LEGOLAND Discovery Center Atlanta

He only works in black.  And sometimes very dark grey.  Today we made our trip to LEGOLAND Discovery Center.  I had to capitalize the first word there, because I think that's how it is supposed to be.  Anyway, today for 'research,' we went to the local LEGOLAND in Atlanta to check it out and maybe draw some inspiration or ideas.  And, of course, Madison earned the trip with her recent computer homework, so that was a double incentive for the trip.

First though, this morning we got to sleep in a little - a little.  Madison was kind of excited about the day though, and nearly like it was Christmas, here she comes pounding down the hallway to wake us up.  So much for a good night's rest!  Anyway, our first stop of the morning wasn't Atlanta or LEGOs or any such thing - it was actually Lowe's.  Daddy and Madison had our first appointment at Lowe's, there to make a set of binoculars from wood, and concave transparent plastic.  These were a bit hit with Madison, who used them to look both ways before crossing the street.  And, of course there is the matter of another patch for her apron, which is genuinely filling up to the point that no more patches may be able to fit after next summer.

We got home, and got ready.  That's because we were making our way down to Atlanta - which looks kind of like this:

Daddy took these photos in the LEGO Miniland, where they recreated Atlanta landmarks.  We were snapping a couple pictures, when suddenly the lights got low and it became nighttime in Atlanta.  It was pretty impressive, actually.  We used the iPad to take pictures today, which we'll probably wind up using for a bit until we get a real camera.  It took pictures well enough, actually, even despite the low lighting we had occasionally.

Here's a photo that shows us all how tall Madison is if we were to stack up a bunch of LEGO bricks beside her.  I think it would take about 110 bricks, although we may have to test this out at home.

We arrived at Phipps Plaza around 1:10 or so, not having a clue where to park.  It turns out that Divine Providence led us to a parking spot that was right next to the escalators that were right beneath the LEGOLAND.  Yep, that's favor.

We walked through a 'factory,' where kids were shown the LEGO brick making process, and made some themselves.  Daddy couldn't hear a word of any of it because there were a lot of people in this smaller room.  But things picked up somewhat right afterwards, because we all lined up to go on this ride inspired by the Buzz Lightyear ride - you hop on a cart and shoot targets as you ride by.  Daddy got a score near 100,000, which I think is pretty good.  We did ride it again later on, and we all did better the second time - Mommy got the same score as Daddy did.  She was a sniper in that back seat!

Next we explored MINILAND, which apparently also has to be in all caps.  This was pretty cool, actually, mainly because they were all these Atlanta landmarks, some of which we haven't been to before.  Some were interactive, which Mommy and Madison had a good time with.

We did Merlin's Apprentice Ride next, which is basically like Dumbo except that you don't press a button to go up.  Instead, you use your feet to pump these bicycle pedals - the faster you go, the higher your flying car.  So we flew high, of course.  Daddy was pedaling quite a bit!

We built our own cars after this, racing them down big ramps.  Madison enjoyed making her own car, but it didn't do so well on the ramp portion - the poor thing exploded!  But that was just fine with Madison, who enjoyed watching the LEGO carnage from up high at the top of the ramp.

There was the 4D movie after this, which involved squirting water and snow and wind as well.  It was a LEGO movie that had racers in it, something that Madison enjoyed more than Daddy.  Next time I'm at an amusement park, I'll apparently want to bring Dramamine.  These movies with the motion... ugh!

Madison was a ninja after this, doing the Ninjago laser maze.  She tried it a couple times, and did really well.  This is actually training all our kids to break into banks, rendering their laser tripwire systems utterly useless.  Evidently the president of the company that makes laser security beams must have ticked off somebody at LEGO.  Of course, I'm kidding.  Madison did really well here, breaking through security and moving about like a ninja.

All in all, it was a pleasant afternoon.  There wasn't much more to the place though - it was tiny by comparison to the park in Florida.  This was surprising to us, as we were pretty much done with the place within a few hours.  We could have stayed to build some more - but we had stacked up plenty of LEGO bricks today.  On one occasion, the idea was to build a tower, one that would experience a severe earthquake.  We built ours tall, pretty much with the express purpose of watching the top seventeen floors topple down.  I'm sure those tenants on those floors were pretty upset.

We did a few rides once more, and another trip through the laser maze.  Madison even had a book with her, one that required visiting all the different stations throughout the place in order to get stamps.  She finished that up just in time, and moments later we were out the exit and into the LEGO store beyond.  It was there that Madison made herself yet another girl minifigure.  Yes, now there are two she has made - she gave Daddy those sweet little eyes, and three dollars and seventy two cents later, she was walking out the door with a girl she's named Lilly.  Lilly and Rosie, best friends forever.

