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Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
Legoland
A day trip.
We went to Legoland today. We almost went on the
4th of July, but with the pool problems and James having a horrible case of
constipation, I decided we'd stay home. (James' constipation cleared up
suddenly while I gave him a bath that evening... I'm still obsessively washing
my hands to this day.) I suppose it's just as well that we avoided the holiday
crowds. We went to Mass yesterday so we could get a head start today. We woke
up late, though, and got to Legoland around 12:30
PM.
Lunch was our first stop, as usual. We noticed that Legoland wasn't as crowded as we may have expected, certainly less crowded than we might have expected on the 4th of July. More like a regular weekend. I reasoned, though, that if this is the last day of a holiday or vacation week for many people, then perhaps families were spending today at home, prior to parents going back to work on Monday.
After lunch, William and Hsuan rode the Bionicles spinning "teacup" ride. Afterwards, we skipped Aquazone (usually a favorite of William's) and went to Pirate Shores. I was feeling a little ill, so I stopped by the men's room while they went on.
Afterward, William and I rode Captain Cranky's Challenge, a new attraction that is essentially a big, swinging, spinning boat ride. It's actually relatively tame, particularly in the center seats where centripetal acceleration from the spinning of the boat is minimized.
James and my hat.
William won a couple of stuffed animal prizes at a couple of booths. Then, James and I took a break while William and Hsuan rode Splash Battle. I had my iPhone with me and didn't want to take a chance that it would get soaked.
After we were done with Pirate Shores, we checked the times for The Big Test show, and then we passed through Miniland -- always one of James' favorites. After riding Coast Cruise, we then went to the Imagination Zone, where William and James built and raced their own Lego car creations. (Actually, James found an abandoned car that was quite fast already.)
We scooted over to the Explore Village to ride the Fairy Tale Brook, which, along with the Coast Cruise, is one of only two rides at Legoland that James can ride. (He is about an inch shorter than the 34" minimum requirement of the next level of rides.) William, as always, took a turn riding the cars at the Volvo Junior Driving School, and James also sat in a car.
William at the Volvo Junior Driving School.
James isn't old enough to drive in the Volvo Junior Driving School yet.
We caught the last showing of the day for The Big Test, a silly acrobatics and water show dressed up as a volunteer firefighter test. Because it was the last show of the day, the performers went a little crazy with the fire hose, drenching the ushers in particular. I've seen the show before, and they certainly ad-libbed more and had more fun in this performance than in other performances I've seen. It was definitely more fun, higher energy.
The highlight of the evening was The Fun Town Fire Academy. This attraction bears some explanation. Participants board fire trucks mounted on tracks. Each team of participants can be up to four people. The fire trucks are propelled by manually driven pneumatic pumps, and the fire trucks themselves are about as large as compact SUVs and maybe about as heavy. The goal is to drive the truck from one end of the track to the other (about 40 feet or so, I'd guess), then get out of the truck, and operate a pair of water pumps connected to water guns in order to hit a "fire" target and eventually "put out" the "fire". (The "fire" target contains a pipe leading to a hidden water bucket which must be filled.) Once the "fire" is "out", participants reenter their fire trucks, reverse gear, and pump their way back to the starting point.
The fire trucks. We forgot to get pictures of me and William during our race, so this is a later race.
The fires at the Fun Town Fire Academy.
Oh, there are also four such fire trucks, and participants race to put out their fires and return to the starting points.
The effect is like working out by lifting weights, doing lots of repetitions, and trying to do them much faster than anyone else.
Because James doesn't meet the minimum height requirement, William and I usually participate alone, with James and Hsuan sitting out. Most teams are families of at least three people, including a father and mother and some kids. Some teams are composed of two or more really big guys who can pump like crazy. Not infrequently, there are teams composed of a father and one or more kids, like me and William, though the other fathers are usually much bigger, more athletic, and more muscular than I am. Whenever William and I compete, I usually expect to place third out of four teams, given that I'm the only one providing muscle for our team. (There is always a team that is unfamiliar with the setup, can't coordinate themselves, etc. who end up in last place.)
