San Diego, rest of the trip

 

After days 3-4, we needed some rest time.  We stayed at the beach, played at a playground and hung around. 

 

 

 

The next BIG thing was Disneyland!  Alex was so excited to see Mickey Mouse, the REAL Mickey Mouse.  That is pretty much all he wanted to do there.  Although, I felt like I had one more kid on this trip – a big kid.  Lance wanted to go on Star Tours, Lance wanted to go on this ride, that ride and just on one more, then we can go see Mickey Mouse.  Well, at lunch time, after much breakdowns, we finally were able to go find Mickey.  And there was a 20 minute line….

 

There were some lessons learned on this Disney trip…

1) get a hotel there, even though you are only staying 1 hour away.

2) go in the morning, let you and your kids have a break mid-day (in said hotel) and come back in afternoon/evening

3) otherwise, suffer the consequences of your parental decisions…

4) have lots of patience, the lines were MUCH longer than LEGOLAND and 4 year olds don’t understand lines (let alone 15-20 minute lines)

 

We had some tired kids on our hands.  Even though we did very little the day before and tried to “rest up”, the kids were tired and cranky after all the travel and all the places we were going.  We probably should’ve gone earlier in the week.  Let’s just say this was an expensive ~6 hours at Disneyland. 

 

At one point before lunch (~11 am) we wondered if we should leave the park, drive the kids around so they could nap and come back.  Instead, we decided to break for lunch early at 11:00 and see what happened.  If things got better, then we would power through knowing we would only make it to ~ 3:30 or 4:00 pm.  Or if things were still bad after an (expensive) lunch – then, we would leave and try plan B. 

 

Lunch seemed to do the trick and we powered through.  The highlights were Tarzan’s tree house, storm troupers and of course Mickey.  Lance liked the rides he went on.  I only went on Space Mountain with Alex and he was so scared since it’s an all in the dark rollercoaster ride.  Sara’s highlights were riding on Daddy’s shoulders for the best view in the whole place! 

 

All in all – we probably won’t be going back any time soon…

 

expensive, crowded….

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Disney fiasco breakdowns, we decided to just stay at the beach the rest of our time.  We got some good family photos, with all of us in it at the same time.  We played on the beach with Grandma Connie in the water, admired the BEAUTIFUL sunsets, surfed some more with cousin Mickey, played video games at Mickey’s house, played Angry Birds together with Mickey (Mickey is a favorite person in this house), and then, as fast as we arrived, we were on our way home.  The airplane was a hit with both kids.  Sara still talks about it all the time. 

 

We had a splendid time and can’t wait to get back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“see Mom – I want to surf like this”

 

 

Alex actually did get up surfing one time – he was so excited!  And then he fell (he thinks real surfers don’t fall) and was pretty scared/cold.  Grandpa T. rescued him right away, but it shook his confidence for a little while. 

 

 

 

 

But, after a little warm up – he was back at it!

 

One of the best parts was Mickey was there too!

 

 

 

 

 

And Mickey loved playing Angry Birds as much as Alex did – and showed him some new tips/tricks.

 

 

 

 

On our way home – weighing ourselves for the fun of it!

San Diego, Day 3 and 4

 

Days 3 and 4 of our San Diego trip were great, we were feeling rested and ready to explore!  LEGOLAND was a mere 10 minutes away from where we were staying, so naturally – we went! 

 

It was great for little kids, but not too little.  They were strict on height and age requirements, which meant Alex could go mostly on everything, and Sara could only go on a few things.  The good news is that Sara, being an easy going toddler who really didn’t care about going ON the rides, made it easy and just had a fun time being around her.  Alex had a BLAST!  He loved it!  There were basically no lines, no wait times at all, you just got right on.  The park was easy to navigate. 

 

Alex’s favorite of all favorites was the roller coasters.  He loved them and probably went 10 times.  Sara’s favorite was the bins of Legos! 

 

The stroller was a hit – Alex loved riding on the back where they have a stand where “big kids” can rest a bit from walking.  Sara snoozed away comfortably when it was her time to nap while we were out at LEGOLAND.  This was her first day taking a nap at the park while out and about, so it took a bit of walking around, but it finally worked and she had a good 1+ hour nap.  Which is good for out and about naps.  My plans for the stroller on the trip worked perfectly. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we took the Coaster down to San Diego and Lance, Alex and Grandpa T. went to the aircraft carrier and Connie, myself and Sara went shopping at a village by the water right downtown.  We all had a great time, no pictures except for the Coaster ride (aka train or choo-choo ride!).  The kids loved the “real” train ride!  And we did too, since it’s so convenient!

 

 

 

San Diego trip, days one and two

 

 

 

We are all better now, thank you.  Sara had another ear infection, then got ear tubes (finally! all went well, more later), then we all got the stomach flu.  It was a rough couple of weeks around this house.  But, with a little R&R, we are all better and the ear tubes have been doing their jobs. 

 

I’m finally getting back to my San Diego photos and have days one and two to show you. 

 

 

 

The kids were so excited about the airport and the airplane.  They had their backpacks packed with toys for the airplane and they were ready!  Once again the airport playground was magnificent!

 

 

 

 

We arrived in San Diego after a non-eventful, yet toy filled airplane ride.  We were worried since Sara had an infection and was on antibiotics.  We were thinking she might have some ear problems with going up/down.  But, it was actually Alex whose ears hurt a bit going down.  A lovely fellow airplane mate gave him some gum to chew and that solved the problem right away.  We arrived and got to our rental car and drove about 30 minutes to Oceanside.  During this time both kids slept, since they both hadn’t slept on the plane.   

 

The beach was beautiful!  The sun was shining and we had to adjust our eyes for a day or so to this bright sun.  It was glorious!

 

 

 

 

We went walking on the pier and Sara was a little unsure of those cracks and proceeded to walk very carefully!  She loved her “I-goo” (Owl) lovey this entire vacation and carried her around most places.  We saw pelicans galore on the pier – so cool to see up close (but not too close!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We played on the beach and felt the warm sand in our toes.  The ocean was cold, but you could get used to it.   The warm sun on your skin made up for all the cold water. 

 

 

 

Once Alex knew there was a thing called “surfing” or “boogey boarding” – he wanted to do it.  Connie’s grandkids wetsuits to the rescue!  We fit Alex up just right and out he went into the water!  He got right out there and loved it!  He did it until he got too cold and wanted to just come in a be warm again. 

 

 

Sara’s favorite thing was the sand and she loved tasting it too!  That made for some “rough” times later on…

 

 

 

 

A nice warm up on the deck facing the beach with some snacks will do just the trick, for all.