Lego construction toys were invented in the 1940s in Denmark. The company name Lego was coined by Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play well". Play well, indeed. Legos are considered by many "parenting experts" including John Rosemond, the controversial expert I swear by, to be the perfect manufactured toy: it presents a wide range of creative possibilities (it "transforms"); it encourages manipulation which holds the child's interest (stimulates creative behavior); it is age-appropriate and appeals to kids of all ages; and lastly, it is durable (will withstand lots of abuse). That's the expert opinion. If you ask a kid, they'll give you the only opinion that really matters: Legos are awesome!
Adjacent to the company's headquarters in Billund, Denmark is the first Legoland theme park, which opened in 1968. There are currently four Legolands, including one in California and one in Germany. Anytime we asked our kids, "What's the one place you want to go in Europe before we move back to the U.S.?" the answer was always the same. "Legoland!"
Legoland Germany is located in Günzburg, between Munich and Frankfurt. How could we say no? 
David took off with Micaela and James to hit the bigger rides, while Emilie, Rebecca and I had fun on the more abundant "gentler" rides.
Rebecca riding her first car where she needed to use an accelerator all by herself. She was quite proud.
The attendant handing them something
Their very own driver's licenses!
In the Knights' Kingdom
Lego pigs that oinked
Blacksmith who grunted
Climbing up castle
Becca on the Royal Joust ride. The park was still so empty, the attendant allowed Becca to have four turns in a row. I finally had to signal to the attendant that it was time for Becca get off her trusty steed.
Emilie
High above the heads of the other Park guests is the Pedal-A-Car track. You don't have to pedal though. Look at how empty the park was. We almost never had to wait in line for a ride. In fact, some rides were delayed as attendants waited for more riders.
View of castle
Canoe X-pedition took the girls past many Lego critters
Safari tour
Lego Bob the Builder
Bob der Baumeister had his own 4-D movie
During the 4-D movie, I realized my seat had problems. Near the beginning of the movie, water sprayed out at the characters and people all over the theatre got spritzed with water, all except me. Hmmmm.....so much for 4-D. Then 30 seconds later, with no water in sight in the film, I was suddenly hit with a jet of water. That startled me. Someone needs to fiddle with the timing on my seat.The plot of the movie was that Bob and his helpers needed to build a rollercoaster and Bob kept hinting around that the Arctic-themed ride would have a surprise ending. At the close of the film, we had a rider's view of the rollercoaster and at the end, it entered a tunnel and the big surprise -- it snowed on screen in the tunnel. And snow started falling from the ceiling of the theatre! The kids and grownup loved it.
Emilie, you're gonna need a bigger boat.
Inside one of the many stores
Emilie, Rebecca and I took a break and watched a show. This balloon guy was hilarious and we pretty much understood the whole show, unlike the British people in front of us who were the butt of a few jokes they couldn't understand. Made us feel rather superior (and glad we weren't them).
Captain Nick's Splash Battle. This is the ride featured in the Legoland TV spots. You have a water gun on your ship to shoot at other people, but so do all the spectators on land. I wisely had Emilie and Rebecca put on their raincoats, and I went without. How wet could I actually get? Who would shoot at an old Mom?
The answer is: plenty of people. I got totally soaked and just kept my head down the whole time, whimpering, doing my best not to be lily-livered and firing back at the scallywags on land.
We paid the two Euro to stand for a few minutes in the family dryer. 
Becca getting a chocolate-covered waffle with sprinkles on a stick 
Becca eating a dripping chocolate-covered waffle with sprinkles on a stick 
The centerpiece of every Legoland Park is Miniland. Em and Bex look over the Allianz Arena -- a replica of the Munich soccer stadium, home to two professional soccer teams. This is the largest Lego building in the world and has the imposing dimensions of 5 m x 4.50 m and is 1 m in height. It weighs 1.5 tons. 
Berlin's Brandenburg Gate
A photo of the real medieval Römer, one of the symbols of Frankfurt
Lego Römer
Neuschwanstein, the famous Bavarian castle
On the Legoland Express, a train ride through the park
The Bionicle Power Builder was a Bionicle arm that flipped you all around. You could decide on the level of flippery. Even Emilie gave this one a shot.
The Dragon Hunt was the perfect roller coaster for Becca and Emilie. Scary, but doable.
We met up with Micaela who said if Emilie could handle the Bionicle ride, she could handle the big roller coaster -- the Fire Dragon. And Emilie did it! In fact, she rode it three times in a row! You can see Em and Micaela in the third seat from the back.
Sword in the stone
Becca found a friend just her size
At closing time, James found a ride home.
