Return to Legoland

A couple of days before we left Zürich, I spent an evening assembling our driving route on Google Maps. I didn't pay very close attention to the route that they suggested: I assumed they must know better than I.

Well.

When we pulled away from our hotel this morning, we immediately had to double back: the directions led us onto a narrow path, out the back of our hotel that we'd mistaken for a driveway rather than a road.  And that was trend for our first half-hour of driving: as soon as our street would widen and start to look like a respectable two-lane country-road, Google maps would have us turn onto some tiny stone drive leading into the dense pine forests, or a small lane running through an apple orchard, where we had to swerve off the road to get out of the way of oncoming tractors.

Eventually we found our way back on to the Autobahn, but after fifteen minutes Dennis commented that he missed the farm roads and the pretty scenery.  Most interesting was the fact that most of the farmhouses had roofs covered with solar panels.  Somehow, these small-holding farms, with their herds of fifteen head of cattle and there few acres of fruit trees and a lot of foresight, have found the money to invest in the future.

It was nice to, also, to see a little of the Black Forest.  When the big tour groups visit Bavaria, they usually take the Romantic Road, a long route heavily publicized by the travel industry, running between Füssen (home of Schloß Neuschwanstein, the beautiful castle that inspired Disney's Cinderella's castle) and Würzburg.  The route runs through more dense forests and takes you through several well-preserved medieval villages, populated mainly with people making and selling cuckoo clocks.

We thought about taking the kids to Füssen on this trip, but Dennis and I have been on the Neuschwanstein tour before.  The castle is memorable, but I was afraid that the kids would find it frustrating, too: it's heavily visited, and tourists are pushed through quickly.  And, after seeing so many kid-oriented castles, walking through a look-don't-touch museum might be a bit of a challenge of patience. So we're only skirting the outer reaches of the land of Fairy Tales. But it sure is pretty.

Especially at this time of year, with the leaves changing color and the apple trees ready for picking.  I didn't realize that apples were such an important crop here, but yesterday, as we were driving through town we saw advertisements for fruit stands on every corner, and the Ravensburger park had bins of local apples, set out here and there: 40 cents each, with a jar to deposit your coins.

Our drive was only about ninety minutes today: after a relaxed morning (with the kids getting into fun games of fußball with some of the other children at the hotel) and a long coffee break in the middle, we made it to Günzburg and Legoland just about at lunchtime. We parked our car and the kids piled out, Joey squeaking "I remember this place! I like Legoland! I am happy!"

We planned this stop mainly because of Alex: he loved Legoland so much the last time we were here, and asked if we could visit, just once more.  Why not?

May I just say, visiting an amusement park off-season, mid-week, is simply splendid.  The last time we were here, there were several rides with lines over an hour long.

Sparse attendance at the height of the day

Sir Joseph, taking his knightly duties seriously

Today, no line was over five minutes, including the E-ticket roller coasters.  In fact, Alex and I ran off to ride the dragon roller coaster, the best ride in the park, leaving the rest of the family at a kiddie ride, and we made it back before Joey had dismounted his little Lego horse.

Both Ella and Alex were the most excited about panning for gold, so we got that out of the way early.  And Joey had remembered a little train ride in the kiddie Duplo section, so I walked him over to do that.

Dennis stumbled upon a crêpe restaurant, where we gave the kids a late lunch. I think that may have been my favorite part of the day, standing with Ella and Alex, watching the chefs spread out crepe batter and cover the crêpes with spirals of cinnamon or globs of Nutella.  We went back for seconds.

The park decorated for Halloween and had several signs
posted, explaining the holiday to the Germans.

Otherwise, we went wherever the wind (or our children's whims) took us, and we did pretty well until the end of the day, at dinner, when the kids started to get snappish.

Dennis ordered the "Huge Monster" half-pound schnitzel, and was planning on stealthily getting a second plate, to divide it with Joey, but his order came while Dennis was away from the table.  Joey, knowing that he'd be getting schnitzel, laid claim the whole order. "But not this," he said, removing the bowl of salad and placing it in Dennis's place "Or this," tossing off the lemon slice and the tomato garnish.  Dennis tried to reclaim some of the rest of his meal, but, well, say it with me: Joey doesn't share food.  Dennis ended up ordering a child-sized schnitzel for himself while Joey plowed through that half-pound of food, with an equally large pile of fries.

When Joey finally slowed down, I relieved him of a little of his food: I made the unadvised mistake of ordering Mexican food in Germany.  I think there was a layer of Thousand Island dressing between the tortilla and cheese on my enchilada, and my ketchup-y mexican rice had green beans mixed into it. Sigh.

Ella lost her temper, too, growling when the boys were using the colored pencils that she wanted.  Somehow, it's less amusing when that behavior comes from an eight-year-old.  So we skipped our ice cream tonight, sorry to say.

Reflecting on the day, I guess all the kids just needed a little time to themselves to decompress: I think Dennis and I have been doing a pretty good job this week of helping the kids keep their balance.  With Ella, especially, making sure she has ten minutes every so often to rest with a book just does wonders for her temperament.  We handed her a comic book, and everyone was sunshine and smiles, again, when the meal was over.

Our latest album cover. Joey would most certainly be the drummer.

The park closed at 6:00 today, with all of the rides stopping at 5:00.  By the time we left the park, at just before 6:00, the back of the park as completely deserted, the kids having an enormous playground all to themselves, which is just about as cool as it gets.

So Fun

As we were leaving the park, walking the half-mile back to our hotel, Joey put his head on my shoulder, whispering in my "Daddy happy? Ella happy? Mommy happy? Alex happy?  I happy." I thought it was so sweet that he was concerned about the rest of the family.

But his brother and sister looked out for him, too, taking him under their wings at the hotel playgrounds while Dennis checked in.  When it was time to go to our room, and Joey was resisting returning, Alex told me "I'll get him out, mom." He pulled a pretty white stone from his pocket, waving it at Joey. "Joey, do you want this dragon crystal? It's magical, and it's all yours if you come back to the room now."  Joey came down from the structure instantly, and Alex handed over the treasure, saying "There you go. I always keep my promises."

On the way back to the hotel, Alex confided "I found that pretty stone today and put it in my pocket because I wanted to keep it always, but I could tell you needed some help."  It couldn't have gone to a more grateful recipient: Joey's sleeping with it next to his head on his pillow tonight.

Our little lego house this time, has a fun lofted bedroom for the boys, but, more interestingly, is has a placard out front, labeling it as a complex's trial home for high-energy efficiency.  We're perfectly comfortable inside, toasty warm, with a cozy bed beckoning, so I suppose the trial is working.