We had started talking to Victoria about going to Legoland about a month before our trip when one of her playmates, Anna, went there on her vacation.  So from the moment we landed in Frankfurt on August 13^th, Victoria started asking "Are we going to Legoland today?"  Well, the day finally arrived and what did we do?  Oversleep when I failed to set the alarm clock!  The result was our waking up right about the time when we had wanted to be on the road.  This was a bit of problem as we were facing a two+ hour drive and we wanted to get there before lunch.

Legoland (www.legoland.de) is located about halfway between Stuttgart and Munich, just outside the city of Ulm.  It's the newest of the Legoland parks around the world, opening up about two years ago.  This park is the ideal break for a four-year old who had gone to lots of castles, wineries, and shops for four days and Victoria was just beside herself as we pulled off the Autobahn in sight of the giant Legos at the entrance.

From the moment Victoria was squirted by the lego-octopus (see picture above), she was absolutely in heaven.  It was kind of like Disney, in that it was almost a sensory overload for her with kids running amok everywhere!  The first area we went through, Miniland, was actually my personal favorite.  This was where the Lego Builders had created extensive replicas of various sites from around Germany and Europe.  There was even a fairly extensive replication of the main buildings in Washington DC - quite cool.

After oo-ing and aah-ing, we pushed on to a section of Legoland called Knights' Kingdom, where Victoria had seen a ride called Der Rittertunier (The Royal Joust).  It was perfect for her - letting her ride a horse (which, of course, Victoria named Oliver, after Grandma's horse).