Legoland Revisited

My children are not perfect. I worry that they are spoiled, and ungrateful, and in general are given far too much. The same thing could be said about me, too. Such is the life when we are fortunate enough to afford most everything we could want, let alone need. I spend more time thinking about these things during the summer, when we are living lives of leisure and luxury gallivanting all over the country. A visit to a theme park really brings this home, too. The tickets are outrageous, the snacks ridiculous in both cost and nutritional value, and the gift shops are everywhere you turn.

But then I consider that I spent eight hours at Legoland with my kids yesterday, and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. I figure that while I should probably rein in our lifestyle in certain places, yesterday was a worthwhile indulgence. They had a blast, so I did, too. I spent much of the day thinking ahead to our upcoming trip to Disney World in October and knowing that they are ready to have the times of their lives.


We were joined by the Lyons ladies for most of the day (until they had to leave for Kelsey's piano lesson). Despite being outnumbered by girls, this foursome worked out very well.


Not surprisingly, Danny was very excited to see anything Star Wars related. Legoland is filled with hundreds of figures like this, constructed entirely out of Legos, and they never fail to impress me.


We experienced several new (to us) rides on this visit, including Splash Battle, a pirate-themed boat ride wherein each rider gets his/her own water-shooting canon. Danny asked to go on this again immediately after it was over, surprise, surprise.


Clare surprised me by wanting to go, and then enjoying, this Kid Power Tower ride. She and Colleen rode together and pulled themselves up with this rope, which then drops them back down (though not too quickly). In fact, this was one of three rides that we repeated later in the day. On the second trip, as the Lyons were gone by then, Clare convinced Danny to go with her (he had refused the first time). I found it hilarious that he sat and watched his one-armed sister negotiate the entire ride.


One consistent from our previous visit to Legoland was the popularity of The Royal Joust. Danny informed me that it was his favorite ride, and Clare opted to ride it twice as well.



Being the weak-minded parent that I am, no visit to Legoland is complete for us without a stop in the gift store. Danny found some knights, and Clare chose this architectural set of the Sears Tower (I know it's the Willis Tower now, but the box still says Sears Tower). The set indicated it was for ages 10+, but I figured Tim would have fun putting it together with her. Which probably would have been the case, but when we got home she put it together in less than 15 minutes.