Legoland, day 1

Wednesday.

By one of the restaurants.

An airplane by a Lego pit.

A tulip

Getting ready to go in the park.  By staying at the Lego hotel, we got to go in early.  They didn't have a ton of things open early, but we made good use of it.

Isaac enjoyed pushing Joshua.  Due to a high number of spins though, he didn't get to do this much.

A train!  Our first ride.  The next day Joshua wanted to go back on it.

Driving school.  Two years ago Isaac could barely do it.  This year he was a pro.

The boat ride.  (This is the one that Joshua talked about today.)  This was a rather long line; probably one of the longest we stood in...maybe about fifteen minutes.  We went on this Thursday too.

Pictures in the cars since Joshua was too little for the driving ride that Isaac could do.

A toddler playground.  It was a nice break and rather empty.  There was AC, so if it had been really hot out it would have been really nice.

The current car out of Legos.  I didn't get a picture of the sign, but it was a lot of Legos and and long time to make.

Isaac and a giraffe, since Giraffe is his favorite stuffed animal right now.

Since we were there for two days, we felt free to hit some of the less exciting spots.  We stopped by this brick pool, and it had Lego plates on the wall.  I did Joshua's name.

Ben upgraded it.

Isacc did his own name.

We then went to see the water skiing show.  Unfortunately, about ten minutes into it it was canceled due to technical difficulties and the actors that were there awkwardly ran off.  We saw a bit of it the next day from further away - which was much more comfortable.  There were Legoman skiers that Joshua was very excited about and a shark that he was very afraid of.

We didn't look at Miniland very much, but stopped for a quick picture as a family of five.  See the alligator in the background?

We called it a day around 1:30.  We knew we still had another day in the park and I thought Joshua would benefit from a nap.  We all took a nice rest.

Isaac really wanted to go to the pool, so we did that after rest time.  I was a bit surprised that he wanted to go in the pool so much; it looked like a normal pool.  We were thinking about going to the water park, but opted for naps and pool instead.  It was a good choice.  They had a bunch of giant floating Legos in the pool (2x2 and 2x4 pegs) with which to build and we had a grand time.  Ben made a boat, Isaac made a hat, and Joshua liked swimming in search of big blocks.

After the pool we had a Master Modelers time.  I admit, I was hoping it would be geared towards older kids with a bit of theory on how to make a good creation of your own.  Instead, it was putting together a little set.  There was still a bit of info and I've noticed Isaac sorting his pieces as recommended now, but mostly just step by step instructions...perfect for kids.  The boys made a parrot and Joshua did a good job, to our not surprise.

Here's our room.  The boys loved exploring it in the beginning and I heard several things like, "look at that!!!"  (the soap dish in the bathtub.  It was a normal one, but I guess we don't have one at home.)  The designers did an excellent job of designing for young families.  There is a bunk bed alcove once you come in the door, then the bathroom, then the main bed.  It gives the adults privacy and also allows the kids to go to sleep without all the lights being turned off.  The toilet also has a kids' toilet seat built in.  Isaac did complain that the toilet paper was too far away though and the sink was a bit high.  :)

At the end of the day we started putting together some Legos from some small sets.

Friday: buckets

This morning we saw a ton of birds on the lake.  Joshua and I were telling this to Ben when we got home, and suddenly Joshua kept saying, "Birds got fish."  All three of us thought that's what he was saying, but he kept saying no.  He finally got out "bucket" and was saying "bucket of fish".

He proceeded to spend the next fifteen minutes telling us all about the Boat ride that he took at Legoland.  How the man was going to fall off the barrel, how someone was trapped, how the fish squirted him (complete with sound effects) (note, the fish didn't squirt him, something else did), how there were boats, how we shouldn't go in the water.  It culminated with him swimming across the floor on his belly.

The next buckets were a belated Legoland gift.  It was too big to get there, so we got it on Amazon.  Isaac was super, super excited when he opened up the box; Joshua was just excited.   It is a motorized excavator and dump trunk.  I'm sure you'l see more pictures of it around as it will probably take a while to build.

Thursday: work

There are doors, with door knobs and not push bars, on the stairwells at work.  They're rather annoying, as people are constantly opening them and getting in the way of each other.  But I'm sure they're there for a reason.

Before spring break, two of the three doors opened just by pushing on them.  (I was always hitting that third one and realizing I needed to actually turn the door knob.)  It was handy as my hands are so often full of stuff.  (Pockets!  I need better pockets!  But that is for another day.)

After break there were signs posted: "Door knobs now need to be turned due to fire code."  The doors are now more annoying.  But it's given everyone something to talk about at work.  Perhaps it's actually a team building exercise as no one likes having to turn the knob.

Florida trip: more pictures

Tuesday: a relaxing day and going to the hotel.  (This was going to be a multiple day long post, but then the internet went flaky and I needed to go to bed.  So it'll be broken up.)

We went out for ice cream before lunch.  

Bear was sad, so Joshua gave him some cuddles.  Later on in the week it turned out that Bear had a temperature of 4-8-8.

Isaac had a great time with the ducks.  Joshua was just getting used to his puddle jumper and so liked to stay in the "bath tub."

