Lego Mania!

 They say it took 40 million lego bricks to build this land of legos.  Pretty impresive.  And I know that we didn't see all of it, even in the two days we spent there.  If you ever have the chance to visit Legoland, I would highly recommend it.

Even before walking through the front gate, the kids were delighted by all the lego creations they found.

Our first stop was the fairy tale brook boat ride.  J & I were in the boat in front with the rest of the crew following behind us.  J was a little nervous about all the lego figures we saw--he seemed to think they were about to jump out at us or something.  I had to keep reassuring him that they made the ride for little kids, so they couldn't put anything scary in it.  All the same, I think he was a bit relieved to get off the boat.

We really enjoyed the humor they put into so many of their models.  Like this prince charming with a cell phone.  So that's how he manages to always rescue the maidens!

J was amused by this huge, grinning cop.  He even paused in devouring his hamburger to check him out.  K was seriously impressed with this giant Chewbacca.  I think she would have liked to take him home if she could have carried him.

The girls both earned their lego licenses by zipping around this driving course.  They didn't even hit any curbs!  J bailed on this ride after we had waited for half an hour in line.  Once he got close, he realized that I couldn't ride with him.  I was sort of his security blanket at legoland--especially the first day.  He wouldn't set foot on any ride without me.

Almost lost J & Shaggy forever during the tour of lego-making machines.  They could have stayed in there for days, watching how the machines worked.

25 million of the above mentioned 40 million lego bricks were used to create this place, miniland USA.  It was truly breathtaking!  Of everything we did on our trip, I think this was the place J loved the most.  I think he would happily move here, if he could.  He thought the buildings and people were pretty cool, but it was the moving vehicles, boats, planes & trains that had him entranced.  His ears seemed to stop working when we were in here, so we had to grab him by the arm to propel him forward through the exhibits.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

The Big Apple.

Vegas.

It sort of misted and rained most of our first day at legoland.  After a while we just gave in and stopped saying no to some of the water rides.  But thankfully, we didn't get all that wet on this one.  Everybody loved it, though, so we ended up going again and again and again.

Shaggy doesn't do so well with the motion sickness, so the kids dragged me on this ride.  It was another hit.

Our very first 4D experience.  Some little story about a lego princess who saves the world from some strange skeleton guys.  In one scene, it started snowing and before we knew it, bubbles were raining down on us.  The kids really got a kick out of that.

J about to embark on a safari tour.  I had to assure him that I was really going to get in with him right after I snapped the picture.

Shaggy took the girls on thier very first rollercoaster.  It wasn't this one, it was a much bigger, wilder one.  They both got off thinking they might never get on another coaster ever again.  But they relented and tried this tamer one that even R went on.  This one they liked.  I guess we have to start them out small and THEN work our way up.  R was a little nervous during the ride, but when she got off, she requested to go again.  Which Shaggy was happy to do.  But then she flipped out yelling, "I not ready!" when he tried to sit down with her.  Guess she needs to start out even smaller.

Like with this kiddie train.  That she also protested when I tried to get on with her.  But she was ok with Daddy.  And sort of enjoyed the ride.  I think.  At least she wasn't screaming.

This was more R's pace.  A playground with lots of stairs and slides and windows.  When she wasn't occupied playing here or building with giant legos or sitting in the stroller eating sncks, she was whining about wanting Daddy.  I do think she was a little overwhelmed by the frenzied pace of things.  She felt most secure in Shaggy's arms.  I'm not sure how he held up--he certainly had sore muscles from holding her so much.  I think he deserves a superhero Dad award.  I'm sure R would agree with me.

Our second day at Legoland, we were able to meet up with S&A and cousin E.  Since they live on the other coast, we haven't seen them in a while.  J was made nervous by his uncle and ducked out of the group photo.