In August of 2005, Emily, Diane & I decided to venture to Williamsburg once again for a visit to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. This is the lovely snapshot taken by the Water Country photographers as we entered the park. We decided that cameras at a water park were a bad thing, so this is the only picture we have from Water Country USA.

Back at our favorite European-themed park in Williamsburg, we catch Emily arriving in Germany on the skyride. This was her first time at Busch Gardens. And no, she doesn't normally wear canary yellow... it was raining off and on all day, and the people who designed the ponchos at Busch Gardens wanted to make sure you could never get lost in the dreary rain.

Diane and Emily, decked out in their rain ponchos, pose outside Busch Gardens' newest German attraction, Escape From DarKastle. We did not have a chance to ride this one, due to all of us plagued with extremely-long-line-o-phobia.

Still in Germany, we decided to stop by Das Festhaus and take in the Oktoberfest celebration with the singers and the oompah band.

Ah, back to our favorite scenic spot in Italy, the Teatro de San Marco. Located next to the Ristorante Della Piazza, it's a nice place to stop and load up on tomato sauce and cheese calories.

Diane and I pose in the tranquil gardens of San Marco near Da Vinci's Garden of Invention. Emily orchestrated this shot so that our pose would completely hide the unsightly trash can that lurks behind us. Well done!

Slightly damp, Diane and Emily pass through the turnstile to board the Trade Winds ride in Festa Italia, Italy. It's usually a nice way to start the drying-off process after coming from Roman Rapids, or one of the other water rides.

Round and round they go... where they'll stop, no one knows! The lady controlling this ride kept getting on my nerves by threatening to not run the machine at full speed unless everyone behaved.

Back in San Marco, we stopped to watch the Holiday In Roma show, involving all the classic Italian crooner songs, and some nifty dance numbers.

Emily and I decided to brave Da Vinci's Cradle while Diane remained on steady ground after we'd all come from the Battering Ram. Emily will not be seen in this picture, but I'm right up there in navy blue, looking the opposite way as the camera.

Our final picture of this trip (we were a lot less camera-happy than last year) shows a performer at the Imaginique show, taken just before the announcer came over the loudspeaker and told us not to use flash photography.