Legoland

 

We spent the day at Legoland.  It is smaller than Disney so we were able to see and do a lot of things.  The crowds were smaller.  Of course, there was social distancing and mask guidelines.  There were so many things created by Legos and I couldn't stop taking pictures.

The theme of the park in October is Halloween "Brick or Treat." Aidan put together his own costume and topped it with a wizard hat.  He is with Darth Vadar.

Linda, Katie and Aidan in front of the Vampire Hearst.

Miniland USA is an amazing place.  Several landmarks in several cities in the United States were recreated in Lego brick.  This sign says that 32 million Lego bricks were used.  To ease in downloading the pictures, I am not going to worry about the correct order.

The Lincoln/Washington/Jefferson Monuments - Marine Monument - White House - Capitol Building 

New York City

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - Curviest street - Row houses

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Las Vegan Casinos:   MGM - Circus -  Luxor

Indianapolis Speedway

Cape Kennedy Space Center

Miami Beach

Bok Tower - we visited this when we visited John and Family in March.

Fort Matanzas in St. Augustine, Florida

Florida State Capitol Building

The property that Legoland sits onwhat was once known as Cypress Gardens which was a botanical garden and theme park.  It operated from 1936 to 2009.  It was famous for the water ski shows and the TV series "Day of Discovery.  This is a remaining ramp. 

The next pictures are just an assortment of various Lego brick creations.

A good theme park also has shows and rides.  We rode several with Katie and  Aidan.

Look closely and you will see John in dark blue shirt with Aidan in black shirt - Linda behind them in gray shirt and Katie in red dress and my masked face is under the white horse behind them.  I opted out of embarrassing myself by trying to climb on a horse and rode in a seat!!  Carol took a great picture.

One of the shows we saw was "Groovin' Graveyard."  It was performed by young people who danced and played the drums.  It was excellent and a big plus was that we were seated for the performance.  Our feet really liked that part best.

Katie is standing with characters from the Lego movie.  

John and Family waiting in one of many lines to either have picture taken with Lego character of receive Halloween candy.

This is such a good picture of Aidan.

These witches on stilts were available for photos with anyone.  I cannot imagine walking around on stilts all day but we didn't see the fall and always had a kind attitude toward the kids.

We arrived at the park at 10:00 and left at 4:00 when it began to rain.  I think everyone was very tired. I know Carol and I were.  It is a good tired because we had a great time. We are in the motorhome relaxing and listening to it rain.

Old Town Kissimmee

When I took Sandy for her morning walk, the sky had toned down considerably but it was still a pretty sky.  The moon doesn't present itself going down like the sun does.

After Sandy and I took our walk, I came back outside to take the moon shot and when I turned around Sandy was looking so forlorn that I had to take her picture.  She sits in my seat in the motorhome and watches me or for me if I am gone.

Today we drove to Old Town Kissimmee.  It was a great day to visit because the crowds were very small.  In fact, it was so small that the carnival rides on each end of Old Town streets were not operating.  That greatly disappointed Aidan and Katie.  The weather was perfect.  I don't know if COVID is the reason for the small crowds but we had the streets almost to ourselves.

Grandpa with Aidan and Katie.

The whole family...John, Linda, Katie and Aidan.

Old Town Kissimmee is a large tourist area set up like the streets of a city.  The buildings were painted in beautiful colors and contained unique shops and restaurants.  One of the unusual businesses was a "fish spa experience."  This involved putting your bare feet into a container of small fish.  The fish would eat the dead skin off your toes and feet.  Linda and I passed up that opportunity.

We didn't have to worry about social distancing but were required to wear masks when we went inside a store.

We ate a late lunch at Flippers Pizza.  It was such a beautiful day that we ate outside.  The kids really wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel but none of the rides were operating today so we left.  We went back to the camper to check on Sandy and they were to their home.

We went to their house for a delicious supper and more family conversation.  This picture is of the newest member of the household.  Her name is Pixie and she is very sweet.  She is four years old and full of energy.  We returned to the camp around 7:30.  Sandy was waiting for me to fix her supper and take her for the evening walk.  Tomorrow we will be going to Legoland.  Legoland is set up for Halloween so I think it will be fun to share the experience with Aidan and Katie.

Birdwatchers

We spent the morning with John at the Circle B Bar Ranch Nature Reserve south of Winter Haven. It was a working ranch until 1994 when the land was donated to the state of Florida for a nature preserve.

There were several nature trails.  We took the one which led to the lake.  We walked through huge live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss...so pretty.

 

This is an anhinga.  It swims underwater stabbing fish with its long needle-like beak.  After fishing, it suns itself with its wings stretched out to dry the wings.  The feathers on this bird does not have an oil coating so the feathers must be dried before swimming again.  We saw several of these birds sunning and drying its feathers.

 

This is an osprey.  We saw several of them in trees and soaring over the lake.

We spent nearly two hours hiking and birdwatching.  Of course, this made us hungry.  John took us to a place where we could eat a Cuban sandwich.  It was called "Soup 'R Cubans."  

It was very small but the food was delicious.  The special of the day was a 10 inch sandwich and large drink.  You place your order, get your own drink and find a table (either inside or out) and your food is brought to you.  When you are finished eating, you throw away your garbage and go back inside to pay for the meal.  It seemed strange to place the order and not pay for the meal then.

This is the Cuban sandwich that I had.  It had a special Cuban bread with ham, cheese, tomato, onion with a mayo/mustard sauce.  It was very good.  I would definitely have another one.

After lunch, we took John back to his house and we returned to the motorhome to relax.  John and family came to the motorhome for supper and some time together.  It was very pleasant outside so we ate outside and spent the rest of the time relaxing.  They left around 7 and we took Sandy for a walk around the campground.  Then we were blessed to see this beautiful sunset.  The last two evening we have been amazed at the colors of the sky at sunset.  It has been a very nice day.