California Science Center

After spending a full day at Legoland the day before, we decided to spend the next day of our vacation on a more relaxing trip. So we headed to the California Science Center. One of the best parts of this Museum is that it is …..FREE! The kids enjoyed spending most the day getting their hands on all the exhibits around the museum (I still think the exhibits at the Maryland Science Center are way better, but it is not free). At lunchtime we ate at a café within the Science center, followed by a walk outside into the Rose Garden to look at the various roses and the fountain. We then headed back into the museum to go through the rest of the exhibits. We were surprised to discover that the California Science Center had a large aquarium hidden within its “Ecosystems” exhibit. This was a really neat aquarium because not only could you view it from below within the museum, but you could also look down into it from above by going outside onto the museum’s rooftop. We ended our visit at the California Science Center by buying some small souvenirs at the museum gift shop and heading to Jamba juice for some smoothies before getting ready to eat dinner at the “Foundry on Melrose”.

Legoland

Legoland was the first amusement park we went to on our 2011 California vacation. Aidan was so happy that Tito Alex was coming with us, and informed Mike and me on the car ride there that he was going to do some rides with his Tito Alex too. The Lego sculptures at Legoland are a lot of fun to take pictures with. Alex and I had enjoyed taking pictures with these sculptures while Caleb napped in his stroller later in the day, and Aidan waited in line with his dad and rode the rides.
What we quickly learned while standing in line for most of these rides (and we were there on a weekday) was that even though the lines might seem short, most of the rides move like they are really made of legos (slow), so for a couple of rides we found ourselves waiting in line for almost 35 min. On the plus side, these slow-moving rides made it much easier to take pictures of the kids riding them.

One of the unique snacks that we ended up trying at Legoland was the “Granny’s Apple Fries” with vanilla cream dipping sauce. “Interesting” and “different” would be the words that I would use to describe this snack, but I wouldn’t buy it again if we went back to Legoland. I’m sure this snack would be a winner for a lot of other people, but for us, even though it was a taste experience, it didn’t leave us amazed.

It is pretty difficult to make it through the entire Legoland park in one day with kids aged 5 and under, but that day we managed to go through about 75% of the park. If I had to give my overall opinion of Legoland I would say that it is worth going to, but not for more than a day. I’ve definitely seen better rides in other amusement parks (but young kids like ours honestly can’t tell the difference), but seeing the Lego sculptures is sure worth the park visit. We were only able to endure waiting through some of the slow lines in Legoland thanks to the fact that we live in such a multimedia age where our phones and iPads have games and videos that the kids can watch and play while waiting. Out of all the parks we visited throughout our vacation though, Legoland had the healthiest food choices (things like fresh made pasta to order, yogurt, fruit chips, frozen fruit bars, etc….) which made me very happy.

Aidan Saddles Up!

This past Christmas (2010), Aidan claimed that the only present he wanted from Santa was horseback riding lessons. Mike and I have taken all sorts of lessons growing up, but horseback riding is definitely not one of them (and believe me, I would have traded piano lessons for horseback riding lessons!). So when Aidan requested horseback riding lessons as his Christmas present, we felt a little nervous about what we would be getting ourselves into if we allowed Santa to give Aidan this gift. As I looked into signing Aidan up for horse riding lessons I learned that he needed to be at least 5 years old, and that he would not be able to start until the spring session which began in February. When I told Aidan that he would have to wait a month before being able to enjoy his Christmas present, I was slightly hoping that he would change his mind and ask for something else…but he didn’t. So when February 2011 came, Aidan began horseback riding lessons.

For horseback riding lessons, Aidan is required to wear long pants, paddock boots (horse riding boots) and a riding helmet (not a bike helmet). He looks so cute geared up! I remember the day of his first lesson, we arrived at the horse center, I opened the van door, and Aidan said, “Ewww….what is that smell! It’s so stinky!”. “Get used to it” I said, “because that is what your lessons are going to smell like”. We went to the office to fill out paper work and find out which horse Aidan had been assigned to ride that day. As I filled out the paperwork, Aidan kept asking the receptionist “Can you give me a big horse, I mean, like a really big one! One of the biggest number ones” (I just kept shaking my head and mouthing “no” behind him). The receptionist told us that Aidan was going to ride Pumpkin that day and that his instructor would meet us at the stall. When we got to Pumpkin’s stall Aidan whined “This is a small horse!” “Are you kidding?” I exclaimed “this horse is taller than me!” “No, look at the number” Aidan said as he pointed to the stall number “it is one of the smallest numbers. It’s a small horse. I wanted a big number horse.” I then laughed as I realized that Aidan was associating the size of the horse with its stall number. When Aidan’s instructor showed up she taught both of us how tack a horse (frankly I have felt much more comfortable changing diapers) and then she had Aidan lead his horse to the riding arena. For his first lesson she and Aidan worked on:

· * How to mount the horse

· * Proper way to hold the reins

· * Riding posture

· * How to make the horse stop and go

· * How to pull the reins to steer the horse

It is all very interesting for me to watch, and exciting for Aidan. Caleb, in the beginning, was unhappy that his brother got to ride and he didn’t. During the first few weeks when he saw Aidan take a horse out of its stall and lead it to the arena, he would fall on the floor pouting, “Horsey, own mine. Horsey own mine” (“My own horsey”). I eventually solved the problem by bringing a couple of carrots for him to feed any of the horses his wished during Aidan’s lesson. Aidan is currently working on making his horse trot while posting, and is most eager to get to the “galloping” stage after he develops some strength in his "two-point" riding posture.