LegoLand: Malaysia

We made it to Legoland!! It just opened in Malaysia a few months ago and we managed to squeeze it in just before Patrick and the kids went back to work/school. We went on New Year's day. Which at first we were worried about, since it was still technically school break. The crowds here can be a killer, but what we figured was between parents with hang-overs from New Year's Eve and kids getting ready to start school the next day, people would opt to stay home, and we were right! We got to walk onto most of the rides, and some of them the kids could just stay on and go again and again. It was so great. Really, we were so spoiled that we will never be able to stand in a line again!

 

We caught a bus down at the Singapore Flier that drove us across the border and straight to Legoland. It was kind of a cushy way to travel.

This was the very first ride we went on. We stood in line for about 2 minutes and then got stuck in the cart for 15 minutes due to technical difficulties. Ronin was really worried about getting on but we talked him into it. We told him it wouldn't be that scary and that it would be over before he knew it. Well, he had 15 solid minutes to work himself into a frenzy. For a while he thought they were going to shut down the entire ride and get us out, but they didn't. They got that thing working, and boy, did it work! We were all taken completely by surprise. As you can see by this photo below. 

Now, I don't usually buy the pictures they take while you are on the ride because they are always SO pricey and ridiculous, but this photo is just so hilarious, we had to get it. Honestly, we kept looking at it through the day and laughing so hard at it. Each of our faces is an honest and true account of what we were going through while on the ride. Ronin had been crying just moments before and was truly miserable. Patrick and I were so surprised by the velocity at which the ride moved and Cache was just screaming at the top of his lungs. We thought that this was a look of pure enjoyment and that he had a really good time, but when it came time to go on another roller coaster, he wouldn't have anything to do with it. So what we know know was this is the look of sheer terror, with a great hair-do. We finally talked him onto one more, and he was so miserable that he just kept saying he wanted to get off. 

 So because we ruined their first roller coaster experience, they spent a lot of time at the playgrounds while Patrick and I took rides on the roller coaster ourselves. We felt like teenagers again! Once we finally came back to our parenting senses, we went to find the kids some rides they could actually enjoy. This little ride just went up and down and Cache was as happy as can be when it started.

 But he quickly got nervous. You can see him gripping the bar for dear life, and he's trying really hard to keep his smile on. And if you look really close, you can see his feet are flexed as he tries to hold on. He did not want to go on it again and was content to hang out at the nearest playground. Ronin finally found a ride that was his style. He went again and again and again and again...

 We had such a great time. A lot more fun than I was expecting to have. We walked all around the park and rode every ride (or at least Patrick and I did) We ate pizza and chatted and laughed and rode more rides. I had this glimpse of our family in the near future. A time when everyone can feed themselves, and go to the bathroom on their own. A time when we all have the ability to share our thoughts and feelings and enjoy one another's company without tantrums! 

 It made me miss both Kai and Levi. I love their little personalities and how well they interact together and I know they will just make our outings so much more fun when they are there and able to be apart of things. I kept picturing Levi as a 6 year old like Cache. Riding rides and talking about whatever comes into his head.  I was so happy this day to be the mom of these 4 boys. I'm so excited to watch them grow and learn. And while these baby years are fun and full of pudgy hands and sticky kisses, I get excited for a time where we can be friends and share things that really matter. Where I can get to know them more for who they are inside. I'm excited to watch them grow their relationships with one another as well. Hopefully there will be less fighting and more love and support toward each other.

Here is a picture of Singapore all in Lego. Pretty impressive.

 Here are the Lego people! This is how you know you are not at Legoland in California. These Lego people are showing the way to the prayer room. I love that there is a prayer room at Legoland!  

 These boys loved this "puker" ride as I liked to call it.

 Here's Ronin making fun of my reaction from the first ride. Seriously, so funny!

 We just had SO much fun. 

 Our holiday break was just wonderful. We spent a lot of time together. We made new friends! We hit our one year mark and said hello to 2013. This year has been like our first roller coaster ride at LegoLand. We all have been taken by surprise by so many things. But while some of us were really taken for a ride, as we evaluate the last year, we realize we still had fun and we are looking forward to what the next year will bring. I had a lot of people tell me it took about 6 months to feel settled. And I'm here to say that for me, it took a year. An entire year. And that, for me is just one of the loops in my roller coaster. But as I have said goodbye to 2012, I see that this year (the year of the snake... MY year!) is going to pick up, and there are wonderful things afoot. I look forward to the amazing places we will get to see and new things we will learn, regardless of how difficult the challenges may be. I hope that I can face it with more gratitude and humility.  I sincerely hope that this time in Singapore is not just meaningful and enriching for my children, but for me as well. I need to open my heart up a bit more and embrace more of what Singapore is in order for it to sink into my heart and become apart of me. And even if we only live here for another year or two, I DO want it to be a part of me. I do not want to shrink from it and wait for it to pass.  I want to embrace it and let it swell. I want it to help me expand into a better person with a greater capacity for all things. I want it to bring knowledge, understanding, charity and hope and happiness. I trust that 2013 can bring that and that I can accept it with open arms and be willing to love Singapore and my life here a little bit more. Welcome 2013.... Happy New Year!