Legoland

We have now been to Legoland after meaning to go there for so long and hearing so many wonderful things about it.

 

It really did live up to expectations. The weather was blisteringly hot, we took loads of water and still got through it all by half way round. Fortunately there were some water fountains so we were able to refill around the park without spending a small fortune in bottled water.

 

We started off with the space tower. The rides were perfect for Miles and Caden's ages and Miles is now above the 0.9m high limit for most rides so he was able to go on almost everything which he loved so much. The much faster rides were for Caden only, he really, really enjoyed the rollercoaster, I can't ever remember him being so excited and happy, I will always remember it. I hope he does too.

 

 

We made our way round to Duplo Towers where the splash parks were. We went on a couple of little rides along the way. The boys did get changed for the splash parks but they weren't really that bothered about it so we had a picnic lunch and moved on. They were very excited about all the lego animals that we saw as we walked around.

Caden has known about the Lego Atlantis submarine ride for months and he was very excited to go on it. We were so lucky, when we arrived there the queue was approx. 5 minutes. It was perfect. He kept saying how much he hoped he would see sharks.

We got on the submarine and there were lots of screens telling us about the fish we could see.

 

There were windows and portholes to see the fish. The boys thought we were really under the sea.

There were lego fish dotted around the rocks underwater too.

 

Then Caden saw the sharks, he was so excited he was shrieking 'Look, Sharks!' and 'A sting ray, a sting ray, look!'. It was really fab. to see him enjoying it so much.

 

He identified black tip reef sharks, sting rays, an eel and a shrimp.

 

Miles saw a Lego mermaid.

 

Once we got off, there were a few fish tanks to look at. Miles really likes sharks now because he wants to be like his big Brother. It is quite dark but here is Miles with a Lego shark.

 

There was a little tunnel that the kids could crawl through and get 'inside' the fish tanks. They found one all to themselves and saw shrimps, fish and anenomes.

 

Holding the tridents.

 

They were both very excited about a Dino Jeep Safari ride. It was a little Jeep that takes you around loads of Lego dinosaurs. Miles is getting the hang of the names of dinosaurs now. He was shouting out 'Stegosaurus' and 'Pterodactyl'.

 

They did want loads of things from the shop but I am working on some advice from an experienced friend. She suggested that rather than always saying 'we can't afford' the item they want (so they don't feel that sense of deprivation) say you can have it but not from here or not today, maybe we can have a look elsewhere or another time. They really wanted the Lego Chima swords in one shop but then wanted the pirate ones in another. It is tricky but they cost £7 a pop and it makes a day out totally prohibitive when extra costs creep in.

 

They did bring their pirate guns from the pound land shop the other day with them on this trip. They are so happy about them. I think they are very good about not being bought stuff, despite the marketing that is targeted at them at these places and I am sure it is good for them to learn to not expect to be bought stuff wherever they go. I want them to value people and not things.  They will get more out of good relationships with people than they ever will from the material things they have. They did have an ice cream though. It is funny that we think that an ice cream is a necessary part of a day out too. Caden had a few bites of his (£3.95 for one ice cream!!!! It is cheaper in central London!) and then didn't want the rest (!). I wonder if it is better also to not do the ice cream thing and save for other things later in the day. Hard to know really but if I am going to get as much mileage as possible out of our budget to get them as many educational experiences as we can then this is the way we will do it. Before their Dad and I separated we didn't need to think too much about the cost of small things so this is both new for us as a family and a good thing for us to practise so we can get the most out of home educating throughout their childhoods.

 

Apologies to those who find it tedious when I write about the costs of things. I feel that under our circumstances right now it is necessary to illustrate how we are making our lives work to benefit the children. It isn't meant to be in the style of martyrdom. We are very happy that we are together and it is teaching us all the true value of things. The most important thing is that we are all happy together and we are all much happier now than we have ever been.

This was Miles on his Jeep.

 

Miles shouting out the names of dinosaurs.

 

We went to 'Diggerland', I think Legoland called it The digger challenge. Miles and Caden had a digger each. You can see how much Miles loved doing this.

 

Miles is here loving the ferris wheel balloon. I love how serene he looks here. My bonny lad!

 

Caden enjoying the ferris wheel too.

 

We are all on the carousel together.

 

We went to the Land of the Pharaohs. Here they are at the Lego figures.

 

We saw the most EXCELLENT pirate show. It was superb. With acrobatics, a jet-ski show and pyrotechnics. They asked the kids to yell 'Aye!' Miles and Caden got right into it!

The bad pirate on his jet ski. There was lots of slapstick comedy. It was very funny. The boys laughed at the silly pirate and loved watching them all have pretend sword fights with realistic sound effects and throwing each other off the lighthouse into the water. 

We went on the spinning spider ride. Miles felt much better when I explained that the spider was a pretend one and not a real one, he was a bit nervous at first. We spun our little cart so fast we were all dizzy when we had to get off. 

 

You can see Caden at the front of the dragon. It is official... Caden is a thrill-seeking, roller-coaster loving dude! He loved this one so much and then he went on the other more dangerous ;0) dragon ride which was for children above the 1m height. We were so lucky. I went on the ride with him at 5.55pm (the ride closed at 6pm) and they let us go round again two more times by staying on the carriage. We felt so lucky and Caden had the actual time of his life. He excitedly told me about all the cool things that made up the ride and kept saying, 'You really love this ride, don't you Mum!' and I did! It was fab to see him enjoy it so much!

 

 

We ended our long day out at Legoland with dinner picnic in the boot in the car park and the boys were so shattered they slept all the way home. We are going back again in September.

 

For further note this day out cost us £25 as a family of home educators including the parking on the home educator discounted rate. You need to ring them to book this rate, it cannot be booked online. This is vastly reduced on the usual price of £120 (approx.) plus parking for three people. Of course we need to attend in term time and this was the very last day of school apparently, that we could have attended. We felt very lucky because it wasn't that busy, though I am sure now the holidays are here it will be choc-a-block! There are lots of other home educator days coming up from September with various places but we now plan to use the school Summer holidays to avoid theme parks, go to the beach and camp with their friends as much as possible and get through some of Year 2 maths plus read the books I mentioned on a previous blog. Of course we will also be enjoying the sunshine where it is possible and get through lots of academic stuff where we can to lighten the need for it from September. Then Caden and Miles can continue to make the most of the available home educating days out. There are days at Thinktank, NHM, Space Centre and various other museums around the country that we will attend plus the London museums which we haven't even done half of yet.

 

We also just invested in a home educator card. (For those who know about it and choose not to buy it because being out of school in term time should be proof enough - I know, I just wanted to be absolutely sure that we would get the discounts to places because I have heard that some families have been asked for them and it makes it more official if questioned as to why they aren't in school). So we will be visiting the Eden project and Warwick Castle too later this year. I will be writing up some plans for things I want Caden to cover over the next year from September and Miles will continue to be involved in that, learning as he goes and doing his reading eggs and mathseeds when he is interested. 

 

We have a couple of days in London planned again in two weeks (mad - I know, but they love going so much) and there is the International Festival happening next week where we have actually got a different thing happening every single day for about 9 days! There should be a lot of cool things coming up on the blog with any luck. I must make sure I charge my phone :)