Legoland Discovery : Manchester

Lego ! I love Lego … the husband loves Lego … the teenager loves Lego .. the twins love Lego ! We love Lego ! We are a Lego loving family ! So when given the opportunity to visit Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester … we jumped at the chance !!

Legoland Discovery can be found in the Trafford Centre … so very easy to find and as an added bonus it’s free parking !!!!!

When we got to Legoland Discovery we were greeted by a cheery bunch of staff and were escorted through to have our photo taken with a lifesize Lego Buzz Lightyear … where it was discovered that the teenager is now taller than me ! Much to his glee … ! By this time the twins were getting so excited I wasn’t sure they would be able to contain themselves !! So after big cheesy grins and much laughter we headed upstairs in the lift to be greeted by Professor Brick a Brick who gave us a little tour of the “factory” … where we got to learn all about how lego is made !

The twins joined in with pushing buttons , twiddling knobs and generally being factory helpers .. they loved it ! Then each child was given a souvenir block of lego to keep ! Brilliant !

We then moved onto the Kingdom Quest Laser ride … shooting the baddies with our lasers .. racking up points to become the champion !! I’m pleased to announce that I was victorious and got the most points .. with my double whammy of laser guns … However .. I’m not so chuffed to tell you that Frank, ie claimed my points as his own and declared himself the winner ! A much contested result by our back seat driver … the teenager !! Happy families eh ???

We moved on through Miniland where we raced horses .. espied the Eiffel tower and boogied with The Beatles before  running off to Lego racers: Build & Test where we all made our own cars and raced them down ramps of all sizes ! I wasn’t much good at this to be honest … so I just took the pictures 🙂 The boys and the husband thought it was brilliant and got thoroughly stuck in for AGES !! In fact at one point  I thought that was it … that I’d be there for the rest of my God given days …. Until I found the 4D cinema next door and discovered a film was due to start in 4 minutes !

We rushed into the queue and eagerly awaited our cinematic experience ! The cinema experience was phenomenal … to hear the boys gasp and giggle and woooooah and aaaaaaah as the film unfolded … the smoke , the rain and snow falling onto us from the skies !! A truly fabulous time !!! It was great .. all 5 of us united in pure enjoyment …..! It was so good we left the cinema and got back in the queue for the next film .. The Legends of Chima !!

The rest of the day went so quickly with Merlins  Apprentice ride (that was my daily exercise quota) , the Lego Fire Academy , Lego Forest Pursuit and the Master Model builder workshop (the teenager attended this and really enjoyed it ) …. !!! Then off into the Legends of Chima .. with playstations and pots of lego to build the figures … followed by a good browse around the shop ( I’ll definitely be headed back there before Christmas !!) !

The website suggests you allow 2-3 hours for your visit and quite honestly without trying we spent well over 3 hours there and could easily have stayed longer ….!! We didn’t use the cafe but the prices seemed reasonable and the variety of cold foods on display seemed varied and plentiful !!

My only criticism .. if criticism is the correct word  is that  the Master model Builder workshop encouraged children to learn how to build a lego guitar but then to keep that model it was expected of you to pay £3 .. this I thought was a little unfair as the entry price of the attraction isn’t that cheap !!!

In all a fabulous time was had by all … Quotes of the day

Teddy ” Mummy that was awesome”

Frankie ” I love you Mummy … you take us to the best trips ”

Billy ( the teenager) ” Actually I really enjoyed today Mum”

The Husband ” Yeah it was alright wasn’t it ? ”

Me ” FAB”

One happy little family !!! Legoland Discovery Centre is definitely worth a visit … make a day of it …  !!

Many Thanks to Legoland Discovery Centre for the complimentary entry to the attraction .

School’s Back …

Well , those 6 weeks went amazingly quickly yet at times excruciatingly slow … and now I sit here in an empty house watching trashy TV and drinking HOT tea … HOT !!! Ahhhh it’s been a long time coming !

I’ve loved having the boys home and I love that they’re back at school … The twins are now in Year two and it seems the teacher is easing them in gently with 2 “activity” days to start the year .. the boys seem happy & settled  and the teacher seems to have got them pegged already … Good Luck to her I say :))  I think Monday might be a shock to the boys system …. eeek !! ( Good job we’ve got a trip to Legoland Discovery & Sealife in Manchester on Sunday to soften the blow … )

Billy has been back at school since August 21st as he goes to the Academy so only gets a short summer holiday ( 4 weeks is more than enough in my opinion … come on schools of Derby drop in line)  … He is doing amazingly … and came home last week with a letter exclaiming he has been identified as ” dead clever innit” ( His words not the schools ) and has been elected to study towards and entry level qualification in Mandarin .. this on top of all his other year 9 studies ! The boy got brains !!! He had his first lesson yesterday and loves it … I on the other hand struggle with his constant  insistence of speaking in German .. now I have Manadarin to contend with … aaaaaaaaargh ! But as long as he’s happy … so am I !! ( And pretty darned proud I am to !)

So as I sit here cringing at JK … allowing my once HOT tea to go cold .. I sigh a happy sigh that the boys are content , clever and happy …and head off to reboil the kettle !!!!