Legoland....again

We went to LEGOLAND for a 3rd time on this trip. When we got there we went straight to Laser Raiders. There was no queue at all. 

 


  

 

 

 

When we were done the queue was still pretty short, so we went again and all bettered our scores.

 

  Ryan got the high score for the day!!

 

Next we went to Castaway Camp that only opened 2 weeks ago.

 

Had a quick look at the castle.

The boys both wanted to do driving school again.

 

 

 

Alex tried to get this burger off the pirate's sword. 

 

 

Alex wanted to go on Pirate Falls. The queue didn't seem too long. He thought it would be a good idea for me to queue and for him to play while we wait.  I stood in the queue for an hour!!

 

 

Off we go...finally....

 

Up, up, up we go..... 

 

...through the tunnel...

 

....and down we come....splash!! 

 

 Ryan got a bit wet too...

 

We had a quick stop at Miniland again. There were some new racing Monster trucks. The boys also spotted some jousting.

 

 We saw a friendly pink Lego block.

Next the boys built some structures and tested if they would stand up to an earthquake.

 Pointing to some of the places we've been to on this trip.

The boys showing their purchases....and then time to go for the last time. We all loved LEGOLAND!!

 

Locks at Stoke Breurne

 

We went Canal Boating way back in 2000, and loved it.

So when we saw the Stoke Bruerne lock flight we wanted to have a look and thought the boys would probably enjoy it too.

 

 

 They started with just looking, but was soon involved in opening and closing the locks.

 

 

The boys loved helping everyone and spent close to 2 hours opening and closing locks. Alex would make a good lock manager, because he was forever looking at how many boats were queuing, which way they needed to go and what would be the most efficient way of using the locks...

They want to come canal boating on our next trip.

Later on we went for a walk along the canal, checking out all the different boats...

 

...and for a walk through the bush

 

Another fun day out...

Visiting cousin Hans in Northampton

My cousin, Hans, has just bought a new house. He said we could come and visit.

We turned up about 5 days after he moved in. I can't believe how well he was settled in already.

It has been lovely to just have somewhere to stop and relax for a few days.

 

The boys loved having another uncle to wrestle with...

 

After 10 consecutive days of visiting castles, cathedrals, abbeys and ruins it was quite nice to go to a shopping mall.

Stopped in at the library to read some books.

Back at the house they discovered that Hans had a game of Monopoly. They played one very long game on the first day and about 3 games per day since.

 

 

One of the highlights of our visit here was Alex finally loosing his first tooth. And he is very close to loosing no.2 as well.

 

Went for a walk to the local park.

Not only did Hans cook us some wonderful meals, but he also offered to take the boys out for a day.

 

So, last Sunday they first went to have a look at his work (he is a vet) and saw some dogs, cats and rabbits. Next they went to a park and had an ice cream and then pedal boats, then slides and bouncy castle...

A pretty good day out for them and a rare and lovely kid-free afternoon for us.

 

 

Some late night posing and dancing.

More wrestling....

 

 

 

This was the boys' favourite ride ever! Why?

 

On Tuesday we went to the mall, and the boys went for a sit on this recycling truck. Alex pushed some button and out fell £2 pounds!! They spent ages deciding how to best spend their money. They finally decided on £1 of sweets and 4 frisbies for £1.

 

A couple of days later we were back and the boys went to push the buttons again. And out came another £1! They bought more sweets with that.  

 

 

Obviously they wanted to go back again the next day. This time the ride spat out £4!! They borrowed £1 from us and bought themselves 2 DVDs - Madagascar 2 and 3.

Yesterday we went back for the last time and they got another £3. They paid back their debt and are saving the rest...

 I sure wished we had a ride like this when I was a kid...


After 10 days with Hans it was time to get going again. We were spoilt with a lovely breakfast this morning.

 

And then it was time for goodbyes....

We all had a great time and the boys enjoyed getting to know you, Hans. Thank you so much!