Our Trip to Legoland

 We've been wanting to go to Legoland for a while and would have been sooner if not for theme parks getting shut down for COVID precautions. Speaking with other parents, the best time to go to Legoland is at the age Ethan is now. One of the many reasons we prefer homeschool, is so we can take trips like this. We went on a Tuesday during a regular week. The weather was dry and sunny which meant all of the rides would be open. It was one of those times when you could go to a theme park and ride any ride you wanted with no lines. In fact, we did ride any ride we wanted and each ride we did go on, we went on twice. The only draw back was that there were no shows playing since it was a slow day. That's fine, we'll see them another day. 

We went to Legoland in October so it was all decorated for Halloween. 

The first stop was the gift shop. He was getting anxious and ready to explore. 

Once we got going in the park, he was excited. 

The merry go round was our first ride. It was two tiers and we went on it four times. 

Me in front of Duploland. 

Riding a train. Lots of trains to ride. Kids love trains. 

The Lego movie experience ride was one that we all enjoyed as a family (two times in a row of course).

The Lego jousting ride. One that he could go on by himself. 

Life sized Lego astronaut.

I see you. 

Hello.

Riding on the tractor around the farm in Duploland. 

Happy Halloween. 

Riding another train. 

Not a ride, but got to try the ice cream over apple fritters with caramel sauce. 

Lots of decorations. 

Lego city displays were cool to look at. 

My memories of Lego as a kid were the medieval knights. 

We got to ride this one several times in a row without even getting off. 

Carnival games of course. I came through this time and got the softballs into the basket to win the big toy. 

Naturally, Ethan found a way to get completely wet and we had to change his clothes. The tank top was just right for this weather. 

This ride was called "driving lessons" and he did well driving around the track while other kids his age drove around with him. No accidents or crashes :)

Of course, we got some hands-on time with the Lego blocks too. 

He begged to go on this ride and had a great time...the first time. 

While I felt better the second time, he was definitely more nervous the second time. Apparently, its only fun once. 

Our last ride. We rode it until the park closed. 

Too tired to walk. Finally used the stroller for something other than carrying all of our water, clothes, purchases, food, umbrella, and wipes. 

Looking forward to going again. 

Halloween 2022

 As usual, Halloween is a big deal for us since it is one of our favorite times of the year. I take some time off of work and we get to enjoy many of the Halloween related activities around the area.

Our back yard looks more and more festive each year. 

Evolution of a Jack O'Lantern.

Ethan's design.

It looks pretty cool. 

By November, it doesn't look so good.

This year we went to Spookyville (twice!). It was a good time. Also we went a second time because the lines to the corn maze in another area were ridiculous and super expensive. Since we did so many activities, the corn maze didn't happen until the day before Halloween, which was on a Saturday, so it seems like that is when everyone started going out for Halloween. We ended up going back to Spookyville a second time instead. 

He liked the rides and all of the activities. 

A not-so-scary Halloween dragon.

Why not mix two costumes together. A space skeleton?

A new activity this year was the Halloween reading party at the library. It was air conditioned so Ethan could wear his astronaut costume to the library for story time. 

It was like a Kindergarten class with songs, activities, and story time. 

After that, everyone got to go trick-or-treating around the library for goodies. 

Another new experience was Trunk or Treat in Lake Worth Beach. 

Hello.

Yes, we got more candy here. The car displays were very well decorated with lots of candy too. 

He called his Marvel hat part of a costume because super heroes dress in costumes. 

Finally Halloween night. 

We actually didn't have a specific plan and decided to wing it. After all of the attempted planning, we decided to go out for early voting and find a good neighborhood (ours has no sidewalks and half of the streets are cul-de-sacs which aren't the best). We ended up finding the best neighborhood I've ever seen for Halloween. The entire community seemed to be outside and into the Halloween spirit. 

Ethan went as a robot for Halloween night. Yes, same as last year but when he has several costumes and many events, it feels new again. 

We got some trick-or-treating in before sunset but also a lot afterwards. The night time pictures weren't as nice but we got to do so much, we were dragging Ethan back in his little wagon and he was turning down candy on the way because his pale was "too heavy."