Quest for Legos - Part 1

A year ago Caleb asked us if we could go to England. Why we asked (a little excited that our three-year old already had the travel bug)? He told us that his friend Louis went to Legoland in England and he would like to go to Legoland in England too. Although we would have enjoyed a trip to England, there is a Legoland just north of San Diego in Carlsbad and it is much easier to get to.

From Caleb's request it did take us a year to plan the trip to Legoland (and by plan, I mean secure a kennel for our dog ... we actually booked our hotels the morning we left). During that time we saw favor for Thomas trains start to wain (although they still get played with) and  a passion for Lego start to rise-- particularly our youngest Caleb. Xander my five and half year old, decided he liked Legos on Christmas day ... before then there wasn't much interest.

On Sunday morning we packed and left the house at noon for points South. We needed a late start after all of the activities on Christmas day,  so we only drove to Carpinteria, south of Santa Barbara. The next morning we booked it to Carlsbad to enjoy our first day at Legoland.

Interestingly, Jonathan and I thought that the Holidays would be a slower time at amusement parks like Legoland -- the water park wasn't even opened. However, Legoland was packed, and we found out that Disneyland had to stop admitting visitors two days in a row (Monday and Tuesday this week) due to overcrowding. We figured the statewide rainy spell limited the number of days people could go to theme parks. It was rainy on Sunday, and again on Wednesday ... and Thursday and Friday we had a huge temperature drop with rain expected for Saturday. Our first trip to Legoland was really crowded ... Still the boys had a wonderful time. Next blog I'll right about our two days there.

Taking Small Kids to the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker

I had always wanted to go to the Nutcracker. It wasn't even that I loved the televised Nutcracker performances -- I actually found them extremely boring, but I thought that live ballet would be different (and I was right). During our seven years in San Francisco we would see the giant nutcrackers outside of the ballet and I'd imagine someday taking my kids. But how old is old enough?

This year we decided to try it out and take the boys to the San Francisco Ballet's matinee performance of the Nutcracker. Xander is 5 and a half, and Caleb is 4. I guessed that Xander would be a dream at the performance, and Caleb was probably a little on the young side.  I was sort of wrong.

Caleb loved the ballet. He watched everything intently and clapped at the conclusion of each performance. Xander loved the first act, but got a little antsy toward the end of the second act when it dragged a little. However, he did get the storyline, and his favorite character was the magician and toymaker Drosselmeyer.

At the matinee, about 25 percent of the attendees were children under the age of eight. And little girls out numbered boys five to one. When I was getting the boys ready in the morning I realized that they don't have any dress-up clothes. And we were decidedly under dressed compared to the hundreds of little girls in velvet and silk Holiday dresses. But we weren't alone in our casual faux pas.

Thinking back on what I disliked about the televised performances ... the colors seemed dingy, and the storyline was hard to follow. The San Francisco Ballet performance was vibrant and beautiful, and they integrated actors into the earlier scenes to help establish a storyline. Drosselmeyer appeared from the start of the overture and through the entire performance to lead the audience and Clara in the adventure.

The arrangement and orchestra were excellent ... and on TV, even with surround sound, you don't get the same effect of a live orchestra.

Overall the experience was wonderful. Although the ballet didn't have the giant nutcrackers out front this year. Special props to the San Francisco Ballet website which was easy to navigate.  We were able to select our tickets in the front row of the Balcony Circle for December 23 visually and that made a huge difference.

I see this as becoming an annual tradition. Now I need to find a nutcracker for Xander.

Holly Jolly National Capital Trolley Museum Visit

After Thanksgiving we took the boys to the National Capital Trolley Car Museum in Colesville, MD. To be honest my expectations weren't too high for this place. The SF Railway Museum and Gift Shop is really just a gift shop... but across the street from the start of the line for an amazing collection of refurbished and working trolley cars.

The National Capital Trolley Car Museum is in a field. It includes two attached brick barns. The main part of the museum houses a small model train collection and a gift shop. Incredibly disappointing if that was it (although my four-year old Caleb can watch model trains all day). But it is not!

With admission you get tickets to ride a working trolley car. It routes its way through the wooded area near the museum. Considering how much my boys love riding trains, streetcars and the like ... they loved it. We visited when it was having its Holly Trolleyfest. This meant that the boys could sit on Santa's lap, and Mrs Claus rode with us on the trolley ride.

After the trolley ride, there is a docent tour of one of the two barns. Worth waiting for, you get to see trolley cars in various stages of dilapidation. The second barn we were told isn't safe to visit (that is where the actual cars are refurbished). But that would have been fun, even if we were only able to peak our heads in.

The National Capital Trolley Car Museum had a major fire in 2003, which destroyed four cars, and is still re-cooperating. Eventually its collection will include more refurbished cars then the two that you can ride. But for now if you live in the Washington, DC area it is a worthwhile visit, if anything to support the maintenance and restoration of trolleys ... and if you have two little boys like us, to spend a pleasant afternoon.

Before going check the website to make sure the museum is open -- it has odd hours especially during the winter months.

Planes and Rockets at Udvar-Hazy

We've tried to get the boys interested in airplanes and rockets, but their obsession has been trains... until our visit to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum - Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport.

The location is a modern open and airy hanger, with plenty of running room for the most active youngster. The highlight of the immense collection is definitely the space shuttle Enterprise. It is huge, a giant mega airplane that dwarfs even the Concord (which is also part of the exhibits). 

The rest of the collection which includes rockets, satellites, airplanes and their parts is also pretty awesome.  The boys enjoyed the entire trip and never got bored or disinterested ... even with smaller exhibits like the R2D2 mailbox (at least for my 4-year old Star Wars obsessed son).

Not to be missed we took the boys to the observation deck. The boys liked the watching the airplanes land in Dulles ... but this gets old pretty quickly and getting back down is quite an ordeal. You wait in line for the elevator which takes you to another floor, and then you wait in line for the elevator to get back to the main part of the museum. Now that we've done the observation deck once, on subsequent visits will skip this part.

Since this is part of the Smithsonian, entrance is free, however parking was $15. Compare the cost of this outing to the cost of most aquariums for a family of four -- $50 -- and Udvar-Hazy is quite the deal for a fun filled afternoon.