Legoland 2011

We almost didn't make it to Legoland at all today. We arrived at our hotel yesterday late afternoon. We went to a restaurant called "Islands" for dinner, and then came back to the room. The boys wanted to go swimming so Kevin took them down to the pool. After awhile, Riley comes back up without Kevin and Quinn. Riley says that Kevin and Quinn are looking for Quinn's glasses. It seems he put the glasses on one of the tables in the pool area. Another dad and his son came in (or were already there). They got up and got their things (from around the table where Quinn put his glasses) and left. When it was time for the boys and Kevin to go, they couldn't find Quinn's glasses anywhere. Kevin figured the other dad must have scooped them up with his things. The two of us looked all over the hotel. Kevin talked to the manager on duty, and explained that it had to be this other dad. The manager had an idea of who the guy could be and left messages with two guests about the glasses-both were wrong in the end. Kevin sat down in the lobby for quite awhile, hoping this guy would show up down there, to get water, fruit, or to return the glasses. Nothing. Quinn was super upset, and practically blind. I made phone calls to two Lenscrafters in the area, asking about getting new glasses. I was smart and packed the cards that contain our prescriptions, just in case. The problem was that Quinn's prescription is so high, they couldn't do the glasses last night, it would have to be today. We decided that we would go to Lenscrafters this morning, at 9 when they opened, wait for the glasses and then hope to head to Legoland when the glasses were done. We were not looking forward to shelling out the money to purchase new glasses when we knew they were IN THE HOTEL somewhere. In the meantime, Kevin and I made another trip downstairs to talk to the manager. He knew what the guy looked like (from security cameras), but had no idea what room he was in. He was trying to get word to the housekeeping staff to be on the lookout for glasses that may be mixed in with towels on the floor of someone's room. We decided that Kevin would go down to the breakfast area this morning in the hopes that he could find the man then. We are at a Hampton Inn (our hotel of choice), and they always have a free breakfast, and people love a free breakfast, so we felt that we had a good chance to find the man. Kevin was down there for awhile, and sure enough, the guy and his family come in for breakfast. Kevin asks him about the glasses and the guys says, "Oh yeah, I was going to bring those down." Kevin asked if he would go and get them. The guy was a little hesitant as he was trying to save a table for his family. Kevin saved the table for him while the guy got the glasses. We are very happy to have the glasses back, but do not understand WHY the guy did not return them to the front desk LAST night when he realized he had them???? He knew he had someone's glasses, but just hung onto them until the morning! What kind of idiot is he? Anyway, that almost wrecked the whole day, but we got them back, didn't have to go to Lenscrafters this morning, and we got to Legoland before they opened.

The entrance to Legoland.

We saw Lego Darth Vader this morning, but he was in a hurry, so we couldn't get the boys to pose with him. He must have a Death star to run or something.

Riley in the Land of Adventure.

Oh no! Riley was swallowed whole by a great white shark!

Kevin and Quinn rode the Splash Battle ride in Pirate Shores. The boats go around and the people try to squirt people in other boats. Plus there are guns for the observers (outside of the ride) to use to get the riders wet, but beware because the riders can squirt back! They had a blast.

This is probably the best ride in the whole park! Both boys got to drive their own Lego vehicle. They had to obey the rules of the road-staying to the right, stopping at stop signs and red lights. It looked like so much fun. Both boys loved it. They will be good drivers one day too!

Here's Quinn taking his car for a drive.

Quinn liked the belly button on this surfer man.

There's a new attraction in Miniland: Star Wars! This was a highlight for both boys! Look at that Millennium Falcon!

San Francisco in Miniland USA.

New York City in Miniland USA. We loved Miniland! It was awesome. I took tons of pictures and when I get home tomorrow night, I will post them to Flickr.

The boys and Lego Chewbacca.

In the gift shop at the end of the day. Why is it that boys always make their way to the swords and gun?

We've had a nice mini vacation. We head back home tomorrow, and back to school for six and a half more weeks!

Hey, We are at Disneyland!

We left home yesterday afternoon, telling the boys we were driving to Legoland, in Carlsbad, CA. What we didn't tell them was that we were going to Disneyland first! A surprise indeed. We made a big deal of passing the Disney exits on the freeway, especially Harbor Blvd, where we normally exit. We went past that exit and took the next one. Riley right away asked what we were doing. I said I just wanted to look. We made a loop, ending up on Harbor Blvd where we pulled into the parking lot of the Camelot Inn and asked the boys if they wanted to go to Disneyland. Of course. We checked in, dropped our stuff off in the room and headed to the parks. Our first stop was for our season passes. We bought passes this year because we plan on a longer Disneyland trip in August, and Disney World again in December/January. Passes will save us money-we get a 15% discount on food in the parks, and a 20% discount on merchandise!

After we got our passes, we headed over to watch the World of Color show at DCA. We stood on the bridge to Paradise Pier, near Ariel's Grotto. I thought that spot was an awesome viewing spot. It's an amazing show!

This morning we headed to Disneyland-we were there last night too (we watched the trailer for the new Pirates movie, rode the Pirates ride and also the last boat of the night on the Jungle Cruise). When the park opened this morning, we went right over to Indiana Jones. Quinn is finally tall enough to ride Indiana Jones! Finally!! He loved it! We got a fast pass and rode it later in the day too.

