Legoland Pt3

Here are a bunch of things made out of Legos:

Spidey on my shoulders:

Most of the rides that are geared towards the littler kids have parts they can operate.  Griffin is moving the helicopter up and down and side to side:

Matilda got a mid-day nap in, thank goodness for comfy strollers:

This car is made out of Legos:

Guess what Darth Vader is made out of.  That's right, Legos

Here is Griffin controlling an airplane:

This part was cool.  They have these little cars for 3-5 years olds, and they completely control them.  Gas, breaks, steering, everything rather than just towing them around on a track.  They have another set-up for kids over 6, so it's nice that they have plenty of options for the little ones.  This is a short video:

Legoland Pt2

All vacation long Griffin kept asking if he could get his face painted, whether we were at the farmer's market, the aquarium, the beach, or the grocery store he kept asking if they had face painting there.  Finally at Legoland he saw the stand, so we let him pick out what he wanted to be.  Of course he picked Spider-man (again) so here is the progression:

Subsequent Legoland pictures will have Spider-Man where Griffin should be.  Stay tuned....

Legoland Pt1

We went to Legoland last Friday.  It sounds corny, but it was really fun!  Lots of cool rides for the little ones, unlike some other amusement parks I could think of.  Not everything was made out of legos, but it sure looked like it.  Here is the first series of pictures:

Griffin got to ride his first roller coaster!  He loved it of course.  I found it amusing that he rode a roller coaster before he's been on a ferris wheel or a merry-go-round.

It was actually kind of a thrilling coaster too, not all slowed down and dull for just the little ones.  Matilda was still too small, so Brie and I took turns with Griffin on these kinds of rides, there were fun things for her age as well.

Scary Stuff

I'll be posting more pictures from our Southern California trip soon, but I just had to relay this story while it was still fresh in my mind.

I was arriving home about 10:00 last night after my first class in the NAU program. As I was pulling up to the house I noticed a police car in front of the next door neighbors, which is always a peculiar thing as our neighborhood is relatively quiet. As I was backing into the driveway I heard the distinctive sound of our outer gate rattling, and then a very loud voice yelling "Get Down On The Ground! NOW!!"

I jumped out of the car quickly and ran through the gate to the front door thinking there was something big going on next door. I turned toward the pathway next to our house and saw a cop with his gun out pointing at a man lying face down on the ground! On our side of the fence! Holy shit! Nothing like this had ever happened before. I ran back to the front door, told Brie to bolt the door, keep the dog inside, and get with the kids. She had heard the cop's voice from right outside the window and was on the phone with 911 not knowing what was going on.

I stood on the front step with my hands up while another cop with a gun was running up to the gate. I identified myself as the homeowner and pointed him toward the walkway next to the house. He thanked me, told me to hold tight and ran around the house to join his partner. I felt like the safest place for me to be was in front of the front door, as I still didn't know what was going on and if there would be gunfire or not.

A third cop came to the gate, and older guy, much more relaxed than the other two. He told me they had the perpetrator and everything was OK. I continued to stand my guard at the front door until they took the guy off our property and into one of the police cars (there were three at this point). Then I went back inside gave Brie a big hug and let my breath out.

The cop came back to our door to take down our information, and tell us what was going on. The man they took away was a disgruntled ex-husband of one of our neighbors, we had been warned about this lowlife from many different neighbors, apparently he's a drug addict and has been harassing his ex for years, she'd had a restraining order and everything. So it wasn't a random burglery. They had been chasing him and he had hopped over two fences before they cut him off in our yard. The cop was very polite and helpful, he had us written up as "victims"of tresspassing.

So it was by far the scariest thing that's every happened to us at this house, but the kids slept right through it and we were never in any real danger. But just seeing guns pointed at someones head in your front yard is enough to shake anyone. I didn't sleep very well last night at all. I got a good look at the guy when they dragged him out, so I'll be on the lookout for him again. Hopefully he won't make it back to our property.

Beach in Encinitas

How much do the kids love the beach?  A whole bunch!  Most of the time they were really into the waves, which are big in Encinitas, but this day we just played in the sand, that's why I had my camera.

I had visions of creating a big, elaborate sand castle, but these two were more interested in destroying than creating

Matilda's favorite activity was to run toward the water, then squeal with delight and change direction when the wave washed over her feet.  Then repeat.

These were the steps we had to climb each time we wanted to visit to the beach to get to and from the condo we stayed in.

Showering the sand off at the top of the steps