Today is all about Legoland Florida. We are so excited to be here – our first time. Our last visit to Legoland California was 3 years ago, in December of 2019. Lego Discovery Centers are fun, but definitely not the same league of a Legoland.

This park feels newer than Legoland California (opened in 1999), and when we visited the history center, I realized why! This park is just as old as our son! Completed in October 2011, it’s 11 years old!

Our child turned 11 years old today. Eleven!!

He is a smidge over 5’4” tall, weighs 106 pounds and wears men’s size 10 shoes.

The thing he loves most of all is spending time with his friends and family. He’s not the biggest fan of schoolwork, but he loves vacations, road trips, monster truck shows, theme parks, National Parks, bike riding, rollerblading, riding his hoverboard, Dave & Busters, playing or snuggling with his cat. He loves listening to audiobooks, making videos for his YouTube channel, playing Minecraft, LEGO Worlds, Monster Jam Steel Titans 2, and Wordscapes. He works hard to earn money, and still enjoys spending his money on his monster truck collection.

He’s been giving a lot of thought to his future this past year. He expects his first car will be a crappy old yellow Nissan and his first job will be an event planner. He wants to go to college, a Christian college. He thinks he’ll probably meet his future wife there and they’ll get married after college. He’s looking forward to having a family with her. He eventually wants to be a theme park owner because he wants people to be happy and entertained.

This past year has been one of growth and maturity. There have been lots of pointed questions with requests for specific information with fascinating discussions. There have been times when I’ve had to pause and examine the basis of my beliefs so that he not only understands the “what” but also the “why.” He is so strong minded and an excellent communicator. I’ve always heard that it’s “right before bedtime” that boys like to talk about things with their parents… for us, it’s always while we’re driving around running errands and then the deepest conversations happen when we pull into the driveway. So, inevitably, we end up sitting in the driveway to finish our talks.

I love parenting this child. I love the way his brain works. He is infinitely interesting to me. There are still days that I cannot believe that he is ours and I am always so thankful that he is ours. And I still love to listen to him breathe as he falls asleep, and I whisper prayers for his protection over him as he sleeps. Oh, and he is STILL incredibly snuggly.

Happy 11th birthday to our sweet child.

Alexandria, VA. Saw the Spite House at 523 Queen Street, 7 feet wide and is the skinniest historic house in the US.

Off to Virginia! Yay!

We kept hearing a clinking sound and went to investigate. Figaro had found his favorite ball (yay!)… he will play with it for hours, but it frustratingly gets under the furniture. Apparently, he figured out that he won’t lose it under the furniture if he plays with it in the bathtub. No escape this time, little ball!