Emily Grace's Birthday Trip

This is the third birthday trip. One would think that I would be getting tired of the these but it is not true. I look forward to each one with great anticipation. I am at least as excited as the girls each time. This time we are going to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. Realizing that we will be able to cover all of the Great Wolf Lodge attractions in few hours I took the liberty of reserving us days at Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. We left the day after school let out. This is our first stop in Roanoke Rapids, NC on the way.

We arrive at Great Wolf and take a few minutes to for some pictures.

After checking in and getting our complementary ears, we took a picture in front of the fireplace. Emily Grace later asked me if I realized that I took a picture with my ears on backwards.

Our room was great. Fourth floor rooms have cathedral ceilings.

We first spent a couple of hours in the water park inside and out. We rode every ride a few times and spent some time in both pools. After the water we dried up and played Magi-quest.

We looked into all of the dinning options and decided upon some of an old friend who were right around the corner. 

We ate on the balcony with a view of the pool.

The arcade was next.

Finally, off to bed.

The next morning we were at Busch Gardens at opening. The first thing we found out was that Emily Grace was now tall enough to ride any ride in the park and we both could not believe how much she had grown.

The horses were first - of course.

You never know what the crowd will be like when you show up and an amusement park but it quickly became apparent that we were among few people. This was the wait for Loch Ness Monster.

We got out of Loch Ness and walked toward Scotland. This was the crowd along the path.

The eagles and wolves were out.

I hope this continues to be the case but Busch Gardens has has beautiful parks.

We are about to load onto Invader.

Emily loved it - see!

I remember when this ride was inside a building across from the show in Ireland.

I love the way that Emily loves roller coasters but would not want to miss the Merry-Go-Round.

The swings is an old family favorite.

Emily Grace loved Verbolten. 

Since there was very little line we took the opportunity to ride again.

We ran into a teacher at Emily Grace's school, Mr. Canady,  who was on his honeymoon.

Loading onto Da Vinci's Cradle

This is the most people we could gather for our ride on The Battering Ram.

Lunch at Trapper's Smokehouse

Another Ride on Invader

Testing the chair for our third ride on Verbolten.

Rain drove us out of the park around 2:00. This was the crowd at that point.

We checked into our room at Powhatan Plantation

The rain continued and we ate at Panera Bread.

The next morning the rain continued. We set out for Water Country USA. We got there to very low crowds. We were the eighth car in the parking lot. Every ride we walked right on all of the first 3 rides told us that we were their first customers. It was not until our fourth ride that we stood behind anyone else to get on a ride. We did not have any way to take pictures in the water so our only pictures take place on our way out of the park.

We rode this ride three times and it became Emily Grace's favorite ride at Water Country USA.

I love this girl. I love her passion and her zeal for life. We had a great time together and I will never forget this trip and I will never forget this time together. We had some very unique opportunities on this trip with crowds lower than we we are likely to see again and this girl was a champ and flexible as we rolled with all the punches and enjoyed opportunities to fullest. I love these girls and had more fun on these trips that anyone will ever know.

Addison's Birthday Trip

"If you know you are going to get there - it's not an adventure"

David Clubb 2019.         

This trip started off just like any other until about 5 1/2 hours into the trip the transmission began to give trouble on the car. It wasn't unheard of because we had the problem before on the return trip from Myrtle Beach. We worked on the car for about an hour and then there was no further problem. Therefore when we had the problem, Addison and I stopped and ate for about 30 minutes and we were off again. We made it about 15 miles and had the problem again. We went looking for a car to rent or a place to get the transmission worked on. There was none of either. Megan and I made a plan which included her coming down to meet us with Emily Grace and Moriah (our foster child) who was quickly cleared to leave the state. By the time all of the contingency plans were put into place it had been more than an hour. I decided to try things again - give it one more chance to get it there. We went down the road about 3 more hours and stopped at a rest area and let the car rest about 20 minutes and then holding our breath - it made it! All the way to this timeshare about 1 1/2 miles from Disney. What a relief and what a joy!

Addison decided to spend the time that was left in the evening here. The water was quite warm but the air from the pool to our condo was not. 

The next morning we arrived at this place. One of our favorite things to see come into view.

The rule was that you had to be on Disney property to try to get boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance. The problem, they would not let us park anywhere. I had to hand the phone to Addison and at exactly 7-0-0 she went for it. She said, "I don't think we got it - I really didn't know what I was doing."  I assured her it was OK and that we would still have a great day. When she handed me the phone this was the screen showing - she got it and didn't even know it!

This is the line to get into the parking lot.

Anticipation

We got in by 8:15 and the park did not officially open until 9:00. Based on some advice from All Ears (a youtube channel) we kept pushing.

We got right into line at the Tower of Terror

We were on and off the ride in by 8:30. 

Right into Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster

After Aerosmith we had two major rides down and park had not yet officially opened. So, we pressed our luck and walked to the third major ride of the day, Mickey and Mini's Runaway Railway.

Next to the highly anticipated Star Wars Land

It became our time to ride Rise of the Resistance

After Rise of the Resistance - Addison displays Olivia's "one thing" from this trip.

One thing that we had decided we wanted to try to do was to eat at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. We were unable to get a reservation. We went by the restaurant just to make sure there was no way to get in. We were told that they were reservation only but to try around 12:30 when people started dropping out. We were very blessed and got one at about 12:15. It was not until 2:40 so we got a snack at the backlot express.

We went on the Toy Story Mania Ride where I clearly won - at least that is the way that I remember it.

Just enough time to get in one more ride of the Rockin' Rollercoaster.

Time for 50's Primetime

Something about it. We were hot, tired, and hungry. We found it cool, restful, and the food was absolutely great! We had a great conversation and time gather ourselves. It would be one of the sweetest memories from our day here.

After dinner there was this! The hits just keep on coming.

The crowds started to pile up but we found a cool wait in the forest while waiting for Star Tours.

We never could find a short line for Smuggler's Run so we toughed it out. 

These social distance markers account for much of the increased size of the lines.

We rode Aerosmith for a third time and began to make our way out.  This is the last picture that we would take in the park on this trip. It was a trip that almost wasn't (because of the car issues) but it made us appreciate every single moment and the entire experience even more than we might have ordinarily. It was a great day to celebrate Addison and her birthday but more than that - we celebrated together. We made this trip because the days fly by and we want to mark the time. It is my genuine hope that this day meant a lot to Addison; I hope that we got to know one another better than ever before. I hope that it will be one of the times that will help her to take my God for her God and take some of my values with her wherever she may go. One thing is for sure, I love her very much and I shall NEVER forget this time that we spent together one spring day in Florida.