We saw a bunch of other items, including one that Madison is getting for Christmas.  But we may pick up more before it is all said and done.  But that was that for LEGOLAND Discovery Center, which turned out to be a nice visit after all.  It wasn't necessarily something we'd drive back to do again any time soon, but there was no question about Madison having a great time with it.  At least, until she met Bad Cop.

He let her go though.  We rode home after getting a warning, and on the way home we had a nice meal at Cracker Barrel.  Mommy still had a gift card for the place, so it was a nice visit for a great meal.  Plus, we got to see their fall stuff in the store.  We actually bought a few things there, including a Christmas gift we were sneaky about - Madison will see Rarity the Pony at Christmas time.  But Mommy got some things as well.

Following this, we went to the Most Inconvenient Dairy Queen on the Planet.  This is located in Cumming, Georgia.  It has earned this title for several reasons, one it has worked very hard to achieve, no doubt.  First of all, the parking lot makes no sense.  There's a parking lot, but if you want to go through the drive-thru, you have to hope that someone is not using the parking lot spaces nearby the drive-thru otherwise you won't get to the drive-thru because the only other way to the drive-thru is by leaving said parking lot, back into the middle of a busy road making a left turn and then another quick left turn.  Once you've somehow accomplished this, you place your order.  At which point, you'll notice that the pricing at this Dairy Queen is substantially higher than most other Dairy Queens on the planet.  But it's too late now, because once you are in the drive-thru, you are stuck there without hope of escape.  When you do arrive at the teller's window, you'll see it has the design of one of those mid-city gas station windows that are set up to prevent robberies.  There's a carousel that you put your money on, and at no point in the exchange do you make physical contact or eye contact with the people who give you your food.  This is set up to protect the people inside from ebola.  The people who work there speak to you through a strained speaker that reminds you of Thomas Edison's voice on that first wax recording.  By faith you assume that your order is right, as is the amount it costs.  And then the ice cream is somehow transferred on the carousel.  In a standard window scenario, the employee is able to reach out as the customer does the same - this halves the distance that both have to cover, making it possible for various vehicles to pull up to the window without being so close.  But at this Dairy Queen, you have to pull your car within inches of the wall in order to reach into this carousel.  The poor lady in front of us failed to do this, and literally had half of her body hanging outside the car door, flailing her arms in a desperate attempt to reach her order of food that was resting on the carousel.  The employee inside, of course, could do nothing to help, mainly because this lady apparently had ebola.  No, it was because this Dairy Queen believes in as little contact as possible with actual humans that drive cars.  So we pulled our car up next, after tucking in the rear view mirror on the side, of course.  That gave me the ability to have my car a half inch away from the wall, so I could get our food.  We paid our six dollars for three Dilly Bars (nearly double the price), and got our ice cream.  But we didn't get napkins.  Those apparently cost extra.  Of course, we didn't notice the lack of napkins until we started to drive off.  By then, it was too late, as it would have taken another fifteen minutes to go back through the line, or heaven forbid, actually go inside the restaurant.  Fortunately, Mommy has napkins in the glove compartment for just such an occasion.  Which makes me think:  why not call it a napkin compartment. Seriously, that's about all we as a civilization ever stuff in there anymore.  We certainly don't put GLOVES in there.  Anyway, once you leave the drive-thru at The Most Inconvenient Dairy Queen on the Planet, you get to make a choice.  Left turn or right turn.  Right turn means you can leave the parking lot within about ten minutes.  Left turn means you might as well pull out that novel you've been putting off reading, because you'll have plenty of time to read it as you wait for a clearing in the traffic.

Not to say we didn't enjoy the Dilly Bars.  Sure, they were roughly twice the price as your average Dilly Bar, but they were quite yummy.  And I suppose there is the notoriety of getting it at this particular Dairy Queen, the Most Inconvenient Dairy Queen on the Planet.

We got home later today - what a full day!  And we did have time to do a few things.  For one, Madison had more piano homework to attend to.  And we finished "The Wedding Wings," the latest Never Girls book too.  Madison was relieved at the happy ending, and surprised there is yet another book after this one.  Daddy quickly found it on the library's website, and reserved it.  Maybe we can get it tomorrow...

After Madison went to bed, Mommy and Daddy continued our Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. binge watching.  We're already at about where we were in January of this year, which is kind of a funny way to watch a show.  I can remember waiting a week in between each episode and here we are getting them all watched in less than two.  We're gearing up for a new season, mainly because we're Marvel fans.

And we're also sleep fans too.  After such a full day, I think it's time for a good night's rest... what a day!