of the line, when he said "I can't do this!" Like any good mother would do, I encouraged him to try. He willingly got on the ride and pulled his harness down over his head and then panicked. He started saying "Let me out of here. I can't do this. I am too scared". But it was too late, the ride started moving and he was in for good. We started up the first hill with him screaming "I can't do this!" I was holding on to him to comfort him, but he screamed the whole entire ride, and at the end got off said "I AM NOT DOING THAT AGAIN." A few minutes after ending the ride he was still not wanting to ever go on it again, but was so proud he had accomplished riding a grown-up roller coaster and said he had good memories of it. Good parents that we are, Bill and I could not stop laughing during the ride with poor Romney screaming "I hate this!" for the 40 or so seconds of the ride. There was not a lot we could do at that point other than laugh.
While we were waiting for the Big Bad Wolf to open up, we went over to ride a few more rides. We all stood in line for one called "da Vinci's cradle" -much like a magic carpet ride around and around--we got to the front of that line and Romney decided at the last minute he did not want to ride, so William and I got on. William wasn't sure if he liked it at first, but mid-ride, I caught this face which I believe answers the question of whether or not he enjoyed.
Lunch after the Big Bad Wolf was a carbo-loaders dream (or an Atkin's dieter nightmare, you choose). The boys were in food heaven, and gobbled it up quickly. Our big mistake here was not adding some protein for William who had a major blood-sugar crash a few hours later and boy did we all pay for that, mistake. We fed William again this time with some protein and he was much happier (and so were we).
We rode all sorts of amazing rides we had never ridden before. One called the DarKastle, which was a 4-D haunted house. Bill and I found it fun and clever, but William hated it and Romney thought it was only ok. We rode the Alpingeist, a new Bill and Tara favorite. It was a super, smooth fun ride and we both enjoyed. We still have much to cover there and will be heading back as much as we can.


Famished after Busch Gardens, we drove to an old favorite of mine for dinner, THE CHEESE SHOP, in Colonial Williamsburg. They had changed locations, but not cuisine. It was a delicious end to a day full of thrills. We finished the day off with a sunset stroll through Colonial Williamsburg. The boys found The Toymaker of Williamsburg shop and, of course, we had to go in. They bought a giant bucket of plastic toy soldiers from different countries, split them up and started planning their battles. They couldn't wait to get back to the hotel where they laid them all out on the carpet and battled. It was so sweet to watch them together (the whole war thing I could do without).

Being back is a surreal feeling. It has been a very long time since I have been here, and this town and my adventures here shaped who I am to such a major degree. It is familiar and foreign all at the same time.