A Slice of Smith Life: LEGO

Fall Family Vacation: Part Three: Georgia Aquarium

See Fall Family Vacation: Part One: Carowinds HERE
See Fall Family Vacation: Part Two: World of Coca-Cola HERE

After visiting the World of Coca-Cola on Monday afternoon, we walked around downtown Atlanta and went to the Olympic Park where the 1996 Olympic Games took place. The kids loved running in the big open grassy area surrounded by all the tall city buildings and we snapped some pictures of our visit.

There was a fountain with the 5 Olympic rings designed on the pavement and the water would randomly shoot up around the rings. The kids loved dashing in and out of the rings trying to avoid getting soaked. Only one of our daughters got really wet.

On Tuesday, Sept. 25 we went to the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world!

We saw so many fascinating sea creatures and we were able to take in a dolphin show which was amazing! I couldn't take pictures during the dolphin show or video, however.

One of our favorite animals that we observed was the Sea Otter. It was Sea Otter Awareness Week so there was information and activities about this fascinating creature. Here we are feeling the incredibly soft fur of the Sea Otter.

Did you know that the Sea Otter has the most hair than any other mammal with up to a million hairs per square inch and they have no blubber to keep them warm! Amazing! All the animals at the aquarium are fed really well with restaurant quality food. A lady told us they spend 50 million dollars each year just to feed all the animals that well. Then my husband joked with her and asked if the food in the cafe area was the same quality as what the animals get! :)

Sea Otters eat all day since they are so active and it gets so cold. Here is a video of a Sea Otter trying to crack a crab leg against the glass. I could have stayed and watched these playful mammals all day!

In a huge tank there were 4 of these whale sharks. The tank held 6.3 million gallons of water! WOW!

We also saw a 4-D theater show with cartoon fish teaching about saving our oceans from pollution.

After spending a good part of our day at the aquarium we surprised our children and made a quick stop at Legoland Discovery Center which was in a huge nearby mall in Atlanta. I only got a few pictures because my cell phone battery died and my husband's camera wasn't working right.

The Legoland Discovery Center had a small ride in it where you have laser guns and try to shoot targets to rescue the Lego princess and it had another small ride that the kids and even my husband enjoyed. There was also a small 4-D theater and we were able to see two short movies since it was not crowded. After leaving Legoland Center we traveled to SC to visit my brother and sister-in-law and my children loved seeing their cousins.

We had a great vacation and made many fun memories with our family! Now it's back to the books again for 7 weeks and then a week off for our Thanksgiving break....

Wordful Wednesday Full of Photos: LEGO KidsFest

This past Sunday, our family and some friends headed to Raleigh, NC for the LEGO KidsFes t. It was like LEGO heaven for everyone!

Here are lots of photos from our LEGO adventure:

People and LEGOs everywhere! I took these pictures from a balcony in the convention center.

In the middle of this photo is a pile of LEGO that participates could walk on and sit and build.

Purple LEGO tower which was a group effort to build

Our children and their friends enjoyed the many LEGO characters:

"Mommy, get in the Mummy!"

These LEGOs were Dino-mite!

There were some games the kids could participate in and my children were in a relay race to find matching LEGO pieces and then build a small structure with the pieces.

One station had an area where you could build anything on a small green LEGO square. My daughter built this:

Then each of the creations were added to "Creation Nation", which was a huge outline of the United States. It was amazing to see all the details on the huge map outline.

My son and his friends liked the station where they could build their own race cars and push them down the tracks. This station was sponsored by Boy Scouts.

Our children got to listen to some tips on building with LEGO from a LEGO Master Builder. He explained how to make LEGO structures stronger and then they were able to build a rocket.

Here is the Master Builder inspecting all the rockets. My son liked the fact that the Master Builder said his rocket was creative and strong.

After spending 4 1/2 hours in the LEGO KidsFest, we walked outside to a picnic area with our family and friends and ate lunch. For dessert we had LEGO cupcakes that I made and brought with us.

The chocolate LEGO men were made by melting milk chocolate chips in this mold that I borrowed from a friend. Then I put the mold in the freezer until the chocolate was hard. It was a quick way to decorate the cupcakes since the chocolate hardened quickly and popped right out.

It was a fun and wonderful LEGO day and all my children and their friends had a blast! It was fun to see our children use their creativity and imaginations with the millions of LEGO!

I'm linking this post to Anna-Marie's Field Trip Blog Hop