The boys LOVE Big Thunder Mountain.

The Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer's Island and Fantasmic are all closed right now as they are preparing for the premier of the new Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides movie next weekend. There were divers in the water, and lots and lots of workers. It's going to be quite a premier!

Look at this! They wrecked the Alice in Wonderland ride! They added that railing along the top! I don't think there has ever been an issue with someone falling off of that platform, from their caterpillar, but evidently Disney was worried, so they added the railing. Dumb. Fail. I hate it.

Kevin and the boys in line for the Matterhorn. That one is not my favorite ride. It's so bumpy. I let them go on their own. The line was short so they went twice.

I like the look of the Matterhorn though.

We rode the Monorail to Downtown Disney and went to see the construction going on at the Disneyland Hotel. There are lots of changes in store! I had the boys pose with giant Mickey, outside of the hotel.

Back at DCA later this afternoon. It was warm today. The boys cooled off in the mist. I don't know who the girl is, but her mom would probably like this picture of her.

The Mickey Fun Wheel! I love that big face. Mickey Mouse is my favorite.

In line for Flik's Flyers.

Kevin and Quinn rode the lady bugs in A Bug's Land. Riley and I watched them. It's bumpy. I am not a fan of bumpy so much. I like smooth.

We are in the hotel for now, going to watch the last episode with Steve Carell on The Office, and also the Disneyland fireworks, which we will be able to see from our room. It's nice to rest for awhile then we'll go back over to Disneyland when The Office is over. Oh and it's Kevin's birthday today too. He's had lots of birthday wishes.

Cleaning

I spent the day finding the bottom of Quinn's room. It was time to get into his closets and see what we could pass on to others. It took me all day long, but it's done.

Before. What a disaster! He has a bad habit of taking out more than one thing to play with. Just about all of his toys have lots of little parts, so it does not take long to make a giant mess.

After. MUCH better! You can walk into the room!

The Star Wars shelf. Except for one and a half drawers, this entire shelf houses Star Wars toys.

With plenty of space to play, the boys took out the Star Wars figures to play.

We are going to conduct an experiment tonight. Riley is going to sleep in Quinn's bed, and Quinn's going to sleep in Riley's bed. We would really like to swap their rooms as Riley's room backs up to our family room, and I think the TV keeps Riley awake at night. Quinn falls asleep super fast, and nothing bothers him. We are going to give it a try tonight, and then see if the boys would like to swap rooms. It will be a huge job, but worth it in the end.

Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you had a great day.

The Easter Bunny visited the boys, leaving them two shirts each, Pokemon cards, Lego Minifigures and candy.

I love this picture with Quinn in motion as both boys searched for eggs.

Quinn found candy in my big decorative eggs.

Riley got a shirt with the ICEE logo on it-super cool (literally and figuratively).

Checking out the loot.

The Lego Minifigures-this was an awesome assortment of figures! My favorite is the gnome, followed by the rockstar. Riley loves the scientist.

We had a BBQ lunch at my sister and brother in law's swim/tennis club.

Quinn, getting warmed up. It was only about 68 degrees today. The sun would come out, then go away, then come out, and go away. The kids all swam though.

The boys love to be in the pool.

Kevin's birthday is Thursday, so his mom made a cheesecake to celebrate.

Happy early birthday, Kevin! We'll be having an adventure on Thursday. More of that later.

Another Post!

I am hosting another Crafty Night in a couple of weeks. I've been ordering supplies and figuring out projects. I have five.

This is one project we will do. It's a glass piece made into a pendant. I'm keeping the other 4 projects to myself for right now.

Quinn sitting among the laundry. Oh there was a ton of laundry to be done. I haven't done laundry for awhile now as it's been so crazy busy around here.

I started a new puzzle today. This one is HUGE as it's 2,000 pieces.

I'm On Spring Break!

The boys and I are officially on spring break! Riley got out of school first, at 12:05 yesterday. Quinn was out at 1:12 and I was out at 1:18! I got my copying done for the week we return, and then I was out of there!

Quinn and I went to Target. He got a new Celebi (Pokemon character for all of you who maybe don't have boys), and a new hat from Crazy 8. He and his brother started their spring break with a bike ride to the elementary school and back, before dinner last night.

Maya got to play with her new toy. The squeaker is already out of it, and this one is pretty thick too!

I started a new 1,000 piece puzzle yesterday afternoon.

I finished it last night. It was really easy. I am now sorting my edges for a 2,000 piece puzzle.

Quinn and I were up early today, but Riley got to sleep in. He probably needed to sleep in the most. Kevin got to go to work. We are just hanging around the house, but I do have to go out as we only have one roll of toilet paper in the entire house. TMI?

Belt Loops and Lego

Spring Break is coming! We have to get through the next two days first. Riley has projects to do. He finished one tonight, and the other will be finished tomorrow night. He's done a great job managing his time and getting them completed.

Quinn had a pack meeting tonight. He got the 8 belt loops he earned. He's a busy guy too between Scouts and baseball-another game tomorrow night and then we are baseball free until we return to school after Spring Break.

Between projects, Riley built his Lego Rockefeller Center, a gift from his aunt, uncle and cousins.

We'll be visiting NY this summer (and DC too). Rockefeller Center is on the to do list. The boys can't wait to visit Nintendo World and the Lego store which are both housed at Rockefeller Center.