On Sunday all the family gathered together at my sister Sharie's church to attend and/or participate in her daughter Emileen's baby blessing. After the meetings were over we regathered at Sharie's home for lunch and then spent the rest of the day visiting.
(Emmy in her blessing gown)
The next day we all met up again. This time at Legoland. I've visited pretty much all of the theme parks in California at one time or another, but this was the first time I had a chance to go to Legoland, so this was a completely new experience for me.
(Being greeted in the park by a giant Lego Man.)
The whole park is decorated in Legos. There's various sculptures and block-themed exhibits everywhere along with dozens of rides.
(Melissa & Parker in front of a Lego fountain)
Most of the rides were Lego-themed, of course, with the cars made to look like they were built out of Legos. We got there right as the park opened, but the lines filled up fast, so I didn't get to go on too many. One ride was a large Lego contraption that allowed you to pedal to adjust your speed as you went a round a scenic track:
(Me with Thomas Featherstone on the pedaling ride.)
Here are several pictures of our group at Legoland:
(From L to R: Melissa, Stacy, Melody (above), Sharie, Eileen (Grandma, above), Ashley, Ryan, Richard, & Thomas. Not pictured: me, Jeffrey, Grandpa, Parker & Emileen)
(Me holding my new niece Emileen)
(Me, Darth Vader, Jeffrey)
(Grandpa with Parker & Emmy. Parker has apparently stolen Emmy's pacifier.)
One of my favorite parts of the park was a huge area that contains dozens of famous cities and landmarks built entirely in Legos. They had models depicting Hollywood/Southern California, San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington DC, New York, Las Vegas, and several other places.
Here I am at the Las Vegas strip in front of the MGM grand. It was so refreshing to be able to walk down the entire strip in minutes rather than the hours it took at the real thing last month!
Sadly, I had a flight that left early that evening, so I had to leave the park early to get to the airport. Of course, the flight was ultimately delayed an hour which meant I could have spent that extra hour at the park with family instead. In any case, I had a wonderful time with all my family for this long weekend trip. Next time hopefully the rest of my family will be able to come with me.
Special thanks to Jeffrey, Melissa & Sharie who carried the cameras and provided me with the pictures for these posts.
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