Take the Kiddies Bowling... take them Bowling

If preschool and kindergarten birthday parties have had a theme over the last few months, it has been bowling. We were invited to three bowling parties in December (two birthday and one Holiday party) and one in January.

It makes sense for kids born in the winter months, when weather isn't guaranteed. My neighbor also pointed out that it is an activity where you can invite the entire class and not break the bank.

For young children bowling has changed since I was a little one. The bowling allies are now equipped with lane guards that can be enabled based on the player. These guards prevent the gutter bowl, which marred my early bowling attempts.

Both our boys turned out to be pretty good at bowling. The secret to bowling with a gutter guard is throwing the bowl as hard as you can. Forget about the finger holes at this age. Two hands and you drop the bowl with force heading toward the pins. Caleb, my four-year old, was scoring better than most adults (who have their own bowling ball). It took Xander three parties, but by the fourth he got the hang of it.

So, as I wake up to a rainy Sunday, I'd suggest... take the kiddies bowling, take them bowling.

Quest for Legos - The Journey Home

Lego is a Danish invention, and Denmark was indeed the theme of our road trip home from just North of San Diego to San Jose.

When we woke up on Wednesday morning it was raining. We headed out after breakfast, and while we didn't have a lot of traffic, visibility was poor until just North of Los Angeles.

We opted to take Highway 101 versus Interstate 5 for good reason. The "grapevine" often closes in bad weather, and if anything, the trip over the mountain could be plagued with slow traffic. Our GPS hated our decision, and kept asking us to take a detour back to I5 until we reached Santa Barbara. Two days later people had to sleep in their cars because I5 was closed.

On our way to Legoland we couldn't help noticing the Andersen's Pea Soup sign. It is located in Buellton just outside the Danish village of Solvang. So we planned a late lunch there, and a needed rest stop.

We loved Andersen's Pea Soup ... the food was great (not surprisingly the pea soup was excellent). The boys loved the novelty shop that is part of the restaurant, and we had the added benefit that we finally completed our potty training for our four year old. Yes, he like 20 percent of boys under the age of 4 and half struggled with the last bastion of potty training angst -- the No. 2.

After lunch we headed to Olsen's Danish Village Bakery in Solvang for Danish delights. The boys got to pick out their own cookie, and then we all shared the selections in the car on the way home. We arrived at 6:30 pm, ready for dinner and an early bed. All together a pleasant roadtrip.

Quest for Legos - Part 2

The process of entering Legoland took almost an hour. The park is pretty stingy on what you see before you enter ... so the boys were at full line fatigue by the time we finally got in. I'm not sure if the entry process was so poor because we went at such as popular time -- or it is always like this.

In the long, disorganized and confusing line to get into Legoland we had several choices. We could purchase tickets to Legoland and Sea Life (the Park's aquarium), or just Legoland (the Water Park is closed this time of year) -- we could purchase tickets for one day or two. Since we were on a Lego quest we opted to go to just Legoland for two days (and it was already afternoon when we arrived from Santa Barbara).

There are two lines to get into the park. One to buy tickets, and one to enter ... both are jammed packed, and the ones on the far left move much faster than the ones on the right. In the future to bypass the ticket line, I highly recommend buying tickets in advance. We tried to buy tickets from the Holiday Inn Carlsbad, but the front desk was grossly misinformed about the special and even their own shuttle service policy. They thought Legoland was offering a special of the second day free if you bought tickets at the park. The special was actually a coupon for a free ticket in January through March -- and you only needed to show proof of purchase at the service desk.

Since it was the Holidays once you enter you are greeted with a giant Lego tree. We proceeded to the left on the first day. If we went to the right we would have seen a Lego Santa in his sleigh, and a Lego Frosty. The Lego Santa and Frosty are set up as picture opportunities. And people line-up to get their photos taken in front of them ... this was quite difficult to explain to our boys. Still I was rudely able to snap a couple of cool pictures and bypass the line as Jonathan pulled the kids off the Lego sleigh.

We have a policy about lines ... if it is over 45 minutes don't bother. On the first day many of the lines had signs that said 60 minutes (on the second day this grew to 2 hours). We'll have to go back during the summer season when the Water Park is open. I wonder if that will decrease the impact on the Legoland lines. Since we were there in the afternoon, waiting until after 3 pm to ride more popular rides was the best bet.

Highlights of our two days (and definitely things that shouldn't be missed) include:

• Miniland. This is an opportunity to walk through Lego DC, Lego New York, Lego Las Vegas, Lego San Francisco and a Lego town with a train. There are several ways to enter, one you come down a hill walking by busts of famous people like Pavarotti, the Queen of England and Winston Churchill. The other way is over a bridge with Lego lions. Caleb loved looking at the intricate detail in all of the buildings, cars and people. Xander liked steering the boats in the Miniland marina. We also loved taking the Coast Cruise through Miniland you got to get up close to the Lego Sidney Opera House, and also see Lego New York from another perspective.
• The Lego Showplace. Where you can watch the adventures of Clutch Powers in 4D. The movie is in 3D, but Legoland adds wind, and mist and fog to make it a 4D experience. Considering my oldest has limited depth perception, and the 3D glasses don't work for him, the fact that he loved the show speaks to how well done it is. 
• The life size characters in Lego that were hidden in every nook and cranny of the park including Bob the Builder,  the dragons, park workers, the life size Volvo XC90 ... They were really very cool.
• Solo rides for the five and under set. Xander and Caleb loved the Royal Joust best (this was a ride on an oversized carousel horse on a track through a forrest). In fact there were several opportunities for the five and under set to go solo. The other ride they liked was the Junior Driving School (driving a little Lego Volvo around a mini race track).

Overall we had a great time, some of the rides were a bit overrated, and entering the park can be a better experience. We may go back sometime this year when the Water Park is open, and when Legoland opens Miniland Star Wars. Next blog will be on the activities outside of Legoland in San Diego and our ride home.