legoland road trip: tips, tricks & lessons...

(the force was with us...awesomely made of legos)

snacks
lots of snacks...

a mini dvd player is a friend to all
(ours only holds a 2 hour charge
so Q had to do traditional backseat stuff, too:
drawing,
games,
asking 'how much longer?' 236 times)

don't assume that your spouse brought the good camera
(just because you talked about it
the day before you left..ahem)

smile as you realize you only have
the old digital camera
whose card holds 75 shots at it's lowest resolution
10 on it's highest
with no cord to upload the pictures
onto your laptop

(fun fact: Q has been able to recognize & name
the eiffel tower since he was 3
...the boy likes buildings :)
...oo la la legos)

when you give your 6 year old the old digital camera
don't be surprised when you get 30 pictures of stuff
(not a single one of his dear parents who brought him on the trip
or even one of himself or his feet!)
or tons of the same thing
(legos & legos, of course :)

& smile again when the camera breaks
(after 5 years & thousands of pictures)
right in the middle of the day at legoland

buy a disposable camera
(for an unspeakable amount)
at the legoland store
& decide that you're going to
'click it old school'

console yourself:
at least you made up a good pun
instead of crying

embrace the challenge of 27 shots
that you won't see until they are printed
(i actually loved this!
i might buy a disposable to
keep in my purse...)

(Q's wish : a trunk full of legos
ha ha!
ha?)

a water park at 2pm in southern california
is worth the extra $12.
everytime...

always go on a ride called
'lazy river'
float around said river a few times

if you can't find someone to go on the big rollercoaster with you
(i don't want to embarrass the boys by saying
they were too scared...
but they were.)
go alone...
you won't regret it.

oregon water is the best water on the west coast

the best soundtrack is your kiddo singing
(we were treated to a fantastical mix of
star wars sound effects,
random thoughts to his own tune
& 'don't stop me now' by queen*
as we drove through the grapevine)

the grapevine sounds like it would be
lush & cool & green.

it's not.

(miniland...totally amazing!
Q took 20 pics of this.
before the camera broke...)

there are two kinds of people:
those who get stressed out when
the gas gets below a quarter of a tank,
& those who don't...
they are usually married to each other.

hanging out with your grandma
is always time well spent

(1st, 3rd & 4th generations...
not made of legos)

hotel pools save everyone's
being-in-the-car-for-12-hours
sanity

if there is a special kind of fast food
that you can only get in a certain area of the country,
get it in the first part of your trip
because by the end
even an in & out burger sounds awful
(sniff)

when you have two kids
it's way easier to travel with one
(especially when it's the 6 year old)

when you leave the 4 year old behind
(even if it is with grammy & pop
& she has the time of her life)
you feel like you're missing a body part
(everyday someone said 'i miss miss m!')

it was still a really good decision :)

(my awesome roadtrip partners :)

if you have the chance to roadtrip
do it!
there's just nothing better
(in my opinion :)



* when i looked 'don't stop me now'
up on youtube there was a thing that said
it was voted "The Greatest Driving Song Ever"
by viewers of the BBC television program Top Gear.
pretty cool
& appropriate...
& you can't beat hearing your kiddo sing
'don't stop me now
i'm having such a good time
i'm having a ball!'
at the top of his lungs :)