lightning and ballerinas

 We had another fantastic, yet busy weekend last weekend! My brother Andy came to town for a quick visit before heading off to Colorado, Wyoming, and then a quick little 4-month hike along the Pacfic Crest Trail in California.  He just finished the very CRAZY and not-so-well-known Hayduke trail through beautiful canyons in the desert. Yes, the desert. Where people are scarce and water is scarcer.  He is a little bit on the crazy side I suppose... but who wants to be normal anyway?  You can read his trail journal from the Hayduke Trail here.

 Of course when given a choice between Busch Gardens and a hike, he chose Busch Gardens... maybe because he is spending the rest of the summer hiking! Kieran took an instant liking to his long-lost uncle, and pretty much wanted nothing to do with anyone else whenever he was around.  It was endearing to say the least, and I am so glad these two got so much bonding time. We had a great day at Busch Gardens, despite the downpour.  After the downpour most of the park was cleared out so Andy and I spent the most terrifying few minutes of our lives on the Verbolten!!! 

We watched the Irish show again during a downpour that closed the animal area of the park. The show was stellar all over again. Totally worth the price of admission! ;) 

 Isn't that picture great?  Yeah, that was 5 minutes before I realized I had lost my wallet at Busch Gardens!  I ran to the lost and found after searching where I had been, and it wasn't there. As I ran back my mom and Andy and the kids had rode one ride before realizing that the park was being evacuated and shut down due to severe storms. They advised everyone to seek shelter. WOAH. And I decided to run to the back of the park and ask all the park attendants if they had seen my wallet. I was running in as everyone else was trying to get the heck out!  Finally I found a lady who had in fact turned my wallet over to security, so as the sky darkened I ran back to lost and found where I waited FOREVER!!! The park called a CODE RED meaning no one was allowed out of the buildings. there was a wild storm and then came the CODE PURPLE which meant tornadoes were on the horizon.  They made me stand in the middle of the building away from the windows... I was the only one left in the park it seemed and my wallet was somewhere with some security guard.  Finally, the storm let up about an hour after the park closed. I went up to the lost and found people and asked if it was logistically possible to get my wallet before the next wave of bad weather came.  Then the head of security picked up his walkie talkie and 2 minutes later I had my wallet, my license and all my credit cards in my hands!! THank God! I grabbed my wallet and ran through the lightning bolts to the van! I am so happy that story ended well. And from now on, I am only bringing cash into the park with my pass!  You should have seen the buckets of cell phones (and really nice ones), wallets, purses, debit cards, hats, and oh, the cameras that were hanging out in the lost and found. I felt a lot less dumb because I am sure some of those lost cameras or phones were worth more than everything in my wallet put together! lol!

 On Sunday Anastasia finished up her year of ballet with her performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!  She did a great job and wasn't a bit nervous. In fact she said afterwards, "I wish I could be on stage forever!" Someday little one, maybe someday.  Sadly I had issues with my camera (user malfunction! haha) so I didn't get a video. :(  But I did sign both girls up for ballet next year so I will have to be better prepared!  And you should have seen all the tiny ballerinas in their fluffy tutus. It is enough to melt your heart ten times over! :)

 My oh my is my little Anastasia growing up so fast!

We had a fantastic feast after the ballet show with the whole family over.  On Monday I drove Andy to the airport... twice. We ended up at the wrong airport and drove into DC to Reagan National.  It was actually fun driving near our old stomping grounds and Kieran and I enjoyed watching the planes take off for a while before leaving the airport with a cup of coffee in hand.  What fun!  And now I am waiting on my cherry jam to finish up...  YUM! Have I mentioned that I loooooove summer? Because I do.

Happy trails Uncle Andy. And Happy trails to you all!