Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Lego My Birthday

Number One Son turned nine years old on Saturday. Almost a decade. Where does the time go? We planned a trip for him and a friend to the Mall of America for his birthday. What nine year old wouldn't want to risk life and limb at a carnival park and go to Lego Land?

We got up bright and early on Saturday (8:30am) and got ready to go to the 'Mall'. The MOA has an indoor amusement park formally known as Camp Snoopy. It is now the Park at the MOA because they didn't want to pay Charles Schulz's family any more money. Anyway, we got there and bought our all-day wrist bands. Lady Di, in a moment of fiscal awareness, suggested that we save some money and not buy her a wrist band. This had less to do with frugality and more to do with Lady Di's sheer terror of any rides faster than the carousel.

Since we arrived at 10am the park was emptier than usual. There were virtually no lines for rides and the kids and I could ride multiple times in a row. The best ride is called the 'Twister'. It is a roller coaster which has a four seat car that spins as it rolls along the track. The last time we were here was about a year and a half ago. What a difference that made. N1S was just a little too short for the really cool rides then. Now, he and his friend, sought out only the most terrifying rides and laughed when Sweet Pea's more tame rides were mentioned.

"I am not going on the Merry-Go-Round.", he firmly stated.

At noon we dragged the kids away from the 'Log Chute' to eat at the Rain Forest Cafe. It was pretty cool. It was decorated in rain forest trees and animals, of course. It had multiple gigantic fish tanks with large colorful fish. Every once in a while the lights would dim and thunder would rumble through the restaurant. Some animatronic monkeys would chatter and move at random too. I know they were robots, but I think one of them stole a few of my fries. N1S mentioned his birthday to the staff and they brought out a 'Volcano'. Three chocolate brownies stacked around a mound of ice cream topped with a sparkler. Pretty cool.

After lunch we spent some time ($$$) in Lego Land to settle our stomachs before our second round of carnival rides. In the afternoon, I took Sweet Pea on all of her rides and Lady Di watched the boys take on the big ones.

We got home in time for a late supper and straight to bed. The kids were exhausted and so were we. It was a lot of fun though. I hope we can make it back this winter. N1S and I can ride the cool rides and Sweet Pea can coax Lady Di onto the Lil' Shaver coaster.

The next day we let N1S open a couple of presents. He got a cool piggy bank from Gramma Bev and Grampa Ray. Complete with coins. And a Batman Lego set from us. This should keep him busy for a few days.

Now, all we have to do is start planning N1S's classmate party in a few weeks. Since he has a summer birthday, we thought it would be OK to have another party and invite some of his new 3rd grade classmates. It will be a pirate party. I am converting the kids' clubhouse into a pirate ship and Lady Di is getting costumes and other decorations ready.

So, how many birthdays does a kid really need? I guess when family lives far away and calendars are so busy, any day can be a birthday celebration. Heck, it's gotta be someone's birthday somewhere. As long as there is cake, I will be there.

4 comments:

The Father of Five said...

Wow, your son looks so old for 9 years old... and is that a wedding band he is wearing?? Well, he sure looks like he is enjoying the LEGOS regdless of his age or marital status! (Grin)

The Mall... Where to I start....

You see, I am a 911 Police and Fire Dispatcher for the City of Bloomington... AND I got my introduction to dispatching as a Mall of America Securty Dispatcher.

I am oh, so familiar with that Behemoth!

Glad you had a good time, and even "gladder" (is that a word?) that you did not have to call me (9-1-1) for any emergency assistance!

DJ Kirkby said...

Fantastic! Happy birthday to you N1S! Our N3S loves Legoland too! He starts big boy school on the 10th Sept! How do they grow up without our noticing?

DJ Kirkby said...

I'm with Lady Di on this one, a carosel is plenty fast enough. In fact I get enough of an adrenaline rush reading a book...unlike Chopper and all 3 boys including N3S who adore roller coasters, the faster and more 'upside-downy' the better. N3S gets on all of them as he is sooooo tall for his age and there is a height but no age restriction...sigh...I get to watch them and feel sick, hey who needs to actualy go on the ride?

Denver Dad said...

The Mall of America is insane. My son is just two and a half but came the closest I've ever seen him to completely freaking out at the Mall. It was just too much for him. He literally ran back and forth at Lego Land, unable to speak, just squeal. I thought we'd need to get a hostage negotiator or something to talk him down.

Still, it was a blast. He was happy and that's the important part. Glad your son had a good birthday!

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I'm a 40 year old dad of two. My wonderful wife, Lady Di, and I try to keep the kids from blowing things up here in central Minnesota.