LEGOLAND

While planning our trip to Florida, we decided early on that LEGOLAND would be our main attraction.  (We were hoping to visit the Tampa Zoo, too, but we soon learned that five days wasn't long enough to do both without feeling totally rushed and overwhelmed.)  We bought tickets to visit LEGOLAND and enjoy their water park for two days, and that's just what we did.  Lewie was in heaven!

Day 3
On the third day of our trip, we did some relaxing by the pool and then headed out to LEGOLAND around noon.  Usually I have a very specific itinerary planned for our trips, but this year I decided to "go with the flow," which proved to be both a blessing and a curse.  When we programmed our GPS to take us to LEGOLAND, we soon learned that it was an hour and a half drive--one minor detail I may have overlooked.

"Annette, I thought LEGOLAND was just around the corner," said my husband.

"Me too.  I thought it was only a half an hour away," I responded, worried that we now wouldn't be arriving to LEGOLAND until well after 2 p.m.

The day called for afternoon thunderstorms and showers and just as we arrived to the park, the skies turned gray.  The lady at the ticket stand reminded us that the park provides no refunds for inclement weather, but we decided, against our better judgment, to go in anyways... 

After taking a cute little train ride in DUPLO VALLEY, an awesome section of the park meant for toddlers and young children, we then proceeded to MINILAND USA, where cities like Miami, New York, Washington D.C. and Las Vegas have been recreated into mini LEGO versions of themselves.  Lewie loved to see these awesome miniature cities, and my husband and I enjoyed looking at them too and comparing them to real life.  (We had been to all these cities during our traveling years well before Lewie was born.)

Our next stop was to try out a rollercoaster only to learn that these rides as well as the water park had been shut down due to the threat of thunderstorms.  We made it on a quick Safari ride before the skies opened up and the rain poured!  Showers?  This wasn't showers...This was a monsoon.  We went to the LEGOLAND 4-D theater, where we were snowed on inside and had a fun LEGO adventure, but as we came out, we realized that the rain was not letting up anytime soon and the park in general was shutting down.  Everyone, sporting ponchos and umbrellas, were packing up and leaving the park.  Feeling somewhat guilty, I bought Lewie a little SUV with Watercraft LEGO set to put together later.  As it turned out, it was the best little toy we could have bought him.  Since the rain never stopped that day, Lewie had a blast putting it together in our hotel room, and thankfully, we all knew that the visit wasn't ruined; we still had tickets to go back to LEGOLAND another day...

Daddy and Lewie on the Duplo train ride.

The cute little train station..

The Duplo farm across the street.  (What a fun place for toddlers!)



Mommy and Lewie posing in front of Miniland Miami, Florida.



Here's Miami up close...just like the real thing!



A LEGO ship.



The Golden Gate Bridge--made out of LEGOs, of course.

Daddy enjoying the LEGO Safari ride...



Lewie posing in front of the 4-D LEGO Theater.

Day 5
Since Day 4's weather forecast was calling for some more afternoon showers, we decided to visit LEGOLAND on our fifth and last day in Florida.  This time, knowing the distance from our hotel, we ventured out early, and the day did not disappoint.  In fact, we had no rain the entire day, and we had a chance to enjoy EVERYTHING.   With 90 degree temps, going to the water park first was a given.  This was followed by some rollercoaster rides and then Lewie's favorite ride of all, The Ford Driving School.  Here, Lewie not only had a chance to drive his very own LEGO car, but he took a "driving test" where he earned his very own LEGOLAND Driving License. 

For Lewie, having his own Driving License was it!!  He showed it to everyone inside the park, and he made sure to show it to everyone on the airport going home.  In fact, it's still the item most talked about from our entire trip...



A much sunnier day in LEGOLAND.

My two boys on the Island in the Sky ride.  (It was a relaxing ride 300 feet in the air.)



Miniland Las Vegas...so darn cute



The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas



The Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas--This is where my husband proposed back in 2004.

Cooling Off in the LEGO Duplo pool.

Finally, a water slide that's more my speed :)

More water slides and fun activities, but on this ride, get prepared to be DRENCHED.

Lewie building LEGOs at the wave pool.

Hmm...Let's see if they will float.

There's nothing better than floating down a lazy river and adding LEGOs to your raft at the same time.

The Ford LEGO Driving School

All LEGOs, of course.

 

And we're off...

Nice merging Lewie.

Okay...you should be looking at the road in front of you.  Watch out for the LEGO people.

The test is over; congrats Lewie--you've earned your first driver's license!

LEGOLAND was a wonderful time.  Sure we were rained out the first day, but the second day was amazing.  Lew and I both agreed that we had the most fun in years, and the best part....spending every second with Lewie.  His happiness and passion for life is contagious.  Now if we can just bottle up the fun and spontaneity that we had on this trip and bring it into our everyday lives at home...