Legoland Grapevine (Review)

Monster and I were lucky enough to be offered the chance to visit our local Legoland. Our Legoland is located inside the Grapevine Mills Mall in Grapevine, Texas.

Legoland opens at 10:00 am. Monster and I got there around 11:00am. We walked right up and got our tickets. The girl behind the counter was very friendly. She asked us if we wanted an activity pad. We got one and went into the waiting area.

The waiting area- In the waiting area they have lego building areas hanging on the walls to keep children occupied while you are waiting on your turn to enter the factory. They also have little lego shows going on the TVs. While in the waiting area you noticed little fun things like the guy coming out of the pipes! It is very entertaining for young children while they are waiting. We waited less than 10 minutes in the waiting area to enter.

Once the factory doors open Professor Brick-a-Brack meets you to show you in and how lego bricks are made in the Lego Factory. 

Once inside Professor Brick-a-Brack asks for a helper to get the machine up and running. 

(we were in there with two other children who were little and neither one wanted to help so Monster got to help him!) At the end they give you a little treat to take home with you! 

Once through the factory, you get to ride Kingdom Quest Laser Ride. A fun little game where you get to shoot spiders and other targets through out to help save the princess. Monster LOVED this ride and he ended up riding it 3 times while we were there.  After you get off the ride you have a chance to buy a souvenir photo they took of you on the ride! 

Once through there you are in the legoland play area! 

Monster really wanted to go watch the Lego 4-D Cinema. I did not know what to expect from Monster on this since he can be weird about somethings, but oh my goodness he LOVED it as well. I did not tell him what 4-D meant. He knew he needed the glasses, but had no idea that we would actually get to feel things. We got to feel strong air blowing at us, rain, and even snow! It was a very neat experience. Monster wanted to go back later and watch again. We ended up seeing a completely different show than the first one. They have a few different ones that play through out the day. 

After we left the movie we walked over to the Star Wars display. Monster enjoys Stars Wars so this was a neat little treat to see. 

I did take a bunch of pictures inside, but I don't want to spoil it for my followers! You must check it out! Great for any Star Wars fans and there are a few hands on items to play with in there! 

Monster and I then walked over to the Miniland. This is set up for the Dallas/Forth Worth area. It is so amazing how detailed everything is. I can only imagine the time it took to build and place everything in its order. 

I had to get a picture of Legoland and Sealife built out of Legos! It is just how it really looks on the outside! 

We also had to get this shot! Great Wolfe Lodge 

(hoping to take Monster for his birthday!) 

Again, I took several photos in this area, but I really don't want to spoil it for y'all! There are moving vehicles, it goes from light to dark and back again, fireworks go off on the walls, sounds of the city and even some interesting facts posted around the room! 

Monster then wanting to go to Forest Ranger Pursuit

He was the only kid in there. He enjoyed it and did it a few more times that day, but I think it would of been a lot more interesting if there had been other children riding around as well. The worker was very nice though every time Monster went back to ride again. 

Monster then chose to play in the City Play Zone and Fire Academy. In order to play in this area you must have socks on at all times and be between the height requirements of 40"-57". Monster was just about the line. I think if we went back next year or even in a few months he would not be tall enough to play in there any longer. He really enjoyed playing while Mommy sat and watched him. 

Monster moved on to the Earthquake Table. Children can build with legos some type of structure and then turn it on and see if it will fall over in a earthquake. We learned that if you make your build wider it was more likely to stand in the earthquake rather than a skinny building. 

Another fun ride they have is the Merlin's Apprentice Ride. Monster and I rode it together and then he rode it alone. I would say it is best to ride it with someone who has longer legs. You have to be able to reach the pedals to make the ride go up high. Monster had to scoot forward as much as he could to reach and actually be able to turn the pedals. I feel like those should be more in children reach since this is a childrens place. 

Around Legoland they have some cute little statues and things made from legos. 

Earlier I mentioned Monster getting an activity pad. After each area that you visit you take your activity pad and get a neat little stamp to show you did that area. This was an extra $4.50. It has little games inside the activity pad they can keep and do later if they want as well. 

