Disneyland 2015 - Legoland!!!

Tuesday morning came bright and early after our late night and two hour time difference!  Tate didn't sleep very well at all which of course led me to not sleeping very well.  And we all know I'm not the best parent in the middle of the night.  But we persevered and rallied for the day!

First stop!  Breakfast with Mickey and his friends at  which thankfully was at our hotel :).   Surf's Up!! Our cousins joined us!  The food was delicious even though it took some time to get Tate his food.

Mickey signed their autograph books!

Daisy came by to meet us!

There's Pluto!!

They were thrilled to meet Stitch though none
of us have seen Lilo and Stitch!  It's now on our 'to watch' list.

More autographs!!

Then we headed out to catch our bus to Legoland!!!  We were picked up right outside my hotel and transported to the bus transportation center where we were ushered onto our Legoland bound bus!!  WooHoo!  At the transportation center I met a lovely family from New Zealand!!  We chatted a bit, and I swear the dad was flirting with me.  I made mention of the fact that when I went to Australia I was asked by several Australians if I was a Kiwi...the family here chuckled and said I do resemble Kiwis.  Now I'm not sure this a good or bad thing, but I've chosen to be oblivious and go with good :).  Anyway, I told them if they were ever in Texas to look me up!  I gave them my name, then boarded our bus!!!  We were on our way to Carlsbad, California for Legoland!!

As usual the boys wanted to sit together.  I would say this was the hardest part of this entire vacation...the boys wanted to be together constantly, leaving poor Kayla to feel left out.  She's 100% into princesses, and convincing two boys to have an interest in princesses and dolls just isn't happening.  I have found that the lines of gender separation are becoming clearer and clearer as the years go by.  I've also noticed that girls are more likely to play with 'boy' toys way more so than vice versa.  It's like it's just in our female nature to be more acquiescent.  But this post isn't about that, it's about our fun trip.  I offered to sit with Kayla, and that made me happy.  I wanted my boy happy, so let him and Korey have fun together...plus it's extremely important to me and my cousins that these kids have a good strong relationship, and right now this is where these boys are and we're committed to meeting them there.

Then we were there!!!

It was a simply gorgeous day as well!!  The bus dropped us off with a promise of a pick-up at 5:45.  We were thinking 'Man 8 hours is not enough time to be here!'

We made our way quickly through Legofriends Heartlake City, thank goodness.  Kayla seemed oblivious that this was the 'girlie' portion of the park as she doesn't really play with Legos and the boys were not the least bit interested.  Also, Gail and I had been told to go straight to the back of the park when we arrived and make our way to the front to beat the most crowds, so that was our plan for the day!

We entered Fun Town, and the kids were in heaven!! And I must say everything was awesome :).  There were no lines, the park was clean and it was so much fun!

First top: Junior Driving School!

Then the boys found the Driving School for ages 6-13!  :)  I had to tell them to lie to the attendant and say they were 6.  The boys were fine with it; Kayla had some trouble when she joined them in the line, but they made it on the ride...fwiw they all turn 6 in mid-July.  This ride was much more their speed!!  The Junior Driving School was for ages 3-5.

Here are the big kids!

Then we headed over to the Fun Town Police and Fire Academy!

Marcus even got in on the fun!!!

Then we took to the skies on the Flight Squadron!

 

Then the boys got me to ride Captain Cranky's Challenge!  I am not one for such rides, but I ponied up and actually enjoyed it!

After all that walking in the sun (thankfully not hot to us even at 85 degrees since there was no humidity!) the kids were ready for some water fun!  We got them changed and let them play in the Soak-N-Sail for a bit!!  They had an absolute blast!

The kids splashed and splashed!  Marcus even agreed to ride Pirate Reef with the boys!

After some serious water play, we got the kids changed and got some lunch!  I loved being able to sit outside for meals without roasting!!!

We made our way to Miniland which had a huge Star Wars exhibit which was right up my cousin Marcus' alley!  He was in heaven!  All of Miniland was pretty incredible!!  Loved it!

  

While we were in Miniland we ran into Buddy dancing on the lawn!!!  

After some serious dancing, Gail and Marcus rode Pharoah's Revenger while I took the kids to ride Beetle Bounce and Cargo Ace!

  

I loved how much they loved this ride!  Afterwards we had a snack!!  The much talked about Granny Smith Apple Fries!  Ooh were they absolutely divine!!!  Yum Yum!

By now we were all getting a bit tired.  The kids rallied and rode the Royal Joust...

But we were all getting tired.  We adults sat down and rested while the kids played even harder at The Hideaway.  By 330pm we were ready to go home :)  But we had another 2 hours before our bus would return.  But we all persevered!  Tate and I made our way to the front of park to go stroll through the Big Store...you got it a HUGE Lego store!  Before we had left for California I had told Tate his maximum spending price at Legoland.  He had $75 to spend, so we spent a good deal of time meandering through the store finding just the right sets to purchase that wouldn't exceed his budget.  He was very cost-conscious and came away with three sets just over his limit at $79 in total.  We were both happy.  Then I went in search of something for him to eat for dinner on the drive home on the bus.  This proved quite challenging until we found a pizza place (where Gail and Marcus had stopped on their way to the front as well!)  I ordered him an allergen safe pizza and we all sat and relaxed after a long, hot, yet super fun day!  The time change, the sun and the activity had worn us all out!  Somehow the kids were still going strong!  

They got some looks from other patrons for their exuberance and I thought to myself...you're in an amusement park surrounded by children.  What do you expect?  Nor do I care about what you expect.   I swear I heard some dad with 2 kids who were following him with their heads down say something about 'discipline'...now I have no idea if he really was referencing our kids, but of course I thought he was.  And I was bothered in the moment, but then I was like No.  You've come to an outdoor theme park which should be fun...I get that you want to sit and eat, so do I.  And if our kids are done eating and want to play well then we're going to let them.  They're kids.  They're having fun.  Yes, they're being loud, but they're not in your way or bothering you.  This is what being a child is all about...the fun, the happiness, the joy of simply being.  Not walking around with their heads down being quiet..we're not at the MOMA.  So we let them sing and dance!!  While we enjoyed the 'quiet' at our table.

The bus arrived promptly at 5:45 and we were on our way back to Anaheim at 6pm!  Marcus and his family pretty much fell asleep on the ride back;  Tate of course did not :)  He ate his dinner and relaxed just a bit.  We got back to the hotels, said our good-nights and prepared for the next day!  Tate was sound asleep by 8:30, and I quickly followed by 10!!!

Thursday, Marcus, Gail and the twins were off to Sea World while Tate and I were headed to Disneyland!!