The end of a race is often a scene of happy kids and exhausted parents.
The pneumatic pumps in the fire trucks require much less force to move the trucks than they used to. It used to be exhausting to the point of debilitation, and now it's merely exhausting. Some time last year, before the pumps were adjusted, I entered a race with William determined to place better than third, and I pumped and pumped like crazy through the race, not only in the truck but also at the water pump. In the end, I think we placed second, but my pectorals and arm muscles were screaming in pain afterward. I was determined not to enter the races again, and the next time, Hsuan went with William while I stayed out. Hsuan had participated before, so she was able to report that the pumps had been made easier on the participants, so I was able to ride again.
Like today.
Today, it was just me and William in our truck. The other teams had 3 or 4 people per team, so as usual, I expected to place 3rd, or maybe even 4th. We got off to a slow start. My glasses case and a map flew out of my shirt pocket as I started pumping, and I got distracted enough to stop pumping, pick them up, and put them in a pocket in my shorts. We arrived at the water pumps probably in 3rd or 4th place; I wasn't really paying attention. The other teams were shooting both of their water pumps at their targets, but with William and me alone, we could use only one of our water guns. So, I had William aim one water gun while I started pumping it with short, quick strokes. I got tired fast, and after I saw that William's aim was right at the hole, I switched to longer, smooth pumps. The result was that we got more water to our target per stroke at the pump, and we "put out our fire", got in our truck, and headed back to the finish line before everyone else. The others were hot on our heels, but we finished in first place!
I accidentally let William out of the truck while the others were still moving, but I got him back in the truck, slumped into a seat, and waited for the other teams to finish the race. My muscles ached, and I was exhausted. After the race, we got out, and Hsuan gave me a hug. One of the other families came up to us, congratulated us on our win, and asked me how we did it. I pointed to William, and said, "He has really good aim." They gave him high fives.
My muscles kept hurting for about two hours afterward. We saw the Lego factory exhibit, played with some Legos, had some dinner... While James napped on me, William and Hsuan rode the Sky Cruiser ride. The line was long, so it took them about an hour from start to finish, at which time Legoland started closing for the day. We bought a toy at the Big Store near the entrance, and then we went home.
Lunch was our first stop, as usual. We noticed that Legoland wasn't as crowded as we may have expected, certainly less crowded than we might have expected on the 4th of July. More like a regular weekend. I reasoned, though, that if this is the last day of a holiday or vacation week for many people, then perhaps families were spending today at home, prior to parents going back to work on Monday.
After lunch, William and Hsuan rode the Bionicles spinning "teacup" ride. Afterwards, we skipped Aquazone (usually a favorite of William's) and went to Pirate Shores. I was feeling a little ill, so I stopped by the men's room while they went on.
Afterward, William and I rode Captain Cranky's Challenge, a new attraction that is essentially a big, swinging, spinning boat ride. It's actually relatively tame, particularly in the center seats where centripetal acceleration from the spinning of the boat is minimized.
James and my hat.
William won a couple of stuffed animal prizes at a couple of booths. Then, James and I took a break while William and Hsuan rode Splash Battle. I had my iPhone with me and didn't want to take a chance that it would get soaked.
After we were done with Pirate Shores, we checked the times for The Big Test show, and then we passed through Miniland -- always one of James' favorites. After riding Coast Cruise, we then went to the Imagination Zone, where William and James built and raced their own Lego car creations. (Actually, James found an abandoned car that was quite fast already.)
We scooted over to the Explore Village to ride the Fairy Tale Brook, which, along with the Coast Cruise, is one of only two rides at Legoland that James can ride. (He is about an inch shorter than the 34" minimum requirement of the next level of rides.) William, as always, took a turn riding the cars at the Volvo Junior Driving School, and James also sat in a car.
William at the Volvo Junior Driving School.
James isn't old enough to drive in the Volvo Junior Driving School yet.