Once you decide it is time to say goodbye you leave by walking through the Lego store. They have all kinds of different sets of legos. A wall of individual legos to purchase as well. Monster is a huge fan of legos and I think just being in the Lego store is enough for him. He loves checking out all the sets he wants one day. 

I mean who would not love that! 

A few extra things I noticed while there:

• Cafe at Legoland: prices are pretty decent for their snacks, food and drinks. However, we did not eat there. Monster is extremely picky when it comes to food and there just wasn't anything he would of eaten there. 
• Girls Princess Palace: you can most likely guess why we did not visit this area. But it is set up cute for girls with pink and white and has a karaoke area and a place to build your own microphone. 
• Lego Racers: build and test: this is an area where you can build a race car and make it go down ramps. They have several set up. However, there were several younger children that were playing in this area and Monster was just not interested in getting in their way. 
• DUPLO Village: GREAT for ages 2-5. They have larger blocks for them to play with so they are not a choking hazard (just in case!) and the blocks are soft for the younger children to play with. 
• Pirate Beach: Geared for children 3-10 but fun for all ages. This is a small water play area they have outside. Of course only open during warm months. When open  it is included in ticket price already. 
• Birthday Parties: They have party rooms for you to have your little ones birthday party at Legoland. 

Overall: Our visit was a great one. Monster really enjoyed his time at Legoland. I enjoyed watching him play and experience all the fun they had there. We did happen to go on a Toddler Tuesday which I was not aware that was going on. However, Monster did great letting the little ones play and making sure to stay out of their way. I think for the size of the place there is enough to keep the children entertained for a few hours. I will say I was a little bummed there was not more hands on for the older kids. I would recommend this place to anyone with children ages 1-10. I think they would really enjoy it. 

It is best to order tickets online and ahead of time. You get a small discount if ordered online. Children 0-2 years of age are free. Adults or children ages 3+ are $21.00 at the door or if ordered online $15.75. 

They have annual passes that you can purchase or they have combo tickets for both Legoland and Sealife (which is right next to Legoland). 

Check out Legoland today and plan your visit! 

* We were given tickets to Legoland Grapevine to use in return for an honest review. All opinions are mine and Monsters. 

January is almost over?!?!

I can't believe the first month of the new year is almost over. It seems that it just flew by also. I guess us staying busy really made it seem to go by so fast. Hard to believe.

Last week we got to visit Legoland. (Review coming!!). Monster had his 2nd piano lesson! He is doing great so far with it. We were also just busy with school work. Monster is getting so close to being done with 2nd grade! I am so proud of how he is doing!

Today, he woke up, ate and got right to work!

He started in LifePacs. He did lessons 2.1-2.9 today. He did fantastic! Got all of his Spelling words correct while we went over them. Today we talked about Fact vs. Fiction and Analogies.

In Math today he did 3 lessons without even noticing it! They were all easy and simple lessons so I thought "why not!" I was teaching him one lesson about using the symbols <,>,= and he told me he already knew how to do that because he has played a game on the computer where the alligator eats the bigger number...well ok then. 

We were suddenly interrupted with our schooling when this started taking place right outside Monsters window. We of course had to stop working and watch them. Monster was fascinated with them. He wanted to know how the truck made the man go up. He wanted to know how he got back down. We talked about his job and what the man was doing. The guy on the ground was standing in the road and put on a bright green vest. Monster wanted to know why. So I explained. We got to watch how the man then came down and got out. While we were watching them we also played Spot the Difference between each man and each truck. That was Monsters idea and he found some good ones! After they left he finished up Math! 

We have not done much History this year. Our curriculum we got did not work well for Monster. I thought he did not retain anything from it. At Christmas my Aunt, who also home-schools, gave me some Learn our History DVD's. Monster sat down today and watch The Birth of a Revolution. I know he is a little young to really understand all of it, but he learns better through DVD's and audio when it comes to these. He really seemed to enjoy it. 

Today he is also working on his piano lessons. His teacher gives him assignments for the week and he works on them. 

This week, it is so nice here in Texas. We have decide we will be going to the Dallas Zoo one day this week! Ticket prices are only $5 a person and since the weather is so nice it is the perfect time to go! 

