Legoland!

Sunday was LegoLand day! We got up far too early for a Sunday, had a good breakfast, set up the sandwich production line to prepare lunch and headed off along the M4. Caroline is a Legoland veteren (OK, she's been once before) and knew that a good plan was to arrive early and go right for a couple of the more popular young kids rides before the queues built up.

We were there in plenty of time, got through the front gate and waited for ten minutes to be allowed down to the main park. As the barriers opened, a mini-stampede of excited kids and chasing parents careered down the hill towards the rides. First up was the motor boats, a gentle little loop of water where the kids could drive little 'speed' boats. The staff had clearly been warned about our lack of nautical experience and gave Isie and I the slowest boat on the ride. We were overtaken by about six others as we pootled around.

Next, and much more fun, was the lego cars. Max stood in line for the 3-5 year old driving school, a simple loop and traffic light. That would be much too boring for Issie, so we briefed her for the 6-11 ride. When the attendant walked along the line asking 'how old are you' to all the kids, we held our breath as Issie said '6' very confidently. Clearly we've taught her to lie pretty well. Hmmm. She loved the cars, driving around the roads, roundabout, junctions and coasting through red lights (see the video here...)

After that we rode rollercoasters, the log flume (tip, sit at the back and have your partner in front of you if you want to stay dry), ate ice cream, played in the adventure playground and much more.

At the end of the day, we visited mini-land where there are whole areas of Lego buildings for various European countries, including an amazing section of London and Docklands, plus a container port, all with lots of railways and other attractions that kept Max glued to the action.

It was a shame that the park was closing and we couldn't spend longer there - there was a lot more we could have done. I think there was also a lot of 'make and build' type activities for older children, so we'll certainly go back to a legoland one day, just not sure which country it'll be in!