Family Trip! Part 1

On Monday and Tuesday we took a little family vacation. On Monday we traveled to Legoland. It is a place geared toward the younger crowd and my son absolutely loves it. On Tuesday we journeyed to the Wild Animal Park. The two are only about 20 minutes apart so it makes for a nice vacation.

Since this may be long... I'm only going to discuss Legoland in this entry.

So on Monday we departed at 9:30am. We had been shooting to leave around 8am. Such is life with little kids. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Legoland with a short stop at McDonald's in the middle (my daughter had enough of the car and needed a little stretch). The last 10 minutes were difficult for my daughter. She is not up for such long car rides. I know if we had borrowed the in-law's DVD players we may not have had such a LONG ride, but I feel bad putting them in front of a screen for a long time.

Our first objective was to get my son, B, a season pass. We decided to get B the season pass so that he can go with others--i.e. the grandparents. We chose to buy him a pass that provides free parking and 20% off food. Since it comes with one free guest pass a year, my ticket was free and my hubby got a discount on the only adult ticket we purchased through his work. My daughter was free (don't you love the 3 and younger price?).

Unfortunately for my daughter, there are not a lot of rides she can ride on. My son's first ride was the horse in the knight's realm. She loves horses and kept saying, "Ride horse!" Thankfully there is an awesome play area in the knights realm with stairs, slides, climbing nets, bridges, etc. She absolutely loved it! C loves to slide and she was pretty fearless going down the large tube slides. My son was actually more hesitant in going down the slides--he always has been more cautious.

After playing we stopped to get apple fries. I had wanted to try them for AGES and finally got the chance. They were the best treat ever! The apples are sliced into thin fries, battered, fried and doused in cinnamon sugar. They are served with a cinnamon whipped cream that was my daughter's favorite part. It was technically dessert before lunch, but hey, we're on vacation. :)

My husband and I took turns watching each child. The trouble with the ages of our children is that my son can ride most of the rides while my daughter cannot. Thankfully Legoland has various "playgrounds" for her to play in. While in the Pirate Shores area, she happily swung in the bucket swings in the toddler water area while my son road the boats. In the Fun Town area my hubby found a fun cave area that leads to a gift shop (I didn't even know it existed). Later my hubby took my son to the same area and my son was frightened the whole trip through. Oh well. There are also several stationary cars my daughter could "drive" while my son drove the "real" cars and helicopters.

There are two fun rides my daughter can ride. In the Imagination Zone there is a small train that she can ride. We rode it once entering the Imagination Zone and once before leaving. In the Imagination Zone there are also many "two-story" houses with slides. I think she went down all the slides but one. There is also a fun Fairy Tale boat ride that we could all ride.

Before leaving we let the kids play in the sand area next to the Dino roller coaster. My son rode the coaster twice, once with me and once with my hubby.

It was an exhausting day--especially since my daughter missed her nap. She went to sleep almost as soon as we got in the car and my son soon followed suit. It was tiring, but lots of fun and the kids were so good. I wish I could say the same about the next day, but I'll discuss that in another entry. :)

My Child's Prayer

Right now is a fun time in my little girl's life. It seems each day she comes up with a new phrase and her little personality is definitely shining through.

One of my favorite phrases she uses is when she is running as fast as her little toddler legs will take her, shouting in her little girl voice, "I'm coming! I'm coming!" Or, as she is pulling on my hand, "Let's go! Let's go!"

So at dinner a few nights ago when it was time to bless the food she says, "I say it." With a little coaching she was able to say the prayer over the food. It warmed my heart to hear her petition to Heavenly Father in her sweet, quiet voice. I'm sure it warmed Heavenly Father's heart too.

Saying Good-Bye

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The funeral of the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley was held today. It has been almost a week since his passing, causing much reflection on my part. He was the prophet through many of my teen years and has been the prophet during the early years of my marriage and motherhood. My life has changed much in that time, but my love and affection for this wonderful man has only grown.

So today, as many of my faith have done, my family and I tuned in to watch the funeral services. My eyes filled with tears as his coffin was rolled into the conference center. My son, noticing my somber mood, went to me and asked, "Mama, why are you sad?" Why am I sad? I am sad because this dear man will never walk into conference again, waving his cane at the crowd. I am sad because I will miss his quick wit and optimism. I am sad because I will miss him.

During the week I spent some time reading various articles regarding Gordon B. Hinckley. In one brief article it was noted that the Rexburg Idaho temple dedication was postponed by one week. And then the thought entered my mind: The Lord's work continues. How marvelous!

I am grateful that the Lord chose Gordon B. Hinckley to serve as prophet for so many years. I am grateful that I, along with so many others, was able to feel of his spirit, enjoy his humor, and be taught by him. And I am grateful to be a part of the Lord's work which, I know, will continue to fill the earth.