Day 23: Legoland

I heard the alarm go off in the kids' room at 7 a.m. Charlie -- our slow-moving, dawdle-loving, last-to-finish-anything, ask-him-to-do-something-seventeen-times-and-maybe-he'll-hear-you son -- was dressed and waiting at the door about 20 seconds later. Today was his day.

We were out the door by 8:30 so that we could be at Legoland (in Winter Park, an hour away) when it opened at 10. Charlie was so giddy and so wound up that when Keith and I teased that we took a wrong turn and would need another 45 minutes to get to Legoland (even though a sign proclaimed that it was just 2 miles down the road), the kid broke down, sobbing. (Certainly, they're going to take our parenting licenses away any day now.)

Clare loved the Lego Driving School, where the kids drive cars around a little streetscape and earn driver's licenses.

The kids built Lego race cars and tested them on a track. Charlie would have stayed here all day if we had let him.

Keith and Charlie took a 45-minute class on programming Lego Mindstorm robots.

More building. We had to tear Charlie away.

Natalie and I sabotaged Charlie and Keith on the Lego Chima water ride by lobbing water bombs at the unsuspecting riders.

Charlie was even thrilled to go on this kiddie ride, where the horse just bops along on a little track.

Miniland.

Look! We even found a Lego model of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine! It's about 7 feet by 7 feet.

We stayed until the park shut down, at 6 p.m. For dinner, we went back to Fort Wilderness for the Hoop Do Doo Musical Revue, an old-timey themed dinner show. Our table was right in front of the stage, and Natalie was completely enchanted with the performers. I don't know what I enjoyed more: Watching the show or seeing the absolutely dazzled look on Natalie's face.