Legoland Florida

Our family just returned from a weekend trip to Legoland Florida. It was awesome! Every one of us would tell you it was one of our favorite vacations ever. The theme hotel was a blast with activities and a separate bunkroom for the boys. The park was perfect for kids our boys' ages. Prepare for picture overload. I took 239 pictures, so believe it or not I am being selective. Ha!

Entrance

The Hotel

The Cuckoo Clock

The Boys

Flowers in the Lobby

One of Many Walls of Minifigures- This One in Hotel Lobby

Hallway Lighting

Treasure Hunt In Room- The First Thing the Boys Did

Unlocking the Treasure Chest- Lego Prizes/Gifts Inside

The Bunkroom

The Captain's Room

Room Details- Mom's Favorite

Room Details- Jack's Favorite

Jack won the model making competition the first night. It was an amazing experience for him.

Billions of Legos to Build With

Luke's Happy Place

Taking a Class Taught by a Master Builder

Legoland- Early Morning: People who stay at the hotel get in 30 minutes early

Pumpkin Love- I wanted them to sell these in the worst kind of way.

Strategizing with the Map

Darth and R2-D2- Made Out of Legos

Darth Maul

First Ride- Roller Coaster

Zoom In- Luke's Last Coaster Ride! 

Luke's A Crazy Driver

Boat School

Driving School

Driving School- They are both licensed drivers now.

Our family fought a fire

Lego Safari- Luke and I went on a safari while John and Jack went on a roller coaster. These meerkats are made out of Legos.

As are the lions and all the other safari animals.

Smile: Fast Ride!

The Lost Kingdom

A Mutual Favorite

Encouraging the Controller to Go Faster/Higher/Pukier

Look, No Hands!

Bear Country

Blue Ridge Camping

The boys and I made our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway this weekend and found lots of adventure. We camped at the Mt. Pisgah and were greeted by this sign indicating we were in "Bear Country".

We discussed what we knew about bears and how to avoid disturbing them. We pitched our tent in a cozy campsite and planned our next move.

We hopped back in the car and cruised 15 miles south on the Blue Ridge Parkway to an area called Black Balsam. This area was of interest to me because the mountains in this area are bald and afford beautiful views of the Pisgah ridge.

We hiked a few miles to the summit of this mountain, Sam Knob.

I really enjoyed seeing this meadow. This area is abundant with blueberries in August, but they were pretty dried up by now. Also, you could hear hundreds of bees buzzing around.

Fatigued and thirsty, we made it to the top of Sam Knob and were rewarded with this view.

The boys did the Lemur Sun Dance. You'll have to ask them why lemurs do this. We walked all the way around the top of the knob and got to see all of this.

We went back to the campsite and prepared our dinner over the fire. The park ranger held a show about coyotes. We arrived early, and a lot more children showed up. They got to howl at the moon and hear about how coyotes have spread across the United States.

We had a campfire of our own and the boys enjoyed sleeping in their tent under the stars. We put all of our food away in the bear canister, and the night went without any visits from critters. We got home around noon, and the boys were very happy to see their Mom.

Our First Cub Scout

Jack is really excited to be a Cub Scout. As soon as the leaders started talking about camping and adventures at the information meeting, the kid was all in. Today is his first official meeting with his dad and his pack. Wishing you many adventures, Jack. 

Perlick Visit

When I glanced at my calendar and saw that we had a three day weekend with nothing to do, I told John I wanted to go spend the weekend with the Perlicks. Luckily, their calendar was clear too. The kids had a great time together. They enjoyed becoming reacquainted. The moms and dads enjoyed time with good friends too. It was a fun, relaxing weekend for all of us. Now we need to get the Perlicks out to Greenville.

Monkey Bars