Legoland!

The Grann van picked us up early Tuesday morning and we all headed to Legoland! We've been wanting to go for a while since Ryder is absolutely obsessed with his Legos. He will sit in his room for up to two hours at a time building and customizing cars. He LOVED the amusement park and couldn't get over how so many of the structures were built entirely out of Lego bricks. Thankfully the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day! We spent about 4 hours in the park seeing as much as we could see and letting the kids ride some rides. By 3pm we were hot, sweaty, thirsty, and hungry, so we headed to the air-conditioned lobby of the new hotel to scope it out. We decided we definitely need to save our pennies so we can go back again and break our visit into two days. It was AWESOME!

on our way!

"What's that?"

While Ryder was admiring this Lego statue, he heard the recorded voice and noises coming from one nearby.

my boys and their ice cream

Miniland was by far a favorite for Andrew and me. It is a collection of cities whose landmarks are made entirely out of Legos. According to the sign I read, it took 100 master builders 2 years to build everything. The tallest building is the Empire State Building at 20 feet tall.

Hello, D.C.!

Ryder liked the Star Wars scene

several of these mini figures were just strolling around the park

hotel lobby play area

See Ryder and Harper on the right? That was basically a huge pit of loose Lego pieces to build with. Ryder was in heaven. :)

chasing each other through the castle.

Lego bed

Hopefully the beds in the rooms are a little softer. ;)

sign of a good day :)

Ryder was too busy building a new Lego set to snooze on the way home.

A rainy day game

Summer is definitely our rainy season here, and last month was pretty much a washout. After being cooped up for a few days, Andrew and I decided to take the kids bowling for the first time. Everyone else in town apparently had the same idea, so the bowling alley was packed. And with only like 4 employees in the whole building, service wasn't exactly the greatest. Overall the kids did well and it was a fun little family outing. The hardest part was explaining to them how we take turns because they wanted to just keep rolling the ball down the lane.

This ramp was a lifesaver for the kids! And of course the gutter guards helped all of us. :)

Either the kids did really well, or Andrew and I bowl like preschoolers. ;)

Pool Play

Here are a few pictures of Harper and Maisie that I forgot to put on the blog! Alison had these adorable stretchy beanie-like hats for Maisie, and of course Harper wanted to wear one of them. They were so cute floating around the pool together!

Harper now loves to jump in the pool and go underwater just like Ryder. She has no fear! Andrew and I laugh because she usually holds her nose as she gets ready to jump and then lets go long before she hits the water. :)

just floating

She sounds like a little motorboat every time she comes up for air.

The rest of July

The last week of Steve, Ali, and Maisie's summer visit was packed full of fun! We celebrated Pops' and Maisie's birthdays a little early since we were all together, and the cousins loved every minute they had to play together. (We all did!)

our little ninja

Pops, the ninja

I love that Harper is watching Ryder, and Ryder is holding Maisie's little foot. :)

A visit to Ringling for Grann, the mommies, and the kiddos.