Legoland - Dallas

 We were all set and ready the next morning to head to Legoland, the highlight of our trip.

 

 

Kamryn didn't even make it until we got into Legoland...

The boys were pretty serious about figuring out which exhibits we were going to visit first...

 

While we were waiting in line to enter at our designated time, there was a lady outside painting Lego bricks on the kids' faces.  Gaven was the only one that wanted one.

Once we got inside, we took advantage of a photo-op. 

They take in groups of 40-45 or so and the first stop is this room where "Professor Brick-a-Brack" shows the kids how Legos are made.  I thought it was genius!!

Braeden even got picked to help make the Legos.

The finished product:

The next stop is a ride where we have to save the Lego Princess.  You shoot your laser beam at the bad guys and the targets along the way.  This was a big hit with the boys.

Not so much with Kamryn!!

A life-sized, 3-dimensional Dirk Nowitzki... of course made out of Legos!!

 

Good "D" Braeden!!

This next place is "Mini-land."  It's basically all of the important attractions in Dallas.

Great Wolf Lodge

I must have taken this picture right as Braeden was discovering that it was a mini-Lego sculpture of where we were: Legoland and the Aquarium!

Dallas Cowboy Stadium

The airport... Kamryn loved pushing the buttons that made the airplanes and other things move!

 

American Airlines Arena

A random Lego motorcycle...

The big, huge play area that the boys enjoyed:

Testing their own architectural skills.  You could build a structure and then cause your own earthquake to test whether it can withstand the quakes!

Jason even got in on this one!  He took apart what they had started, because everyone knows a big old box of bricks can withstand a small earthquake.  He made them four corners and told them that they had to build something that only touched the ground in the 4 corners and connected in the middle.

 

This is what they came up with... and it worked!

Next was the "Build Your Own Race Car" station:

This Lego building is serious stuff, in case you haven't gathered that already!

There is something very cliche about this next picture.  Does this capture the moment, or what?  This is in the Lego Store.

After lunch, we headed back for some more fun.  Gaven was the only one that would go in the "Princess Castle."  Even though it doesn't look like it, it was HIS idea to get up on the stage with the microphone.  The other two boys wouldn't even do as much as peak their heads in the pink room!

Our next stop was the ride "Merlin's Apprentice."  Gaven wasn't as scared as this picture makes him look, he just didn't like the loud noise of the ride.

Kamryn waited outside with Jason.  "How old are you, Kam?"

The ride had pedals and we were told, "The faster you pedal, the higher you'll go!!"  Of course, Braeden and Carsen CLAIM they went higher than Gaven and I.

We were sorely disappointed when we arrived in the morning to learn that the 4D theater was out of commission.  They were trying to get a part that they HOPED would fix it, but we weren't very hopeful when it was nearing 4pm and it still wasn't fixed.  I DID take a picture of it, though, because we thought the Lego guys on top were pretty cool.

Gaven decided he wanted to go on another run on "Merlin's Apprentice" with Dad.

To our amazement and great joy... they got the theater working JUST before it was time for us to go.  We got to see two different 4D movies that were both AWESOME, according to the boys.  If you don't know what 4D is, it's basically 3D with extras like snow that falls from the sky, water that you get sprayed with and wind that blows to make you feel like you're REALLY there.  Needless to say, Kamryn didn't like it much, so Jason took her out in the middle of the first movie.  I thought if she had a couple snacks that she would stay in for the 2nd one, but I was wrong, so this time it was my turn to take her out.

All in all, we had a GREAT time over our couple days in Dallas.  We were pretty exhausted when we got home, but it was all worth it!