We caught the last showing of the day for The Big Test, a silly acrobatics and water show dressed up as a volunteer firefighter test. Because it was the last show of the day, the performers went a little crazy with the fire hose, drenching the ushers in particular. I've seen the show before, and they certainly ad-libbed more and had more fun in this performance than in other performances I've seen. It was definitely more fun, higher energy.
The highlight of the evening was The Fun Town Fire Academy. This attraction bears some explanation. Participants board fire trucks mounted on tracks. Each team of participants can be up to four people. The fire trucks are propelled by manually driven pneumatic pumps, and the fire trucks themselves are about as large as compact SUVs and maybe about as heavy. The goal is to drive the truck from one end of the track to the other (about 40 feet or so, I'd guess), then get out of the truck, and operate a pair of water pumps connected to water guns in order to hit a "fire" target and eventually "put out" the "fire". (The "fire" target contains a pipe leading to a hidden water bucket which must be filled.) Once the "fire" is "out", participants reenter their fire trucks, reverse gear, and pump their way back to the starting point.
The fire trucks. We forgot to get pictures of me and William during our race, so this is a later race.
The fires at the Fun Town Fire Academy.
Oh, there are also four such fire trucks, and participants race to put out their fires and return to the starting points.
The effect is like working out by lifting weights, doing lots of repetitions, and trying to do them much faster than anyone else.
Because James doesn't meet the minimum height requirement, William and I usually participate alone, with James and Hsuan sitting out. Most teams are families of at least three people, including a father and mother and some kids. Some teams are composed of two or more really big guys who can pump like crazy. Not infrequently, there are teams composed of a father and one or more kids, like me and William, though the other fathers are usually much bigger, more athletic, and more muscular than I am. Whenever William and I compete, I usually expect to place third out of four teams, given that I'm the only one providing muscle for our team. (There is always a team that is unfamiliar with the setup, can't coordinate themselves, etc. who end up in last place.)
The end of a race is often a scene of happy kids and exhausted parents.
The pneumatic pumps in the fire trucks require much less force to move the trucks than they used to. It used to be exhausting to the point of debilitation, and now it's merely exhausting. Some time last year, before the pumps were adjusted, I entered a race with William determined to place better than third, and I pumped and pumped like crazy through the race, not only in the truck but also at the water pump. In the end, I think we placed second, but my pectorals and arm muscles were screaming in pain afterward. I was determined not to enter the races again, and the next time, Hsuan went with William while I stayed out. Hsuan had participated before, so she was able to report that the pumps had been made easier on the participants, so I was able to ride again.
Like today.
Today, it was just me and William in our truck. The other teams had 3 or 4 people per team, so as usual, I expected to place 3rd, or maybe even 4th. We got off to a slow start. My glasses case and a map flew out of my shirt pocket as I started pumping, and I got distracted enough to stop pumping, pick them up, and put them in a pocket in my shorts. We arrived at the water pumps probably in 3rd or 4th place; I wasn't really paying attention. The other teams were shooting both of their water pumps at their targets, but with William and me alone, we could use only one of our water guns. So, I had William aim one water gun while I started pumping it with short, quick strokes. I got tired fast, and after I saw that William's aim was right at the hole, I switched to longer, smooth pumps. The result was that we got more water to our target per stroke at the pump, and we "put out our fire", got in our truck, and headed back to the finish line before everyone else. The others were hot on our heels, but we finished in first place!
I accidentally let William out of the truck while the others were still moving, but I got him back in the truck, slumped into a seat, and waited for the other teams to finish the race. My muscles ached, and I was exhausted. After the race, we got out, and Hsuan gave me a hug. One of the other families came up to us, congratulated us on our win, and asked me how we did it. I pointed to William, and said, "He has really good aim." They gave him high fives.
My muscles kept hurting for about two hours afterward. We saw the Lego factory exhibit, played with some Legos, had some dinner... While James napped on me, William and Hsuan rode the Sky Cruiser ride. The line was long, so it took them about an hour from start to finish, at which time Legoland started closing for the day. We bought a toy at the Big Store near the entrance, and then we went home.
Posted: Sun - July 8, 2007 at 11:35 PM