Happy 2012! It doesn’t really feel like New Year’s day since the Rose Parade/Rose Bowl isn’t until tomorrow. We’ve had a nice couple of days eating and enjoying our last few days of vacation. Last night we carried on our tradition of all sleeping on the sofa in our family room. We’ll see if we all fit next year!

Wrapping up Legoland, the kids enjoyed the rides and shows. Some of the lines were pretty long, but there were stations set up where the kids could play with Legos while a parent waits in line.

Looking forward to more adventures in the new year!

I received the Lego Holiday Toy Shop set for my birthday. It is quite small, but it took me a better part of a day to put it together.

Therefore, I cannot imagine putting together elaborate sculptures such as these:

I had read online that Legoland is not overly strict with its no outside food policy. It turned out to be true, as I did not see anyone’s bags being checked. I made sandwiches for lunch and brought some snacks/drinks/water.

For our afternoon treat we had Granny’s Apple Fries ($4.95). When we ate all of the apples, n was licking the whipped cream by itself.

For dinner we had pizza from Ristorante Brickolini.

These pizzas were pricey ($10.95 each) but were freshly baked, and pretty good for amusement park fare.

A highlight of the park is Miniland, which is centrally located. Some of the displays are temporary. They were in the process of building a Mardi Gras themed display. Right now there is a Star Wars display.

The detail is incredible!

We got a kick out of the Las Vegas display since we were just there. k recognized our hotel:

There’s the hotel D wishes he could stay at:

New York, NY

We took a sunset cruise of Miniland, as well.

If you look closely, there are Lego workers using a q-tip to clean George Washington’s earwax! So gross/funny.

Yesterday we went to Legoland for the first time. We were able to buy 2 day passes for cheap through D’s co-worker Betsy, who is also a reader of our blog–(thank you!!)

It was quite a day, as we stayed from opening to closing. I knew it would be crowded this week, but I wanted to go during the holiday festivities. One tip I would share is to not go to Legoland until your youngest child is at least 34 inches tall. I think there are only two rides that a sub-34 incher can go on! And, the Legoland employees are trained to be quite strict, so don’t think you’ll be sneaking anyone on. Luckily, n is over 34 inches, so we were able to go on a number of rides as a family.

The park is clearly targeted towards young kids, which eliminated the annoying teenagers you find at other amusement parks. I thought it was nice how they have several family bathrooms throughout the park, as well as low toilets/sinks for the kids.

Cal/Texas fans were out in full effect in anticipation of the Holiday Bowl. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much Cal gear in Southern California outside of a football stadium. (Side note: too bad we lost, but at least now D isn’t upset with me for not letting him buy tickets to see the game!)

I took a lot of pictures, so this post will be limited to the Christmas/snow theme.

Lego Santa

Lego Santa II

There was a small snow play area where you could throw snow balls at targets and sled down a short hill.

Some parents came prepared with gloves, hats, and snowsuits. I bet they were wondering…what kind of parents would let their kid go in the snow with a t-shirt and shorts?

Oh yes, that would be us. (Not that we didn’t try to get n to put on pants and a sweatshirt. He adamantly refused, and it just wasn’t a battle worth fighting.) During the day, it was actually quite warm, but once the sun went down, it became quite chilly. At night, we physically forced n to wear his pants, which he was NOT happy about. Oh n, we hope this stage passes soon.

This morning we took D’s brother to Corona Del Mar and Crystal Cove to do a little sight-seeing. The weather was nice, almost a bit too warm, not that we’re complaining (OK, I guess the kids were complaining).

It is fun to look at all of the unique homes around Corona Del Mar.

Can you imagine living in a place where this is the view from your backyard??

We were planning to eat lunch at Diamond Jamboree, but the kids ran out of steam, so we ended up at the Shake Shack.

Yesterday, it looked like it was going to rain all day. However, we took a risk and went to the Orange County Zoo with my ticket for 4 free admissions. Unintentionally, we went the day the zoo was having a special holiday event. There were crafts, and the animals received Christmas presents to open.

The animals at this zoo certainly look well-fed!

Reindeer Ring Toss. I always make D do things like this. Glad that he’s not the type to mind!

After the zoo, we walked around a bit. I asked k and n if they wanted to ride a pony ($4) for 3 times around the track. Both said no, but eventually n changed his mind. n chose to ride “Echo”.


k said maybe she would next time.

There are wild peacocks everywhere. The zookeeper said they fly into the zoo and steal the animals’ food.

I can’t remember why k is covering her ears, but it’s cute.

