Legoland: The People Post

We had such a fun day at Legoland for Micah's birthday yesterday.  It was nice that it was just the four of us hanging out and celebrating him.
I took so many pictures that I thought I would make two posts out of it, one that showed us enjoying it and one that showed how remarkable the structures made out Legos were.  The attention to detail was really incredible!
But today, it's about us and fun and new sights to see.  In front of the big sign welcoming us to Legoland!  We were a little excited to be there. :)

Can you spot the real people?

Jaws and the boys. 

Taking a ride on a Lego boat,

steered by the boys.

Rescue Academy!!  The boys have read all the Lego Emergency books and love them, so they were thrilled to see all of this in person!

Lego cars that they could drive themselves!

Always checking to see where Mama is, bless his little heart.

They had a place where you could build and race your own Lego cars.  The cars were a little challenging to build because they seemed to be missing the pieces that kept the wheels on the cars.  It frustrated a certain six-year-old who is pretty passionate about being able to create his own Lego transportation masterpieces.

Daddy helped Liam build a car.

Finally they had something they could race together! (Liam and Daddy won, much to Micah's dismay.)

Our superheroes, posing with Batman and Robin.

Micah did NOT like this roller coaster, but we praised him for trying it.  We're in the front row of the car in this picture.  I may appear happy, but I was terrified.  I'll ride almost anything, but these little cars that swerve around the track a lot so that you feel like you're going to fall off at any minute really mess with my head.  I was pretty happy when he didn't want to do it again!

Brothers discussing Lego creations brings joy to my heart.

Messing around with the settings on my camera while they admired the Legos.

My boys. :)

The force was totally with us. A friend commented that the boys look really excited here which is funny as they've never seen Star Wars and don't have parents that really care much about the franchise.

Riding the safari ride where all the animals were the Lego variety.

Micah Turns 6

Six years ago, this little boy was born, and in a single moment just following a massive thunderstorm, made us parents.

We spent his first year watching every movement, waiting for every milestone, and enjoying learning all about our boy.  When he turned one, we celebrated a whole year of his life and partied together.

When he turned two, his love of all things transportation was cemented, and we made it our objective to learn all about his favorite things.

When he turned three, there was a massive thunderstorm again (notice the window behind the uncertain face).   While he never liked being the center of attention, he did love playing with his friends, eating cake, and playing with new transportation toys.

When he turned four, he wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom, one of his favorite places, and we spent the day together as a family, doing all the things he wanted to do and thoroughly enjoying how happy that made him.

When he turned five, he was a newly minted kindergarten student.  Tim took him cupcakes to school so he could pass them out to his friends.  He had a party with some other friends.  He was finally enjoying some of the attention being on him, and it was clear that he wasn't a baby, a toddler, or even a little boy anymore.

When he turned six, we took him to Legoland to celebrate.

What did we celebrate?  We celebrated a mischievous little man who brings us a lot of joy.

We celebrated a boy who lives with intensity.  It can be frustrating and hard to understand, but we always admire how passionately he just does life.

We celebrate how smart he is and how fun he is and how curious he is and how much we love him. We ate ice cream and sang "Happy Birthday".  We watched him cherish a day just for him, and again noticed how big he looks and how fast he's growing up.

Happy birthday, Micah.  We love you more than we can ever say. You are a special little man, and we are so grateful that you are ours for as long as we have you. May the special day we shared be the start of a great new year for you.  Welcome to being six!

First Day of School 2013

Yesterday was the first day of school for the boys.  They were so excited!  For Micah, it's still, after one year, about riding the bus but we'll take what we can get.  

So handsome and ready for a great year.

This year the boys started school on the same day so we could take a picture of them together.  As usual, I couldn't get a good picture of them both together, but for once it was Liam who was making weird faces.

Brothers. I love this one.  Liam insisted on putting his arm around Micah.

Then Liam got his own picture.  It's his last first day of preschool.  Thankfully Vivi will be with us this time next year so our streak of having a child in the First Pres Preschool will continue even after Liam graduates!

Weird smile, but still undeniably cute.

Like brother, like brother.  He gravitated right to the cars.

Liam has always had separation anxiety and although he's gotten a lot better in the last year, he still has moments of uncertainty so we had a little chat.  There were a few tears, but they didn't last long. According to his teacher, he had a great first day!

Check out how diligently he was writing his name.  He's ready to go!