I've never been to Legoland before and with Alby having only
spent 32 months on this world he doesn't really have much of an understanding
of the joy of Lego. He has a few Duplo
things and enjoys his Duplo train and making a rocket / tower but such is
hardly a scratch on the surface of the Leo empire that exists today.
However, regardless of our ignorance we spent the few days
prior to our visit shouting and jumping about cheering “We’re going to Legoland”
and the day did not disappoint.
We chased trains and buses around the mini Lego-land,
splashed in the Splash Safari and went on more rides than I knew possible with
a toddler. I kept trying to count how
many we’d managed but the four and a half hours spent running around the
amusement park did some sort of damage to my brain and each time I tried to
work it out my brain would shortcut around the 8 mark. A most curious complaint. Even today I find myself being over come by a
tide of exhaustion just at the memory of the day. Suffice to say we rode trains, lots of
trains, bobbed about on a boat, went round in a carousel, swung on a swing and
saw the sights from the top of a wobbly Ferris wheel. At some point we had to race fire engines and
put out a fire – something which left me panting as I pumped the fire engine to
get it moving and then pumped the water to get the hose going – whilst Alby
stood next to me all a bit confused at what was going on and where he needed to
run to next.
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| First ride of the day |
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| Mummy was sent to the back of the boat whilst Big Boy Alby bobbed along the storyteller river |
Amongst the blur of running and giggles and pointing and
chasing and laughter and ice creams and rides and posing for the camera there
were a few little moments which stand out:
Standing tall at 0.9m
To go on pretty much any ride at Legoland you need to be
0.9m high – something I hadn't really appreciated before turning up. Thank goodness it turns out Alby is JUST 0.9m
in height. At every single ride he went
on they had to measure him first – making him stand on the special platform and
bumping the measure into the side of his head.
He very quickly learnt to stand tall and still with his chin up,
something that took quite some concentration judging from the serious look on
his face.
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| Saddled up and ready to go |
The big green train
We saw train tracks early on but it took us about two hours
(and many rides in between) before we finally found the queue for the “big
green train”. Despite there being a bit
of a queue (the joy of mid-week days out) Alby wasn’t put off and soon enough
we were in the front carriage and on our way.
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| Heading off on the Big Green Train |
As the train pulled out of the station we came up to two
oriental Lego dragons adorning a large gate.
“Look Alby, dragons” I declared at which point water spouted out of
their mouths and drenched my lap and Alby’s t-shirt. For two whole seconds there was just silence
and then Alby burst into laughter pulling on his t-shirt and shouting “I’m all
wet. The dragon spat on me).
A little bit further on we were drenched again by Lego fish
and then by Lego elephants. Each
drenching was followed by a cackle from Alby. He really is such a simple boy.
Live action Pirate show
Ever since we went to the Knight’s Tournament at Old Sarum a
few weeks ago Alby has become obsessed with sword fighting. With a stick in one hand and a pot lid in the
other he will run up to anyone and everyone shouting “Let’s bite!” (Side note –
Alby has got himself a in a bit of a muddle over the words biting and fighting
and despite much effort from Mark and I it’s only in the last day or so that he’s
finally pronouncing the “f” but he was still very much all about the biting
when we were at Legoland on Wednesday).
His obsession with fighting has got to the stage where I've
had to ban sticks from inside the house so tired am I with finding sticks in
every single room and on every floor. Hoping
to dodge fighting for the day I’d done my best to skirt around the Pirate and
Knight themed sections of the park but when we got off the Big Green Train the
cries of “ahoy” were impossible to ignore.
The live action Pirate show has started.
Alby sat on my shoulders in total awe at the sight in front
of him. Five pirates fighting, jumping,
running and getting thrown into the water.
The show ended with the pirates somersaulting off the lighthouse with an
almighty explosion and ball of fire and smoke behind them.
Alby talked about it the whole way back home. I thought he might sleep the journey back but
it seems the pirates proved too exciting and he was a broken record of “they
were biting. They did jumps and it went
boom and we clapped <hahahahahaha>”
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| Shattered Albug on the Ferris Wheel at the end of the day |
Next Wednesday Percy is off to the vets for surgery on his
eyes. The vets we are going to is just a
10 minute drive from Beaulieu the national car museum so it will be another outing
for us – hope Alby doesn't start thinking this level of fun will happen every
week. I confess I am loving my regular
mid-week work free days – and I love them even more when they get me out of the
house and away from chores. Happy days
indeed.
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