After a good night's sleep we were ready to venture out on our second day. We were a little slow moving in the morning, and my crazy side started coming out as we ate breakfast at the hotel. I did not want to miss being in the first group of people into the back of the park! My family was kind enough to scarf down breakfast and walk fast to go get in line. We made it before they opened the gates, so I calmed down a bit. We were able to be on the first ride of "The Dragon" once again.
Zach took Gus over to this climber that I think could have entertained him all day.
A Witch's Wishing Well:
We walked through the "Legoland Factory" (don't tell, but it isn't the real factory)
At the end of the factory tour, there was a store with all bins of all the colors and (almost) all the shapes of Lego you could want.
(Also known as Zach's heaven)
Okay, well his heaven would actually have every piece you could imagine and he was slightly disappointed not to find a particular piece we are missing. He did become slightly obsessed with collecting the Mini-Figures. They do a new series of different characters every year, but you never know which one you are going to get. Zach was feeling the bags and checking the serial numbers to try not to get duplicates. He did manage to get Santa Claus and the Conquistador he was hoping for. We really wanted the Shakespeare one, but couldn't find it.
Family Photo Op with a Giant Mini-Figure:
Jimmy loved the cars he got to drive himself at the Volvo Driving School.
And we couldn't keep Gus from running in this fountain every time we passed it.
The weather was very warm for October so at least he didn't mind being wet all day.
Jimmy doesn't know Harry Potter and Hagrid, but Angie and I were excited about them.
Then we headed over to the Aquarium for awhile.
Then we did the full tour of Mini-Land USA.
(Sorry if it seems like a million pictures. This is actually a small part of what I actually took. I just love this stuff.)
They had added a lot of special things for Halloween like Trick-or-Treaters, Pumpkin Patches, and Graveyards.
Here is New York, New York in Las Vegas in Legoland.
Does that blow your mind? It should.
Now the bigger version of New York:
Spy the Headless Horseman in Central Park:
I think New Orleans was my favorite.
Then Hollywood and San Fransisco:
And last our Nation's Capitol.
Before Aunt Angie had to leave we went on two pirate ship rides.
The first was called Pirate Reef which is brand new and gets you soaking wet. Good thing we went right before we were heading over to the Water Park. We could have just gone in our swim suits from the water park, but we were trying to hurry so Angie wouldn't get stuck in too much traffic. She was nice enough to wait with Gus so Zach and I could both go on it with Jimmy. Then Zach, Angie, and Jimmy went on Captain Creaky's Challenge which swings back and forth and around in circles basically making you seasick. I probably should have gone because Zach regretted it a bit.
Then Aunt Angie really wanted Ice Cream, so she treated us to some ice cream bars and popsicles for the boys.
Angie headed back to LA, and we headed to the Water Park for the last couple hours of our day. It was just the right amount of time to spend there. Jimmy went down one big slide with Zach called the Orange Rush, but that was the only one he could do. We played in the kids area for quite awhile and Gus just spent most of the time filling and dumping a giant Lego block with water. I was ready to leave. Once we walked out of the Water Park we stopped at a few little things along the way to the exit, but Jimmy had no interest in going on anymore rides because he was exhausted. We left about 5 minutes before the park actually closed. We had a nice relaxing evening of Lego building in our hotel room .
There is a fun secret about Lego trading at Legoland. All the employees wear Lego people on their name tags and you can trade them for ones you have. They have to trade with you even if yours stink. We brought 4 lame ones from home. They were all old, beat-up, and plain and one had no hands. We managed to trade for these way cooler mini-figures:
We relaxed awhile before finding a local Seafood restaurant where Dad could eat fish and mom could eat clam chowder. By the time we got back to the room, we were all ready for a good nights sleep.
The next morning the boys were anxious to play more Legos before it was time to check out.
I can't fully express how grateful I am for this vacation. I really think my mom was watching over us smiling on all the fun we were having. I really don't think I won this contest because I am such a great mom, but instead because I had such an awesome example that I only strive to live up to. However, I felt a lot like her on this trip because she loved taking us to theme parks and on fun vacations. She always had fun watching us have so much fun. Zach and I felt like that on this trip. We can't exactly pinpoint a particular thing that was great at Legoland; it was so fun just to watch our boys be so excited and happy. Parents just need to enjoy these times with their children without the stress and I am so happy we were able to. I still remember my mom once spending a whole day of our beach vacation touring a timeshare just so she could get us free tickets to Disneyland. Her High School age kids were just at the beach enjoying themselves and not fully appreciating how great she was. She was the best! Thanks mom. I hope you had fun with us at Legoland. I know you were there in spirit.
