Thursday, February 10, 2011

Another Day at Legoland

 Lego Mommy, Lego Madelyn, & Lego Daddy

We spent another day at Legoland, but this time we got to bring Grammy and Grandma Louise! We went back to some of our favorite attractions, but we also made it to a few new areas as well.





We learned something new during this visit to Legoland. If you bring someone in a wheelchair, you actually get to go up to the Exit and get right on the rides! How cool is that?! Thanks, Grandma Louise!

Can you believe we got Grammy to go on the roller coaster ride? Well, we did, and she loved it!


We also took everyone on the Fairy Tale boat ride.  It was fun showing the grandmas all the different storybook characters.


Then, not only did Madelyn insist on taking everyone on the safari ride, she was quite particular about who she rode with... Grandma Louise, of course! It was on this ride that I noticed something wonderful. On Monday, Chris and I commented on how neat it was to watch the excitement in Madelyn's eyes as she explored the theme park. Well, on this trip, we decided that it was just as wonderful to watch it through the eyes of an 83-year-old. What a great adventure we were taking together!

Madelyn drove Grandma Louise around the "jungle," and when they got to the end, she asked the lady if they could go one. more. time. She was very nice and sent them on through again. :)



Grammy came on the safari, too!


Then it was off to the Sky Cruiser. Grandma Louise didn't realize she would be up so high, but she loved it! (Click the picture below to zoom in to see her expression. Too cute!)


There was so much to do, but we managed to take in everything else we wanted to see...


One of Madelyn's favorite parts of the day was running around in the water. I am certain she could have done this ALL day long, but thankfully we had a couple other "treats" in store, so we were able to convince her, eventually, that we needed to move on...


We convinced Madelyn that they made this Lego chef and cake just to celebrate her birthday!

This sweet little face was most definitely the highlight of Madelyn's day. She had been waiting since Monday, and we kept using it as a bribe for her to get through the day with no meltdowns. Although, I must say, I think we could have done it earlier because she had a great day! She sat perfectly still while the girl painted her face, and was so excited to show everoyne when it was finished. I won't go into detail on the ordeal we went through when trying to get her to let us wash her face that night, but I
will say that it had Daddy in tears. :'(


Then we spent some time in Miniland...

 
Oh, what a fantastic time we had! This is definitely a place we hope to visit again real soon!
 

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Coaster Ride to Seaport Village

On Monday we rode many, many rides, including a roller coaster or two. But today, we decided to ride a different kind of coaster... The Coaster, also known as the Coastal Rail. Daddy decided he wanted to do some golfing so the rest of us decided to take in some of the glorious California sights. Since we could catch the Coaster less than a mile from our resort, we jumped on for a ride down to San Diego.


We made one transfer on the Orange Line Trolley, which took us almost all the way to Seaport Village.

 This Kansas City Barbeque was used for a scene in Top Gun. Cool!

 Grandma Louise was being kind of sneaky for this picture... but that's why we love her!

Grammy and Mommy decided to put Papa, Grandma Louise, and Madelyn on a little bike ride to take them to the heart of Seaport Village. The bike driver was even kind enough to give them a little extra tour down by the water.

Then it was off to the carousel. Grammy had been talking to Madelyn all the way from Carlsbad about the carousel (merry-go-round as Madelyn knows it), and Madelyn could barely wait to get there! We even managed to get EVERYONE on to enjoy a ride together!


Then it was off to lunch. We chose the Pier Cafe so Madelyn could watch all the happenings on the ocean. She loved watching the ferries passing by, and could even see some fish in the water.

 This is one of my very favorite pictures from the trip so far!


Then it was off to do some shopping, and then (of course) have some ICE CREAM!

 Please, please, please, can I have a hammock in my bedroom!


Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Carlsbad. What a fun adventure!!

More Fun in Carlsbad

Since we had such a long day on Monday, we decided Tuesday would be a little more low key.

Once Madelyn was down for a nap, Daddy, Mommy, & Grammy all headed to the Carlsbad Premium Outlets. We had such a good time! We spent a couple hours looking for some great deals, and boy did we find them! I don't think Grammy has had this much fun hopping in a long while!!


After we got settled from shopping, we made a delicious dinner. Daddy grilled chicken and Grammy and Mommy made a beautiful salad and some zucchini. Yum. Madelyn could hardly wait to finish her dinner because she knew after everyone was finished, she could open one present. Oooooh. She really could hardly wait!

 My very own ice cream maker!


Time to make the ice cream... (click to watch a short video from YouTube)

More pictures from our ice cream experience...