Six Years: The Lego Anniversary

On October 18th, Dave and I celebrated 6 years of marriage! I'll spare you all of the sappy I-can't-believe-how-much-I-love-him-and-how-blessed-I-am-to-have-him stuff that I'm tempted to write, but that doesn't in the least take away from the fact that I can't believe how much I love him and how blessed I am to have him! I've dedicated many words on this blog to those facts already, so I am sure that you all know how I feel :)

Prepare yourselves, though... even though I am not going to go on and on about the past 6 years, this is going to be a long post! This year Dave and I decided to celebrate by taking Jack to Legoland! We had such a blast together, and we both got such a kick out of watching the awe on Jack's face, the excitement in his voice, and getting to experience the park through the eyes of a two-year old.

And seriously, who doesn't love Legos?!?!

Pausing just inside the gate to put on sunscreen= mommy's first chance to take a photo!

Once we got all lotioned up, we headed directly to our first ride... a boat! Jack was so excited to get to ride in a boat, and as we were waiting he'd squeal and ask us if we were excited, and he'd point out every boat that passed and tell us that he wanted to ride on the yellow one.

And then, it was our turn! And we got to ride in the yellow boat! And I got a picture of both of my boys, in which they are both looking at the camera in the general vicinity of the camera!

Jack was enthralled throughout the entire ride. He kept pointing and telling us what everything was, getting a little crazily excited when we passed the Eiffel Tower (I do not know what his attachment is to the Eiffel Tower, or even how he knows what the Eiffel Tower is, but he loves it. At the beginning of any Disney movie, when he sees the trademark blue screen and castle, he points and shouts "That's not the Eiffel Tower! It's the Eiffel Castle!"). I really wish I had been able to get a shot of the Eiffel Tower, but you'll have to settle for 2 shots of the intense look of concentration on Jack Jack's face as he took in all the Lego Scenes that we passed in that boat...

One really fun thing about being a big fat pregnant lady at an amusement park? When there was a one-adult-only situation, I didn't have to argue with Dave over who got to sit out the rides to take pictures! And I would have been so bummed if I had missed out on getting pictures of Jack's face as he rode these rides (not to mention the sight of my big strapping husband squeezing all his studliness into the tiny little seats on these rides!)

Can you believe that I was brave enough to let Jack on this next ride? Even if I weren't pregnant I most definitely probably wouldn't even have gone on it myself! I was so proud of him that he was smiling the whole time! He kept looking at Dave and laughing and then when he got off he was laughing so hard and he told me "That was so bouncy! Can we do it again?!"

One of the coolest things about Legoland was the lines. I know that sounds crazy, but whoever thought up the configuration of the lines at that park is a genius. When you enter the line, Daddy pops open a gate and lets Mommy and child(ren) go into a special area where they can play with Legos! Then Daddy waits and waits in a line that winds all the way around, and come back to the other side so that when he reaches the front of the line, he is on the other side of the special Lego area, and Mommy and child(ren) exit through a gate that lets them back into the line to get on the ride! It's such a great idea, as one of the hard parts about going to an amusement park with small children is dealing with the lines and the short attention span that most kids that age come with. This way, the child still spends the time that it takes to wait in the line, but they get to bypass all the boredom and spend their waiting time by playing with Legos! Jack thought it was awesome! My only suggestion would have been for them to put a bench in there for all the fat pregnant ladies to sit while their kids play. But, well, you know me... I probably wouldn't have sat while he played anyway, as I was too busy taking pictures and playing right along with him!

Since it was October, there were cute little displays all over, where parents could get fun seasonal photos of their kids. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them, as, well, you know how Jack acts more often than not whenever mommy has the camera... good thing the back and sides of his head are so cute!

And then Jack spied more boats...


And so we rode them! And Jack Jack got to drive! He kept pointing at daddy's boat and saying "Let's pass daddy! Let's crash him!"

And we found a lego statue of a fireman and a dalmation peeing on a fire hydrant! I thought that was pretty freaking hilarious and apparently Dave did to, because he didn't argue when I told him to go stand by it so that I could take a picture

Then we went on yet another boat.

Jack loved that ride, as there were fog machines all over it. Each time he saw another one he'd yell "It's a cloud!" and as we went though the cloud, he'd yell "We driving through a cloud! That's so cool!" Unfortunately they said that Dave and Jack had to ride in the front and I had to ride in the back, so most of my pictures are, as usual, of the back of his head. But if you know how Jack Jack expresses excitement, you can totally see how much fun he's having, even through the back of his head!

(the clenched fist is a dead giveaway to his excitement, and has been ever since he was an itty bitty baby!)

We had so much fun after that ride, that we couldn't wait to get to the next one!

We went on a jungle safari, during which Dave insisted on holding the camera


And then, from a high vantage point, Jack stared in awe...


and declared "I want to ride that roller-coaster!"


And I let him! And they went twice! I was so brave to let Jack ride that! I mean, er, Jack was so brave to ride that! It seriously was a real roller-coaster! And he loved it!

When they got off the ride I was waiting at the exit, and Jack came running at me with the biggest smile on his face! He said "Momma! It was so dizzy! It goes so fast and up and down! I love the roller-coaster; it's my favorite!" He talked about that roller coaster for the rest of the day, and every time we mention Legoland he tells us all about how the roller-coaster was so dizzy and how much he loved it! I was seriously so proud of him for being so brave! He definitely takes after his daddy as far as roller-coasters are concerned!

Okay, we're almost done...

After the third stranger pointed at my belly and said something along the lines of "Girl, I give you props for being here while being that pregnant!" Dave and I decided that we were about done, so it was time for us to sit and rest while we let Jack experience Pirate Shores. Since Jack adores all things that have to do with water, we didn't want to miss this! I had come prepared, and so I stripped Jack down and put on his swimsuit, and then we let him loose on the splash pad!

This picture cracks me up. He takes his water-play very seriously, and makes the funniest faces as he tries to study the spray patterns of the water through the drops that are spraying on his face

This is what happens when Jack's love for water gets the better of him... there was a bucket towards the top of the tower that would fill up, and then dump over. Jack studied it, and then decided that he had found the perfect spot to 'catch' the water as it was poured out of the bucket. He waited, and waited, and sure enough, he got it just right!

Then we found the Big Kid splash ground! Jack was in heaven!



That kid just cannot resist any sort of water at all!

After Jack made it clear that he was getting cold, we dried him off and headed home. We had such a great day, and couldn't have thought of a better way to spend our anniversary than to spend it together and with the amazing son that God gave us as we anticipate the arrival of another child. I love my little family so much, and I can't wait to bring This One home. Okay, I adore being pregnant so I really can wait, but I am very excited about what a blessing This One is, and being able to introduce him to his daddy and his big brother! I just know that Jack Jack will be the best big brother!

I know, I know, I said that I was going to bypass all the mushy stuff... so I'll stop there and leave you with a picture taken 6 years ago, on the day our little family began. I was 22 and Dave was 23, we had just bought our first home (a condo in Redondo Beach), and we were so ready to start our life together. Don't we look like such babies?!