 There was a life sized castle to run around in.

And pools of Legos all over the place.

We were in an adventure room.  Isaac followed some clues to open a lock on a treasure chest that had some drinks and Lego packets.

Wednesday: grocery shopping

...With Bear.  Joshua became a bit concerned around the lobsters, but told me he would keep Bear safe.

Tuesday: remembering

As I left daycare today I overheard Isaac telling his teacher about his vacation..."and they had Legos in the pool!"

Then, as we were pulling into the driveway, Joshua started going on about how he doesn't like tater tots.  The ones Ben gave him at LegoLand.  Nope, he didn't want tater tots and he didn't want them in LegoLand or at home.  He was quite sure of this for five minutes.

Monday: home

We came home today.  Both boys were quite sad at one point or another.  Joshua kept insisting that we go back to Grandma's house and almost threw a fit when he saw our car.  Isaac went into his bedroom when we got home and cried a bit.

Bear made it through all the flights well too.  He was still smiling near the end even.

The boys were also excited to realize that their stuffed animals from Grandma came home too.  Isaac's tongue is hanging out like Pluto's but you can't see it.

Friday: relaxing day

Today we had a relaxing day.  We played in the pool, had some ice cream, played some games.

Bear got fed a lot of cookies and cakes.

Monday: family member #5

I'd like to introduce you to family number #5, Bear.  Joshua saw a truck on the way and told Ben is was a truck, not an elephant.  Then as we were checking out every single gate he saw an airplane.  "A bird!" He exclaimed.  "A seagull!"

Isaac also had a good time on the plane with unlimited screen time.

Isaac also touched the ceiling with his feet during gymnastics.

Sunday night: thunder went boom

...And Joshua ended up in our bed for the rest of the night.

I heard all about it in the morning.  "Thunder went boom!  Scared."

Saturday: I want Mom

Saturday morning Joshua took quite a bonk to the head.  One of those where he cuddled with me for a good fifteen minutes and I reviewed the signs of concussions.

He became more active, and eventually went off to play.  I continued...doing whatever I needed to do around the corner

.  

Joshua came back in the bedroom and said, "I want Mom."  I said, "I'm right here."  The sigh of relief that he then gave was so sweet.  Sometimes I do tell him that I can't pick him up, but after such a large bonk was not one of those times.  So I got some more cuddles.

Friday: surprises

The first surprise today was related to the weather.  When we were eating breakfast, the view out the back looked like this:

Thirty minutes later, it looked like this:

We got close to an inch over the day, but most of it was within the first hour.  It was such a sudden change from the weather that we have been having that it surprised everyone.  It was good for sledding though!

The second surprise was one thought of by Isaac.  Our practice run worked better, but the way it ended up meant that Isaac got to see the surprise instead of being in his room.  (The crying is from Joshua, who had just slipped and face-planted.  He was jumping because he was so excited that Ben was home.)

Isaac thought of the surprise all by himself and prepped most of it, while I helped with the actual implementation.

(Oh, I realized it's a bit hard to see.  Isaac is pulling a yarn string (which breaks half way through) and dumps purple pieces of paper onto Ben.

Thursday: spring break

I'm on Spring Break!

Classes were surprisingly small today.  They tend to be on the small side right before break and so I planned a day that didn't include new material.  I think several students picked up on this and therefore just didn't come.  Oh well, it was a good day for it I guess.

I gave blood afterwards.  I'd like to give more often, but 1) my time without the boys, 2) time I don't have to be getting "real" work done, and 3) times that there is a blood drive rarely overlap.

Joshua was having a hard time getting his pajamas on.  I'm not sure why, since it is something that we both wanted to do.  I'm trying to have him do more of the taking on and off of clothes, so maybe he just was too tired.  My threatened punishment was that I was going to choose his pajamas and would choose the ones he didn't want.  It sort of worked.

Wednesday: legos

Isaac is making a laughing snake

Joshua is working on a helicopter.  He keeps calling it an airplane and I have no idea what he's talking about.  It's slow going, but he's doing a really good job putting the pieces together.

Tuesday: Joshua

I picked up Joshua from his classroom and he bounced over when he saw me.  There was such a look of delight...it was nice.

One of the caretakers noticed that he now brings Bear instead of Elephant.  I mentioned that Joshua has started asking for Bear instead.  Joshua said, "Elephant sad.  Elephant sad because Bear happy."

We got to the car.  Joshua was very worried about the wind blowing his hat off, so he took it off half way to the car and put it in the trunk.  It wasn't that windy.  But apparently the thing to do.  As I was buckling him in, he said, "Bear not important."  I said, "No?"  Joshua responded, "Jesus important."  I thought about getting into a discussion about Bear could still be important but decided not to.

We got home and I was telling this to Ben.  "Why is Elephant sad?" I asked.  "Elephant poor."  he responded.  Hmm...where did he get that from?  Later he said, "Bear happy.  Poor elephant."  so I'm wondering if he just got his words backwards.

He's also been making new things out of Duplos instead of just birthday cakes.  Yesterday Ben got a maze and today he made a caterpillar.

Also, happy Pi day.