The Lee Family: Legoland and Fun With Friends

Friends from Houston, Eve and her daughter Whitley, drove up to visit and go to Legoland. They arrived on Monday and we visited Legoland together on Tuesday, which ended up being a lot more interesting and fun than I'd expected. The last time Eve and Whitley visited, Sofia was five and Olivia was 18 months, so it seems like a lifetime ago and it was so fun to watch the three girls play together. Meanwhile, the last time I've visited Legoland in Grapevine, it was for Sofia's preschool friend's birthday and Legoland had opened just a few weeks prior to his party. At that time, it was vey spartan and only had a large area to build Legos, a rant to build and experiment with Lego cars and a big maze/jungle gym where the kids could run and play. I expected it to be the same and was very happy when we arrived and saw that they have done a lot with the small space they have. Since we visited Legoland in Carlsbad, CA, last summer I knew it wouldn't compare to that experience, but it really is a fun place. The night before, the girls decided to build a tent in Sofia's room and sleep all together on the floor. Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of sleep that happened and we had to wake all three of them up to eat breakfast and get dressed for their day at Legoland.

We arrived around 10:30am after eating pancakes and eggs at home and the girls were super excited. Whitley told the girls to bring a Lego person that they could trade with any of the workers. It took a while for both girls to find/make a Lego person, but we finally were ready. We also brought towels, waters, snacks and had the girls wear their swimsuits under their clothes. Once inside the girls turned the corner in front of us and were gone. We looked around for a minute then decided they would eventually find their way back to us. Finally after a few minutes they found us and we headed over to see the Star Wars section, which the girls had found at the far end of the Legoland. It was really cool and of course Sofia loved it. It really is pretty amazing what they can make with Lego pieces. Eve told me she and Whitley hadn't seen any of the Star Wars movies, so none of the scenes made any sense to them, but it was still cool. We've seen them all, but I can't remember which one is which. After exploring all of the Star Wars scenes, we headed over so the girls could drive the Lego cars. They were really cool and it wasn't crowded at all, so the girls only had to wait about 10 minutes before they were driving. It was so fun to watch them drive around and they seemed to love it.

After the cars, we continued to explore and walked through the miniature Lego Dallas. Of course, I had to take a picture of the girls in front of Fountain Place, which they still call "Peekaboo" from when CK worked there. It's always in the skyline of any Dallas scene, which is cool. Of course they had the DFW airport and the Dallas Cowboys stadium, the baseball stadium, as well as many of the Dallas and Ft Worth landmarks. After, we visited the Lego Friends and took a few pictures with the girls. The photo of Olivia and Whitley with the girls looks like they are two more friends! The girls built cars and experimented with the cars doing down ramps and they ran around in the very cool (and much improved) jungle gym. We all rode together in the castle ride and shot spiders and various things with lasers. Olivia and Sofia were surprisingly good at it!

We ate lunch at the little cafe and the cheese pizzas weren't too bad. After lunch, the girls were more than ready for the splash pad! Eve and I lucked into a great table under the trees, so it wasn't too hot and we had a great view of the girls playing together. They build a wall/building with huge rubber Lego blocks and spent a lot of time trying to perfect it. They also played on the play structure that had water spraying from all directions. They had a ball and the splash pad was perfect. The fun ended a bit when Olivia hit her lip and started bleeding. She was ok after a few minutes and we decided to head home shortly after. The girls had a great time and Eve and were shocked that Whitley and Olivia stayed awake for the entire ride home.

After we got home, the girls each put together their "souvenir" from Legoland. Whitley and Olivia bought Lego pet kits that included little dogs. Sofia bought a small "mars rover" that had a small astronaut that she named "Fred Haise" and proceeded to take him everywhere. That night we grilled pork loin and had a salad and corn before we made the girls' favorite: s'mores! We ended up using our oven, which is so much easier and cooks the marshmallow and warms the chocolate perfectly! They were delicious! The girls went to bed, excited to have yet another sleep over. Unfortunately, we had to separate the kids, sending Olivia to her bed while Whitley slept with her mom. Sofia was heartbroken, but also incredibly tired. We told her Olivia and she could have a sleep over later in the week.

The next morning, we had donuts and chocolate milk and the girls just played together. By late morning, Olivia and Whitley were in their swimsuits having a ball together. They loved getting onto the alligator floaty together and riding it to the middle of the pool where they would fall off together. Meanwhile, Sofia enjoyed some quiet and read her book. Eve and I sat outside in the lounge chairs and watched the girls swim. It was great and even though it's June the weather has been fabulous and much cooler than normal. CK ran to Chik Fil A and picked up lunch and the girl got out of the pool long enough to eat and were soon back in splashing around and wearing the girls' mermaid tails.

By mid-afternoon, Eve and Whitley needed to head home. Olivia was sad to say goodbye and we'd all had so much fun together. It was great having them and visiting Legoland together, which was such a great surprise. We hope they are able to visit again soon! After we said goodbye, I gave Olivia a pedicure pool-side. She loves pedicures and it was so nice outside that we figured it would be nice to have toenails painted while enjoying the backyard.

We made it to Legoland!