Stay tuned! I will be posting our review on what we thought of the Grapevine Legoland. 

Weekends

I love weekends. I love being able to get up and spend time with my family together. This weekend Monster and Hubby cooked breakfast together. It was so sweet. I actually remembered to get my camera out and capture a few pictures.

I love these moments. 

Weekends go by way too fast too. Monster will be 8 in less than a month and I just can't believe it. Seems days go by faster than they used to. 

This weekend, other than breakfast, Monster played with the neighbor boys, we went to Ikea and Stonebriar Mall, The Disney store and had dinner with some great friends. Oh that was just Saturday too. 

Sunday was much more relaxed. I had a photo shoot, Hubby helped at church, lunch at home, Monster playing with the neighbor boys again, Awanas, home and dinner. Hubby and I got in some HIMYM time too :) 

Today is a holiday for the schools around us. Monster is still working on school work. I am being very laid back about it though. He is being allowed to watch Magic School Bus while doing his Lifepac and that is normally not allowed. He will have 2 lessons in Math today and I am looking for a video maybe to watch on Netflix about Martin Luther King. 

Simple Monday, yet just enough :) 

1/12/15

Today we started things a little different. Monster did not even get up till right after 11:00am. Crazy, I know! After he got up I made him bowl of his favorite cereal. His request.

Instead of jumping straight into school work like we normally have done, I had him pick between two toys to do. He choose the Zoobs. Which I love!

He made a cell phone out of the Zoobs! 

Next, I had him work on Language Arts. I went ahead and gave him his Spelling test for the week. He got them all right. Since he has worksheets over his Spelling words I figure at least he is still reviewing them. He knows them all for LifePacs 2 Unit 8. This week he is working on learning about Stories and what they have in them. So he had some vocabulary words I made him write out on a card and then write what it means on the other side. (Ex: characters, plot, etc.)

In Math we did expanded form today. So easy and even Monster told me, while I was teaching it, that is was so easy and he already knew how to do it. Well I had problems written out on the board so I had him go through and finish them... sure enough he got them all correct. We reviewed his 10 tables and then he did his worksheet. Super easy. ( We did not do Math until after lunch and after he played with his Snap Circuits!)

After Language, we stopped and had lunch. While I ate, he played with his Snap Circuits. He loves them.

This really worked out for us today. Instead of jumping in and doing all the work at once, we spread it out and he had time to engage in another activity before starting his next work. Tomorrow we add in Science. I still don't have much for History at the moment. I am trying to figure out a way to throw some in, but I know next year at co-op he will be taking a History class there!

Monster also starts piano class on Wednesday! I am very excited for this for him. I won't have any pictures though since he goes in alone. Helps him be less distracted. I am hoping he will like actually taking a class. 

1/7/15

So it is Sunday and I am writing this post late. 

This is from Wednesday. 

In Math Monster started learning multiplication. In Saxon Math, they starts with the tens first. Monster had to use cereal and make a set of tens. Then he had to count how many sets he made. We then discusses how counting each set of tens gives us the answers to ? x 10... He did very well with this. After his lesson he was able to do the times worksheet. I have to time him for 1 minute and he got all the way to the last 5 before time was up! It is sort of weird though to me that he learned it and now it doesn't bring any times tables back for a few more lessons. Just something I noticed going through his work for next week.  

Monster also worked on his Awanas book. He is not into it much this year and I am really having to make him work on it. I am trying to make him more responsible for remembering to work on his verse. Next year will be more important and he needs to know now it is something he needs to be responsible for! 

We ended up not having our co-op this week too. We were supposed to start back but the heaters in the church where it is held were not working. Since it is cold they did not want us there and freezing! So on Friday we just hung out at home and did nothing! It was greatness. 

Monster got some really fun things for Christmas this year and I think I am going to write up some post reviews on a few of the items he got! I know some followers might really enjoy them for their children! 

Oh and I have my first product for a review for The Schoolhouse Review Crew being sent, so I can't wait to get that and start that process! I am looking forward to sharing it with everyone! 

