Mini-vacation to Grandma and Grandpa Sladky's

We took our annual trip to my parent's house to visit the pumpkin patch and get a little Busch Gardens time in. It felt more like a mini-vacation this year since we left at noon on Thursday and came back on Sunday.

Mason is a terrible car rider. That is why we don't travel and will continue to be a reminder of why we don't travel. By the time we got to my parents, we were happy to let the kids and dog out of the truck and watch them run around under Grandma and Grandpa's eyes. In fact, after dinner Ryan and I left to go to a little dive bar in Zephyrhills to watch a band play (we met the guitar player for pizza last time we visited). The band was good. We are just not used to smoke filled bars. Ick! We would have stayed later but it was a 30-45 minute drive back to my parents and frankly, we were sick of sitting in the car.

Friday we got up and headed to Busch Gardens. Mason loved all of the park and was quite content to ride in his stroller and people / animal watch. He was a little hesitant of rides but once he did them, he loved them. He drove cars in Sesame Street, explored the tree forts, rode the hippo flume, rode the big carousel in the main park and went on the Grover roller coaster. Miller was slightly shafted as the main section with a few of his favorite rides were under construction and the Rhino Rally was also closed. He did have a blast playing in the bigger tree fort, rode the roller coaster probably 5 or 6 times and helped his brother on a few rides.

On Saturday we headed to the pumpkin patch. We normally go at the beginning of the month and are there right when it opens. This year we were there on the last weekend and got there an hour after they opened. It was full of people. We had to wait to get in and all of the pumpkins left were the super expensive large ones. We opted for a quick photo op with the pumpkins and went to the local church that the boy scouts sell at later that day.

Miller knew what he wanted to do, he played on the hail bails, played a water pump game, shot the potato gun, and led us through the corn maze. Mason was a little rough in the morning so it took him a while to warm up. He loved the hay ride and the tree fort. He fed some goats too. Rosie the cow was on the other side of the pasture/fence this year so no kissing her. We ate a picnic lunch and headed into the corn maze. Mason had fun running from the "bears" and "monsters".

Miller had his first motorcycle ride with Grandpa. That will get its own post and pictures. We capped Saturday off with a trip to The Freezer. The boys took good naps so it was a late night adventure. It's a restaurant that is literally built out of an old freezer. They have fresh shrimp and it's on the water. They were packed so we ate on the back porch with a view of some spooky halloween decorations and crazy bikers. Even though it was super late, the boys were so good. We ate enough shrimp to last us a few months. It was great but my lord, a 1/2 pound of shrimp each is a lot of shrimp! No pics of the shrimp but trust me, it was overflowing.

Sunday we got packed up and headed home. It was a great time and I think everyone had fun. No major meltdowns and both kids went to bed pretty good.