This morning we went to the Great Park, yet again, for another family outing. Admission was free, parking was $10. The event started at 10 a.m., but we arrived about 15 minutes early. That turned out to be a good thing, because we avoided a lot of the crowds that we saw only an hour later. We also came prepared with our wagon–perfect for toting our pumpkins around (each child under 12 was able to pick one for free).

n looks sad because he just woke up from a morning nap

The Great Balloon turns into a jack o’lantern for Halloween.

Going to the event was good motivation for me to make sure the costumes were done early. Tinkerbell & Peter Pan:

There were a lot of activities for the little ones. There was a candy trick or treating area, and a game area with little toy/sticker prizes.

About half the people who commented on n’s outfit thought he was Robin Hood. Can anyone tell me what the difference between Robin Hood and Peter Pan would be? I guess he just needs to stick closer to k, so the association can be made. However, k wasn’t wearing her wings most of the time, so people were probably confused about her outfit too.

I’ve always been curious about Oktoberfest. Not for the beer, (which is probably the main attraction) but for the food and atmosphere. On Sunday we went to the “Old World” shopping center in Huntington Beach to check it out, since Sundays are “family days”. However, we arrived just after 10:30 a.m. and it was pretty much dead. The only store that was open was the European Market. We bought a pretzel (75 cents), berliner (jelly donut)($1) and apple strudel ($2). The dog races weren’t until 3 p.m., so we just walked around a bit and called it a day.

Father

Son

(Let’s just say the female cut-out was not family-friendly).

Interesting vines

I think this was on the side of a church, which is right in the middle of the shopping center.

Today was a beautiful fall day to go to Oak Glen for some apple-picking. We had never been before, so we did not quite know what to expect.

It took about 1 hour, 15 minutes from our house to get there. Once you exit the highway, there is plenty of “apple signage” to guide you.

Our first stop was Snow Line Orchard. They are famous for their mini apple cider donuts, so of course we had to try some.

12/$3.60. We arrived just after they opened at 9 a.m., so we avoided the long lines. The donuts were good, warm and fresh out of the fryer, but I could not discern any apple flavor. But for cinnamon sugar donuts, they were a nice snack. We also picked up a bag of small honeycrisp apples for $4 (my favorite variety). They are also known for their apple cider, but I was weary of buying any for the kids since it is only “gently pasteurized”. D and I were able to sample the raspberry cider, which I would have liked to have more of.

We made a stop for the bathroom at Riley’s (which had nice facilities, by the way). However, we drove next door for our u-pick adventure at Willowbrook Apple Farm.

My research had revealed that this was a nice family-run farm, less commercialized than its neighbors. It is small, but the compactness was perfect for the kids. The only downside is that there is minimal parking along the road, so arrive early (it opens at 10 a.m.).

Apparently, last weekend was really crowded (lines of 40+ people), so most of the apples that were left were higher hanging fruit. This was not a problem thanks to the handy dandy apple pickers that were provided.


D put the kids on his shoulders and they were able to pick some apples by hand, which they got a real kick out of.

This farm only produces one variety, Winesap, from trees that are 100 years old. We chose to pick a 5 lb. bag for $10.95. It is a flat rate bag, and we were able to fit 14 apples inside.

The farm also features a miniature horse, rabbit, and chickens.

Cool tree house

k started whining because “I got dirt on my shoes”. Hmm…I think we need to get out of suburbia more often.

For lunch, we we went to Riley’s at Los Rios Rancho

We shared a couple of tri-tip sandwiches ($7.95) and brought home a crumb-topped apple pie ($12).


The tri-tip was good…smoky and flavorful, and not too fatty.

While D waited in line for the food (it took a while, even at 11 a.m.!), the kids and I hung out on a bench in front of the band.

It was a fun outing, and it seems like a lot of people go every year. I’m thinking for us maybe it will be an every other year thing, but we’ll see. We passed by a few other places I wanted to try, such as Oak Glen Village and Law’s coffee shop for a slice of pie a la mode.

This morning we went to Pretend City. We have only been once before. k and n are at good ages to enjoy this place. We arrived just before 10 a.m., and it was not too crowded. We had two BOGO coupons, so the entrance fee was $5 per person.

This display is in the lobby. When we asked k her favorite part of the museum, she said “spinning the wheel”. Really? If that’s the case, we don’t even have to pay the entrance fee next time; we’ll just hang out in the lobby.

However, k and n also had a lot of fun inside the museum. To wit:

(k said her second favorite thing was to control the lights/music for this stage).