Posted in My Kids

Here is what we did Monday on our trip to San Diego...

LEGOLAND!

I must admit I have a love/hate relationship with LEGOLAND!  LOL  We went 3 years ago and I SWORE I would never go back!  Not because it isn't fun.  The biggest reason is it is EXPENSIVE!!!!  But, a few months ago I learned about Homeschool Day at LEGOLAND.  Instead of $57.00 for adults $44.00 for kids  it was $17.00 a ticket.  That is a great saving for a family of 5!  So we went again.  I still struggled through the day because for the money they charge I expect Disneyland quality!  They are a loooong way from being Disneyland!  Poor service, poorly trained staff, poor signing (we had a ton of trouble finding things.),  short hours and HIGH prices on everything in the park drove me nuts.  Can you even imagine charging $6.00 for a soda???  1 measley kids meal $8.00! (Thank God I remembered all this from last time and took in our own food and drinks!) It also bugs me that once you pay the big bucks to get in there are still things you have to pay for.  Want to dig for Dinosaur bones?  That will be $5.00 to "rent" a bucket! Wanna play miniature golf?   We charge for that! It just seems ridiculous to me to spend so much getting in and then have to tell the kids "No, we can't do that, it's too expensive!"  I could go on...But, I think you have the idea!

But, here is the LOVE part.  The Legos are sooooo cool!  The things they have made out of Legos are mind boggling!  The rides are fun and mostly very simple and can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages.  There is a lot of things in the park that are powered by imagination, which I really love.  My 3 year old would have been happy to play in the big red Lego Firetruck all day!  Seeing him and his big brother ride the Pirate Ships spraying water all over is a wonderful memory for me!

It is hard to pick just one favorite Lego sculpture.  But this one is high on my list.  Doesn't it look absolutley real!  How could they make a Panda look so real when it is made out of Lego's?

Any wonder why we call this kid Drama Boy?

Okay, here are some of the rides we enjoyed...

My 2 littles on the Lego Train.
After fretting for 30 minutes in line that he may not get a "boo" (blue) car my 3 year old revels in his success!  Driving the car was a whole 'nother thing.  He quickly crashed into the wall and stayed there the whole ride!  LOL The staff is suppose to keep them moving.  But, when you have eight 3 to 5 year olds driving, well it is mayhem! 

Happy guy! (He does better on a track!  LOL)
Now this son gets the good sport award for the day!  LOL  I didn't want the 3 year old riding by himself.  The ride goes way far off where I couldn't see him.  We had already had a problem earlier in the day when my daughter didn't get strapped into a ride and she GOT OUT during the ride!  (I told you the staff is lame!) So...my 12 year old hero rode along with his 3 year old brother! What a great kid!

My daughter was a little closer to the right age for this one!

This is the Pirate ride the boys loved so much.  They rode it 3 times and would still be in it if the park didn't close!  LOL  It is pretty cool because you can squirt water at the people outside the ride and they people on the outside the ride can squirt back at you! (I rode once and got drenched!) Look at the skeleton on the front of the boat.  It's made out of Legos!

This picture I had to take because my 12 year old and 6 year old managed to get their boat going backwards and ended up bogging down the whole ride while the staff tried to figure out how to turn the boat around!  Crazy kids! They were crashing their boat into the wall being silly and they got going backwards.  Then another boat came along and bumped them into the track to go back to the dock. They are actually in the dock completely backwards!  We left quickly after this picture was taken!  LOL

 Now....For Miniland USA!   This place is amazing!

This was new since the last time we went and was my favorite.  Why you ask?

This is the Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas where my husband and I renewed our vows on our 15th anniversary 3 years ago!  (I am not positive, but I heard it has been torn down now.  So I was glad to see the Lego version still existed!)

Here we are outside the real deal!
Now, isn't that too cool!

New York
New Orleans Cemetary
New Orleans

In honor of our ongoing Egypt study I had to post a pyramid!


San Fransisco to the left.  Griffith Observatory on top, California Mission below.

Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood
Hollywood Bowl.  I read on the Lego website that there are over 5000 Lego people that live in Miniland USA!  Apparently a lot of them are visiting the Hollywood Bowl!  LOL

San Fransisco Row Houses.  These look so real I wanted to go ring the doorbells and see if anyone was home!

This is the Pier in San Francisco.  I had to take this picture because they have the Sea Lions off the pier.  This is a place we frequented often when we lived in Northern California.  My oldest son learned his first animal sound there!  Sea Lions barking!  All my Kansas relatives thought it was so funny to hear a 1 year old bark like a Sea Lion!
If you look real close in the water in the middle is the Statue of Liberty.

And for one final Legoland shot my 3 yahoos in a shark!  LOL

Well, that pretty much concludes our vacation. 

BTW, if you are interested in getting the $17.00 Legoland tickets for Homeschool Days Click HERE to sign up for the free coupons.  They will send you an email to print and take with you to get the bargain price on special days.

Tune in tomorrow when real life will resume!