Friday, October 9, 2015

san diego: legoland day

So, we went to Legoland!  Thanks to a special deal that got all of our kids in for free, my husband convinced me to stop being cheap and treat our kids to this special day.  We waited until that morning to tell them and they were all super excited.  Jimmy's very sweet "Thank you" and hug made me realize we had made the right decision. 
I am a die-hard Disney girl, but I have to admit, I love Legoland.  
It is not an par with Disneyland, but that doesn't mean it isn't great in it's own way.
This was our second trip and both have been family successes. 
Nora is still too small to go on very many rides, but she found just enough to keep her happy all day.  
The first discovery was the carousel which she then talked about all day until we finally made the full circle of the park and were able to ride it again.
I love the rides that we can all go on as a family like the Storybook Boats...
And here are a bunch more ride pictures that I don't feel like going into detail about...
I am glad I have trained my kids to pose for lots of pictures because I look lots of pictures...
More than any ride the highlight for Nora was meeting these princesses...
They were super sweet girls who talked to her and told her how pretty her dress was.  She was super shy around them, but then she just wanted them to be there for the rest of the day and asked me repeatedly where they had gone.  She still asks to look at the picture all the time.  I can't even imagine how she will react when we take her to Disneyland someday.  I can't wait.
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But back to Legoland.  I actually controlled myself and didn't take a picture of every Lego replica city and wonder of the world.
But I still took some...
The boys wanted me to take pictures of every single Star Wars thing...
Mom and Dad had a few photo requests, too.
The favorite ride was The Dragon rollercoaster.  
Gus was so excited that he was big enough to ride it.  The boys went on it four times each.
This is a crazy ride that Gus wanted to go on, but Jimmy was too scared of.  It turned out that at Gus' size they put it on a lower, not-very-scary setting.  Thank goodness because the adult man next to them looked like he could barely handle it.  
We got another shot in the lions mouth for the archives and we ate their famous apple fries...
 
Jimmy's other favorite ride is The Technic Coaster.  He was the only one big enough to ride it and I got to go on it with him (since Dad did on our last trip).  It had an intense drop at one point and it was pretty fun.  I loved going on it with Jimmy.  I love watching their faces on rollercoasters.
The ride we couldn't get Nora off of at the end of the day was these airplanes...
Zach made an amazing video of her on this ride being in heaven.
We rode it about five times.
At the end of the day the boys spent some of their own money and some money from Mom and Dad that they earned by being good all day (not quite as perfect as I would have liked, but still pretty good).  They bought Star Wars Legos together.   Nora had some birthday money (which I was going to do something practical with since she is only 2 but my boys all overruled me) so we splurged and got her a Frozen Lego Castle.  Not gonna lie, I think it is awesome.  It is always a fun way to end a day at a theme park when you get to buy something special and hold it the whole car ride home.  I hope my kids remember this day forever.  I know I will.

Monday, October 5, 2015

san diego 2015

Our big vacation this summer was to visit Aunt Angie in San Diego.  It is one of my favorite places and it had been much too long since we visited.  The kids are always excited for a good road trip and all got a "magic" coloring book for the trip
We promptly went to Coronado beach upon arriving.  
It was overcast, but we Phoenicians get plenty of sun so we didn't mind.  It was glorious!
Angie had to work the second day so we decided to go to Legoland that day.  I took a lot of pictures there so I am just going to do that in another post. 
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Friday we headed to the World Famous San Diego Zoo!
Hippos!
The baby gorilla on his mama's back was one of my favorites...
 I even overcame my fear of riding on the Sky Ride...
The polar bears were another favorite...
Saturday was the Forth of July so Angie thought it would be fun to ride the ferry boat over to Coronado to watch the parade there.
The kids all loved the boat ride.
They had fun at the parade, too.  The highlight might have been the Star Wars group.
There were tons of amazing planes and army vehicles that were also appreciate by the boys
Gus had fun attacking Aunt Angie and Nora entertained us all with her dancing...
We went to Pacific Beach after for a few hours....
That night we went to a party and watched fireworks from a rooftop.
We all were pretty exhausted after a long night, but still managed to get ourselves to mass at the Mission San Diego de Alcala.
It was founded by Junipero Serra who the Pope just made a Saint!
After Mass we went to a favorite restaurant of my mom's called The Huddle.  
It is just an old hole-in-the wall mom and pop shop with great breakfast.
Everyone loved it...
No really they did all love it.  Jimmy still talks about how much chicken and waffles he ate.  I was just happy I got to eat my mom's (and my) favorite: Grilled Bran Muffin.  It might not sound amazing, but it is.  It is not on the menu.  Just ask for it.
For our last beach day we went to La Jolla.  After a few hours playing at the beach, Zach wanted to watch the Women's World Cup game so Jimmy and Angie went with him to a restaurant, while I took Gus and Nora to see seals.  We got a pretty good viewing.  The were two sitting on this rock when we got there...
Then while we waited a whole bunch of them came up on the beach.
After the game we swung Jimmy back by the beach to see the seals so he wouldn't miss out.
We had such a great time and were so thankful to spend time with Aunt Angie and grateful to her for letting us stay at her apartment.  
I love family vacations!!