The Legoland VIP Experience...Part 4!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

After the Legoland portion of our trip, we still had some fun before we went home.  We played on the beach...

and the kids wanted me to take a picture of this Nemo car...

and we got to hang out with Blake and Cathy, friends we made on our cruise about almost a year ago.  We should have taken some pictures with them...

but we were too busy playing, chatting, and looking for crabs.

Cathy took these for us on her phone, though, which was very sweet.

Later that day, Benjamin got a great nap in the hotel closet while Jeff took Grace and Jonathan for an adventure (swimming in the hotel pool, I think?)  I didn't mention that the kids were very anxious to build with their Legos as soon as possible, so Benjamin had to sleep near his new truck.

That evening, we spent a few minutes by the water...

before celebrating Jeff's birthday at dinner.

Somebody at the restaurant wanted to make sure we were all in the picture, so I squeezed in to this one.

We got to watch the sun set over the pier.  This was also where I somehow lost the torso to Jonathan's Lego minifigure that Tim had given to him on our Legoland day.  Jonathan was a good sport about it, but he still felt the loss.

The last time my friend Sarah and I were together, we were at the Lakeshore Learning outlet, and I had picked up these scratch art cards for emergencies.  Well, not emergencies - just for situations that required patient waiting.  They were helpful in restaurants on our trip.  Grace made this one...

and Jonathan made this one.  It's a Lego Movie scene.  His art is detailed, just like his personality.

The next day, although I don't have pictures of it, we enjoyed going to church with Blake and Cathy...and Brian and Janet.  As I mentioned in the original post about Blake and Cathy, it's a small world!  And, I don't think I need to spend any more words explaining what a special trip this was.

I'll leave you, patient reader, with a bunch of pictures of the kids...basking in the happiness of their new Lego builds, courtesy of our friends at Legoland.

In August...We Went to a Game.

The ride there was fun!

So was the pit stop on the way to the stadium.

What can I say?  It's a beautiful view.

Now, if you've never been to this particular city, I should explain that it's hard to know what to wear.  The weather can feel very chilly or very comfortable on any day, especially in summer.  We wore jeans and brought sweatshirts, but we didn't need them because our seats were in full sun for long portion of the game.  The kids had a hard time with this, although they told us they enjoyed it when we all got home.

We didn't realize it until we were there, but it was Fellowship Night, so anybody could stay after the game, walk out on the actual field, and listen to the testimonies of different players.  There was a concert after that, but we were tired and didn't stay for the concert.

Jeff and I enjoyed listening to the speakers, and they were encouraging, but I have to say, the highlight of the day was touching the grass.  After years of crunchy, somewhat brown grass here, it was so soft and soothing to touch completely green, soft, grass!  And really cool to be on the actual ball field, too.

It's a lot more fun to fall and play on something soft than something scratchy and hard!

We made special memories together, although the ball game tickets were rather expensive for the amount of enjoyment the kids got out of them.  Lesson learned...and memories made!

A Few More August Pics that I Missed...

His pet Lego Brick Separator

A painful attempt at French braids...but she is still beautiful.

I wish I could remember what he said this was!