Stay tuned! 

1/6/15

Today was a good day. We started off by having breakfast, getting ready (and by that I mean actually putting on real clothes!) and went to World Market. I love that we can just go out and walk to these stores! If we had a grocery store and a Target within walking distance I don't think we would ever move! 

Back on track. We went to World Market to pick up some coconut oil. While we were there they had this beautiful green desk! It was on sale for $99. If I had had the cash right then I would of bought it! I loved it! World Market is becoming a favorite store of mine! 

This was in the check out line. He asked for candy. I said no. This was his face I got. This kid... I mean Thor! 

When we got home we had lunch and worked on Language. One of the things he is working on in his LifePac is writing letters. Monster already does well with this. He used to write to a pen pal. He asked me why we had to learn to write letters when their is email and that is faster. Well, Um, Because your LifePac wants you to learn! Now finish it! Moving on. 

Already did his Spelling test...got them all correct. This week we were talking about Homonyms. He was actually coming up with some of his own too! 

Math was super easy today. He is doing fine with subtraction. I think yesterday was just getting back in the groove of things. Tomorrow we start... MULTIPLICATION! It seems easy now. We start with the 10's tomorrow. I swear when I learned we started with the 1's and went from there, but starting with the 10's kind of makes sense because then you are knocking out the 0's, 1's, and 10's all at the same time! Who knew. 

After Math I had Monster read for 30 minutes. He went from Thor to Batman during this time. He is reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid book 1. He thinks it is funny so at least it is working for us. 

After he read we did Science. We are still using our Magic School Bus kits we get. Today we discussed why you feel like you are still spinning even though you stopped spinning. I let him spin around and then told him to stop. That was fun. We then put glitter in a bottle of water and I showed him how spinning the water bottle and then stopping it you can see how the glitter keeps spinning. We talked about fluid being in our ears and that when we spin the fluid in there spins. When we stop the fluid still spins some so that is why we still feel dizzy when we stop. Interesting enough I did not know that until I read it in our book! Hey we all learned something today! 

My batman! 

Watching the glitter spin. 

Back to School (after winter break!)

I love homeschooling... while several people were going to work, rushing kids out the doors to school or daycare, people sitting in traffic, we were home... sleeping. I slept till 8:30 when Monster woke me up because he was dreaming about something funny and was actually laughing in his sleep. I dozed back off for about two hours, got up and made some breakfast while Monster slept. Till 11:30... Yeah guess he choose today to catch up on his sleep! 

After he got up he decided he wanted one donut. Yep just the one and then chicken nuggets with oranges since it was lunch time. Well ok then.

We started our school day by 12:15 p.m. He started with Language, which is still going great and almost done with! 

In Math he did two lessons which were super easy! I noticed he might be having trouble with subtraction or it might be the fact we just came back from a two week break and he needs to refresh! Wednesday we start multiplication. 

I don't really have much for History right now. We quit using our curriculum months ago because it wasn't working. I do want him to learn his states and capitals, so I downloaded that Stack the States game on his ipad for him to play and he seems to like it. My Aunt (who also home schools her girls) gave me some great things over the holiday so we might start studying presidents too! 

For Science we decided to do Human body this week and next. I got the kit from the Magic School Bus in the mail right before the holidays. This will be perfect. I already have some great and fun ideas for this one that I pinned. 

Today, he also started a new book. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He got the set for Christmas so this was great to start the new year off with a new book! 

It is 4:49 pm and instead of Monster asking to play his xbox like he has the last week, he is playing Stack the States! Yay for fun and educational apps! 

Can it be?

Christmas break is over starting tomorrow? I mean I feel like it just started! Monster has had a good break too.

I will say I think come Monday morning he is going to have a hard time. He has really enjoyed his new Xbox games and his Ipad mini he got. I am going to try to find some games to put on the mini to use for homeschooling. Just haven't found the right ones yet.

Today he has built a fort to hide in while he plays on the mini.

I love him.

Tonight we have Awanas starting back up. Kind of like that to help us get back in the grove before Monday morning. I know I might have a hard time too with getting back in the groove.

Until tomorrow...