Legoland California!

On our way back to China, we decided to stop by San Diego for a few days.  The big draw for us was Legoland.  Research was conducted by watching Man vs. Food and Bobby Flay Throwdowns.  The food overall was outstanding!  We'll get into that later.  For now, Legoland:

The ride to the hotel from the airport.  Ro couldn't hang.

Legoland requires grade A fuel, so we headed to The Broken Yolk.  Featured in Man vs. Food, it was able to deliver the eggy goodness required.

Yes, this was the kids meal.  Yes, the bread and fruit were that big...

Ro and I found our Lego twins.

First impressions.

One of the rides.  Ro and I were able to squirt everyone else as they went by.

Charge!

One of the big draws was the Star Wars miniland.  I think I have about 50 pictures of it.

So realistic with the dead guy floating.  I covered the kids eyes on this one.

New York City, boys used as scale.

Love the little bonsai spread throughout, which added a ton of realism.

One of my favorite parts was actually the back of the Vegas Buildings.  No detail was left out!

Another ride where Ro got to squirt mom and brothers.

Ro earning his drivers license.

Riley stopping at a traffic light.  I finally yelled at him to drive because I was afraid his whole time would be spent stopped.

Anr we're turning.

And stop.  I was thinking Riley would be more like Ricky Bobby, but instead he was Driving Miss Daisy.

Ahh, nothing ends the day like a good sword fight.  Yes, he is stabbing Rowan in the eye.  Yes, Rowan cried.  Yes, Rowan blew it out of proportion.  Riley told Rowan that he we impressed with his progress...

VA Beach Lighthouses

During the first week of August, I took leave from work to spend time in the U.S. with family.  It was an outstanding time to be reunited with Bec and the boys, and also to see everyone that we were able to line up schedules with.  One of the big highlights was that Rebecca's brother brought the family up from Hilton Head to see us one more time before we left.  We also made it out to several lunches and dinners with friends.

Below is one of the outings we made it on while in Va Beach.  Having grown up there, I'd been to Fort Story and these lighthouses several times, but it's been over 20 years!  My parents were good sports and came out with us to make the treck to the top!  Actually, I think it was my mom's idea...

I did see another plaque that said this lighthouse was the first building funded by the new government.  Quite the historical monument at 220+ years old!

There it is, with some strange children crammed at the entrance.

A picture of the winding stairs to the top.

From the top, you can see the newer (and still active) lighthouse.

By now the children were tired of being posed, so we let them cut loose a bit.

The lighthouses are on an active military base, although minimum security if they let me in!  So, there was an old amphibious vehicle for the kids to play on.

The old lighthouse is to the right, situated on a hill.  No it's not leaning, just the wide angle lens.