Today, we would embark upon LEGOLAND, which was the original inspiration for our trip. Brainy Bird had been to LEGOLAND when he was about five years old, and he has always wanted to go back. We arrived at LEGOLAND an hour before it opened. The boys walked around looking at the different structures made out of Legos, until the gates were finally opened.
I think that most children would have been disappointed with LEGOLAND; especially, after a trip to Universal Studios, which we had done two days prior. Neither of the Birds were the least bit disappointed. The rides were lame and the lines were long, but that didn’t matter. Brainy Bird was fascinated with seeing all of the structures made out of Legos. Little Chirp was just having a good time because everyone else was. We rode a few rides before the lines became impossible, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon marveling in the countless Lego structures.
I love the Lego replication of New Orleans, and Brainy Bird loved the Lego replication of New York. Little Chirp liked going from one Lego exhibit to another pushing all of the buttons. Some buttons made things in the Lego scene move, and some made sounds, too many of the buttons were broken, and no longer did anything at all. That didn’t phase either of the boys.
Around four in the afternoon, the long day at Universal Studios two days ago and our hike in the mountains the day before caught up with me, and I felt exhausted. Neither kid was ready to pack it in, but they accepted the bribe of a trip to the “Big Lego” store in the park before we headed out. They each got a race car Lego set, and Little Chirp got a piggy bank. Little Chirp is obsessed with collecting coins, and he has been begging for a piggy bank for a long time. He finally found one that a could not say no to.
We got back to the beach house where we were staying, and the boys built and raced their Lego cars while I took a glorious nap. I woke up about an hour later, and I found that they were still both very much entertained, so I got some work done while they played. Finally, we all got cleaned up and we headed out for a nice dinner. We have a vacation tradition of enjoying one upscale dinner on each trip. This trip’s fancy dine was a steakhouse that Brainy Bird had found on the internet.
At dinner, I was surprised to learn that Brainy Bird wanted to head back to LEGOLAND the next morning. I think that most kids his age would be very unimpressed. His response, “The rides aren’t any good, but the Legos are amazing. Where else can you see all that? I will never outgrow Legos because they are awesome.” This made me smile. Brainy Bird has grown up so much in the seven years since his last LEGOLAND visit. He is always letting me know that he has outgrown something. It is nice to remember that everyone has something that they will never outgrown. For Brainy Bird, that something is Legos.
When we arrived back at the beach house and were headed off to bed, we all agreed on one thing – We would sleep late the next day.