Legoland

Before I begin I would like to point out that Nathan and I are officially the world’s best parents – just ask our kids!!

It is quite scary the level of trust your children have in you. On Monday morning this trust came in rather handy as I rose to a level of sneakiness never before seen in the Robb home. We woke both children as is usual on a school day explaining to Zac that Nathan was home as he had some errands to run regarding his new car (Ford Mondeo). When breakfast was finished I announced to Zac that today was a free dress day. I explained that I had checked the school website last night and had rung one of the mum’s to double check. He was a little surprised but pleased all the same. Abbey just went about her normal routine oblivious to all the intrigue.

We headed out of the house at normal time with Zac running back inside for his school bag “just in case”. As we were travelling in a different direction we explained that there were road works on our normal route so we had to take a detour. A couple of times Zac pointed out that he had not seen a sign to Corsham but seemed quite happy to take our word for it. It was not until about 8:50 that his suspicions began to surface and the penny dropped that he was not going to school at all. He accepted this quite happily and it took the much quicker Abbey to finally ask “then where are we going?” We wouldn’t tell them unless they guessed correctly and it was not until we passed the sign on the M4 that Zac thought he would have a ‘heart attack’……. LEGOLAND!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness we had not told him early for from that point on he did not shut up!

What followed was an absolutely fantastic family day out...

Meeting the Lego family at the entrance

Our first ride was the Vikings' River Splash. We only had a relatively short wait before it was our turn to get soaking wet!

Zac enjoying the rapid ride

Lucky Abbey and I got the wettest of anyone when we were on the wrong side of our boat when the Vikings attacked

Abbey and Zac fire water cannons at the people on the Viking Ride. Great water sport!

Next stop for Abbey and I was the Spinning Spider, a Viking take on the Tea Pot Ride. Abbey was keen to spin quickly not seeming to care that I was turning green!

Pirates Landing was next on our radar with Zac and Abbey disappearing into the Pirate Training Camp adventure playground. I think they would have remained here for the day if we'd let them. It took some doing to round them up with Abbey proving very agile through the rigging.

You can just make out Zac on his pirate ship

Abbey was in her element

From Pirates Landing we headed into the Knights Kingdom and came across a Lego dragon or two (or three or four!)

Dragon Slayers!

After a bit of a wait it was out turn to ride the Dragon's Apprentice a mini roller coaster. Both Abbey and Zac were fearless.

You can see the Dragon zooming behind us

Nathan and Zac are ready for the thrills and spills - I think?

Time for lunch so we entered the castle to find the Knights' Rotisserie. Amazingly this was one of the few places not teeming with people and we managed to find some seating on our own for a bit of time out from all the fun.

Do they look like they are having fun yet?

Zac meets a Bionicle in the castle grounds.

Having had our fill of Knights we entered the Kingdom of the Pharaohs where both kids enjoyed yet another ride...

followed by a quick trip on a Lego Camel.

Probably the best ride of all was the Laser Raiders which involved entering deep into the tombs of the Pharaohs in a 4 person car armed with Laser Guns. We then proceeded to blast everything in sight scoring points for any direct hits on given laser targets. The boys proved a tad handier with the laser (may have something to do with the Wii?) but Abbey and I had fun all the same.

On exiting the ride Abbey discovered the Scarab-bouncers and I was to turn green yet again. The ride involved us being raised in the air and then systematically dunked - kind of like a tea bag! Abbey screamed with joy the entire time which was just as well as I felt somewhat sick.

We took in a live Pirate show in Adventure Land and then it was Nathan's turn to take care of Action Abbey with the two of them enjoying Dino Safari ride.

Zac and I were brave enough to attempt the Dino Dipper having not seen the ride in action and not realising how fast the small train whipped around its circuit. We were quite proud of ourselves only to be outdone by Action Abbey who dragged Nathan aboard and once again screamed with delight.

All actionned out, we strolled through the Lego African safari to grab an ice cream before hitting Duplo Land.

Hard to believe they are made of Lego (no, not the boys!!)

Nathan and I had planned ahead packing the kids bathers and towels in anticipation of a very warm day. This planning paid off at Waterworks which had both kids firing water canon, dodging water sprays from all directions and definitely cooling off. Sad to say that they were the most appropriately dressed with many other kids odds on to go home with a severe sun burn.

Abbey proving to be a good aim shooting the Lego crocodiles

Zac enjoying feeling cool again

With their batteries recharged, Nathan took the kids on the Sky Rider giving them a bird's eye view of the park.

At 4pm we were lucky enough to make it into the Imagination Theatre to watch Lego City A Clutch Powers 4D Adventure. Having never experience 4D before we donned our special glasses and waited for the action. What followed was a very entertaining Lego action cartoon with the effects 'jumping' the screen in the form of wind machines, water hoses spraying the crowd and foam coating the audience.

Our last area to visit today was Miniland (think Cockington Green made out of Lego). It was really fantastic setting up scenes from around the world.

The day would not have been complete without a quick trip to the gift shop. Zac had been saving his pocket money in the hope that one day he would get to visit Legoland and had a wonderful time choosing his gift. He ended up with a t.shirt and some Indiana Jones Lego whilst Abbey chose the very un-lego like Angelina Ballerina soft toy.

Abbey also met Lego Indiana Jones whilst waiting for her brother to make up his mind (a tough call with so much lego on display)

By 5pm, with the park beginning to close it was time to say goodbye to Legoland for the time being. Luckily for us, our 'Merlin' passes, purchased long ago, allow us continual re-entry for up to a year. Any guesses what we will be doing in the holidays?

Great views of Windsor Castle in the distance

Goodbye.....for now!