Legoland Sculptures

I received the Lego Holiday Toy Shop set for my birthday. It is quite small, but it took me a better part of a day to put it together.






Therefore, I cannot imagine putting together elaborate sculptures such as these:

College Sports List

While this list is not nearly as popular as my Restaurants and Destinations list, I have been working on it over the Christmas and New Years break to ensure it is ready for prime time.

This list highlights Cal Golden Bears and Hoosier Athletics, which includes alumni playing professional sports/Olympics. I focused on football, basketball, and Olympic sports.

Take a look. I am looking forward to comments...

College Sports List

Legoland--Food & Miniland

I had read online that Legoland is not overly strict with its no outside food policy. It turned out to be true, as I did not see anyone's bags being checked. I made sandwiches for lunch and brought some snacks/drinks/water.


For our afternoon treat we had Granny's Apple Fries ($4.95). When we ate all of the apples, n was licking the whipped cream by itself.

For dinner we had pizza from Ristorante Brickolini.

These pizzas were pricey ($10.95 each) but were freshly baked, and pretty good for amusement park fare.

A highlight of the park is Miniland, which is centrally located. Some of the displays are temporary. They were in the process of building a Mardi Gras themed display. Right now there is a Star Wars display.


The detail is incredible!


We got a kick out of the Las Vegas display since we were just there. k recognized our hotel:


There's the hotel D wishes he could stay at:


New York, NY


We took a sunset cruise of Miniland, as well.



If you look closely, there are Lego workers using a q-tip to clean George Washington's earwax! So gross/funny.

Legoland--Let It Snow!

Yesterday we went to Legoland for the first time. We were able to buy 2 day passes for cheap through D's co-worker Betsy, who is also a reader of our blog--(thank you!!)

It was quite a day, as we stayed from opening to closing. I knew it would be crowded this week, but I wanted to go during the holiday festivities. One tip I would share is to not go to Legoland until your youngest child is at least 34 inches tall. I think there are only two rides that a sub-34 incher can go on! And, the Legoland employees are trained to be quite strict, so don't think you'll be sneaking anyone on. Luckily, n is over 34 inches, so we were able to go on a number of rides as a family.

The park is clearly targeted towards young kids, which eliminated the annoying teenagers you find at other amusement parks. I thought it was nice how they have several family bathrooms throughout the park, as well as low toilets/sinks for the kids.

Cal/Texas fans were out in full effect in anticipation of the Holiday Bowl. I don't think I've ever seen so much Cal gear in Southern California outside of a football stadium. (Side note: too bad we lost, but at least now D isn't upset with me for not letting him buy tickets to see the game!)

I took a lot of pictures, so this post will be limited to the Christmas/snow theme.




Lego Santa


Lego Santa II



There was a small snow play area where you could throw snow balls at targets and sled down a short hill.


Some parents came prepared with gloves, hats, and snowsuits. I bet they were wondering...what kind of parents would let their kid go in the snow with a t-shirt and shorts?

Oh yes, that would be us. (Not that we didn't try to get n to put on pants and a sweatshirt. He adamantly refused, and it just wasn't a battle worth fighting.) During the day, it was actually quite warm, but once the sun went down, it became quite chilly. At night, we physically forced n to wear his pants, which he was NOT happy about. Oh n, we hope this stage passes soon.

Day After Christmas In CDM

This morning we took D's brother to Corona Del Mar and Crystal Cove to do a little sight-seeing. The weather was nice, almost a bit too warm, not that we're complaining (OK, I guess the kids were complaining).



It is fun to look at all of the unique homes around Corona Del Mar.









Can you imagine living in a place where this is the view from your backyard??











We were planning to eat lunch at Diamond Jamboree, but the kids ran out of steam, so we ended up at the Shake Shack.

A Merry Christmas

Last night we went to Christmas Eve service at church. We were the only family in the "kid room" so D was able to sing as loud as he wanted.

Christmas morning. The kids woke up at 5:30 a.m., and not because they were excited about presents. In fact, when I told k that they could open up the presents in their stocking, she said, "I don't think we have any presents in our stocking". I guess she didn't expect it because she doesn't remember past Christmases. I think this is the first Christmas that k may be able to remember in the future.


That's n changing his clothes in the background. His new stage is to change his clothes every chance he can get. He is also very particular, favoring shorts and t-shirts. Good thing we live in Southern California!


Pear french toast. Like my mom, I let the kids open up their stocking stuffers when they wake up, but we must eat breakfast before we open presents. (However, unlike my mom, I don't wash the dishes before presents, too!)



D's brother came over in the afternoon, and we went to my parents' house for dinner. Merry CHRISTmas!

She's 5!

It is difficult to believe, but it was five years ago that k came into our lives and changed us forever.

Although I miss holding her as a tiny baby, I am SO glad that I don't have to relive those first couple of weeks. I think Christmas 2006 was the best AND worst of my life.

We kept it low key this year, celebrating over the weekend with my parents/sister/grandma and tonight with just the four of us.

From Drop Box

Tonight we skipped a formal birthday cake since we had it on Saturday. Instead, we had Sno Balls! D's co-worker brought in a bunch of Hostess goodies into work and D brought some home for the kids (and himself). Thanks, Betsy!

n's Stage Debut

"He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!"

Cue the Sirens...

We had just put the kids to bed when we heard sirens and someone on a megaphone booming, "Santa Claus is on his way!" I thought we might have missed the annual neighborhood visit, so this caught us by surprise. I had the kids quickly put on their shoes, and D led them out (the stop is right in front of our house!)


n looks like he is in shock. I think he was about to fall asleep, so he had no idea what was going on.

Orange County Zoo

Yesterday, it looked like it was going to rain all day. However, we took a risk and went to the Orange County Zoo with my ticket for 4 free admissions. Unintentionally, we went the day the zoo was having a special holiday event. There were crafts, and the animals received Christmas presents to open.








The animals at this zoo certainly look well-fed!


Reindeer Ring Toss. I always make D do things like this. Glad that he's not the type to mind!



After the zoo, we walked around a bit. I asked k and n if they wanted to ride a pony ($4) for 3 times around the track. Both said no, but eventually n changed his mind. n chose to ride "Echo".


k said maybe she would next time.


There are wild peacocks everywhere. The zookeeper said they fly into the zoo and steal the animals' food.




I can't remember why k is covering her ears, but it's cute.