Legoland

Here is William and Amelia's favorite part- the big ride!

This is William and his new friend. Gemma was too little to ride and Amelia was with mama for her ride.

Legoland

William (and John) played for a long time in this area. They had the materials for building Lego cars and then all kinds of racetrack to test your designs.

Gemma liked it too. More than once she messed up a "super important race" by climbing up and running up and down the track, giggling with glee.

More Legos

Motorcycles are in. Just don't tell Grandma Kim. She'll have a fit if she sees her without her Lego helmet.

Saturday: Legoland

On Saturday, we went to Legoland in Kansas City. I wisely purchased our tickets online the night before to save a little cash, but also to get a guaranteed entry time. timing is everything when you are juggling schedules of little people. Legoland is in the downtown area roughly in the same area as union station. The kids were up super early that morning and we hit the road about half an hour early. That never happens.

When we arrived downtown, we discovered the Kansas City marathon was that morning and the finish line was in or adjacent to Crowne Plaza (legoland location). Parking was a disaster. It was very fortunate that we got such an early start. After 40 minutes, we finally found a spot...in the most stroller unfriendly place imaginable. There were no ramps, tons of stairs, the stroller didn't fit trough the doors, no power assist, no signage or directions to direct to where we needed to go. When we finally exited the ramp (by walking down and under a huge sign that said "do not walk on ramp, use stairs only), we found another problem. With the circling around and endless driving, we knew we were in the right vicinity, but didnt exactly know how to get where we wanted to be. We finally found it after scaling at least 3 giant staircases with not a ramp or sign in place. Totally not accessible which was the clincher to my award of "least stroller friendly place. Ever" award.

When we finally arrived at Legoland, we found the doors shut tight. After a short whole, a staff member Cane out to let us know they were opening late due to the marathon traffic. Their employees couldn't find parking either.

Anyway, the kids all liked legoland. It seemed fluke in most areas there were activities that made all the kids happy. Gemma adored this Lego motorcycle and Amelia and William enjoyed everything. They claim to enjoy "Merlin's Magic Ride" the most.

I can only post 3 pictures at a time from my phone, so look for more to come.

Kansas City Friday:Science City

Science City is a science based children's museum in Union Station. The station itself is worth a visit. It is a beautiful station with a some interesting historical displays. Science City is housed inside the station and has an entire section devoted to the trains, the history, and the station.

The day we were there, the regular entrance was blocked off. The research I did before hand wasn't super helpful as we were unable to locate the free parking and we couldn't find the way in. It was a frustrating start. I suspect we were given discounted admission based on my frazzled state.

At any rate, the museum was fun and had a wide variety of exhibits different from other children's museums we've been to. A lot of it was above the level of our kids, but there was enough stuff that the kids did like. The dinosaurs weren't the big hit as I was expecting. However, we spent a great deal of time in the space station area, the physical science area, and the water table were something all the kids loved. There was also a small area with some animals, including a talking parrot. The parrot would say, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty!" "Hello!" And a very impressive wolf whistle every time someone walked away from it.

There was a tightrope bike I couldn't get anyone to try with me. I meant to go back and give it a go on my own, but it didn't happen.

There was a police helicopter the kids liked crawling over - photos 1&2

Photo 3 was in a house of illusions. The bed and walls were crooked. If you were on the bed, there was supposed to be an illusion you could see. I wasn't able to make it work - maybe because Gemma was crawling all over me?

Sweet cheeks

Sweet baby, sweet dreams. Gemma napped on our way to Kansas City.

Busted

On Sunday morning, Gemma slept in. This was not on our trip agenda. Apparently she did not get the memo that we were getting up and leaving earlyish on Sunday. She finally woke up about 8:30. This is a major sleep event for her with fewer than 5 similar occasions in the last 6 months.

However, the 2 nights spent in the hotel began the same way for everyone else.

6:20 to 6:30 William wakes up. He walks to the bathroom and turns on the light. The bathroom has a combined light/fan system so the light and fan are both on. William does not fully close the door. He finishes and washes his hands (note: Gemma is directly next to the bathroom area as that was the only place to squeeze in the crib.). While washing his hands, he mumbles and talks to himself. He stumbles back to bed and consistently finds a way to climb over Amelia's head.

Once Amelia wakes up, it is all over. Amelia has one volume. Loud. Here is a sample:

Amelia: it's not fair!
Mom (whispering): you need to whisper! Why isn't it fair? William is already ready to go.
Amelia (loudly, not a hint of a whisper): but I want to use your phone to play a game!
Mom: then get dressed. Get dressed quietly and whisper!
Amelia: but why? (Loudly, still) why do I have to whisper?

Usually, Gemma is awake at the first hint of her siblings so it was a true miracle that for close to an hour sunday morning Amelia spoke loudly and did not wake her sister.

Finally, I got the kids dressed, packed up the kids' half of the room and took the big kids down for breakfast, leaving Gemma with John.

Later in the morning, John was packing up the car and William was helping. On his way through the lobby, John grabbed a doughnut from the breakfast area. The trade off for getting to sleep until 8:30 is you don't get a sit down breakfast. When you get up with the kids at 6:15, you do.

William, John, and his doughnut got into the elevator with a group of older women who were traveling together (William met them at breakfast because he is Mr Personality).

Woman 1: oh! Are you bringing your wife a doughnut? How sweet are you?!?
John: ummmm.....I guess
William: (looks incredulously at John) No, Dad! That doughnut is for you!

--the group of women dissolves into laughter--

John: well, it is for me because I didn't have any breakfast yet. So, it is okay. Mama already had breakfast.

William: you didn't have any breakfast because you were sleeping in.

--more laughter--

Busted by a 6 year old.


William

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