While in California...

Sorry for the delay but here's the recap from our days actually in California back at the start of March. ;) (Note, the journaling is primarily from the daily journal I kept during our trip, so that's why it's sometimes in present tense and all that.) **Fair warning...lots of pictures in this post (and that's after CONSIDERABLE weeding out of the many pictures taken, lol!)**

MARCH 7: Our first full day in California! We managed to get up and out the door by 9:30 and headed down to Balboa Park. Though the boys obviously would have preferred to hit LegoLand first, the weather had different ideas. Since it was overcast, chilly, and raining periodically, we opted for an indoor day instead. We visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum first, where we were overwhelmed by the quantity of exhibits. The boys particularly enjoyed seeing the actual Apollo 9 command module, “flying” on their own with the flight simulator, seeing the P51 Mustang and retired Blue Angels aircraft and much more. After exiting that museum, we walked to lunch in a nearby museum then up to the Fleet Science Center (just in a different part of Balboa Park). At the Science Center, it became more work to keep track of the boys who darted from one hands-on exhibit to the next, thoroughly enjoying themselves. They especially liked the big room just full of wooden blocks for building…so many towers and the like being created all around us! We took in an IMAX show about the Greatest Places on earth (supposedly) and then revisited some of the favorite exhibits before finally getting kicked out. (Wow. Balboa Park had so much to offer…could literally spend days there!)

(The pictures from that first day weren't anything special...just indoor shots, nothing great.) ;) 

MARCH 8: Well, Legoland lived up to its billing. The boys had a fabulous time, to put it mildly. We got there as it was opening and stayed until they closed. Noah led us all to the Volvo driving schools to start the day and we just proceeded around from there. (All three were very conscientious drivers…obeying the traffic laws well and earning their “license”. They loved that they got to "drive" where they wanted.)

The boys loved most all the rides they tried, were amazed at the factory tour (just a little exhibit with cool factoids like this):

and Miniland USA (that may have been my favorite part of the day…watching their fascination over the buildings and cities made of legos), and were delighted with the Lego sets they bought in the Big Shop just before leaving. (They’d planned it all out well in advance…what sets they wanted to get with the money they’ve been saving. They were disappointed by the Pick-a-Brick selection but made due with buying more sets.)

Though the weather remained a bit overcast, all the boys in our group climbed aboard the pirate ships with water canons and ate lunch wet. Fun times. ;) (Incidentally, I must say that certain male adults in our group took perverse pleasure in soaking innocent children, LOL!)

Even with all that, we didn’t make it to all the areas, and the boys had wanted to repeat a number of the rides. So. We’ll be going back on Thursday. ;) (They’re closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during this off-season.)

Within minutes of getting back to our unit, all three boys had begun construction of their new Lego sets, finishing assembly of a number of them before bed. ;)

MARCH 9: Sea World today! I wasn’t sure what to expect, having not been to a Sea World in more than 20 years, but it went really well and everyone had a great (and somewhat windy) day. Well, Micah wasn’t fond of the splashing during the Shamu show…but other than that. ;) We started the day visiting the Beluga whales (so beautiful), polar bears and walruses then headed over to the Sea Lion show (which was hilarious). Freshwater aquariums and sharks were next and then off to lunch at Ship Wreck Café, where the birds provided free entertainment as the boys tried to shoo them away. A quick visit to the dolphin area and then over to Shamu stadium to get good seats for the 2:30 show. Noah (who’d led us there to ensure good seats) became quite concerned over the “soak zone” that extended 16 rows. Nathan and Asher sat in about row 3. The rest of us were up closer to row 12ish, but Noah was still worried. Moments before the show started (having watched the warnings about the “soak zone” on the big screens) Nathan decided a couple ponchos might be in order. Nathan and Asher shared one and Noah put on the other (with me using a portion to protect the camera). Turns out that it was a good idea, as we did all get splashed a good bit. ;)

(This picture does not show when we got thoroughly splashed. This was nothing, lol. The camera was under cover during true splashing.)

After the show (which was cool), figuring we were already wet, the boys (minus Micah who was still miffed about being wet) rode the Shipwreck Rapids ride a few times. Micah and I figured out how to use the water canons from the sidelines for the second and third trips down, and sprayed them all. ;) (This is them just before getting to the area where Micah was poised with the water canon.)

We then hurried across the park to the Journey to Atlantis ride (a boat coaster through water), where Grandpa, Asher, Noah and I took the first run…Noah and Asher deciding that they much preferred the Shipwreck Rapids ride and opting not to ride again. Nathan and Grandpa took the next trip, with the boys waiting with water canons at the ready. Then, Grandpa and Grandma got to go while the rest of us headed for the gift shops and exit. A lovely day…

MARCH 10: We got a more leisurely start today (trying to let people rest up and attempting to get Micah and Asher over the sniffles and cough that have been plaguing them since we got to California (not sure whether it’s a cold or allergies…favoring allergies as there’s no fever or other symptoms and they seem fine otherwise)). Headed down to the USS Midway and began their self-paced audio tour. They provided headsets and units to type in the display number. The boys loved that part. Realizing that we didn’t have the stamina to finish out the audio tour and needed to do lunch sooner rather than later, we bypassed the middle of the tour and climbed to the flight deck to take in some of the aircraft before the rain and cold wind forced us back below. Asher and Grandpa rode a flight simulator type ride and then we all headed off for a late lunch at the Fish Market Restaurant nearby.

Here's up on the flight deck just before it started raining again:

And here's Nathan and I posing in front of this giant statue with the Midway in the background: 

While Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed a couple hours to themselves, we headed back to the unit, intending to have an earlier evening in, but stopped along the beach just south of the Oceanside Pier. We started out simply walking and looking for shells but eventually found ourselves wet and sandy. ;) As it was quite chilly and getting dark (we’d gotten there just in time for sunset), we made our way back to the van and took shivering boys back to the unit, where we plopped them in a hot bath.

I think the pictures at the beach are my favorites from the whole trip...here are just a few of them...particularly love these first two:

Here's Micah trying to use "the Force" to keep the water away:

And Noah collecting shells (Noah's the only one of us who remained dry):

Asher, on the other hand, ended the time at the beach completely soaked. Up to his armpits soaked. And so, so happy (note, Nathan is out there NOT to push the boy in but to keep him from going under, lol! Some of the other pics I have look like Nathan is trying to push Asher under...):

MARCH 11: Our last full day in California and the first with true southern California weather. We spent it at Legoland, having had the boys make a map/list of the attractions they wanted to visit. Knowing where we were going and not having the time pressures of trying to fit everything in, the day ran smoothly despite the increased crowds. We arrived before the gates opened and left as they were closing. We hit the favorite rides of Monday and caught a few new attractions (like this water ride that Nathan and Asher rode while Noah and the rest of us targeted/timed water canons to hit just them):

We also hit Miniland, USA again...such amazing Lego feats. Truly:

We lunched again at the Knights’ Table, where Micah declared the hot dog kids’ meals “the most fulling I’ve ever had.” At the end of the Dragon roller coaster, Micah turned to me and exclaimed, “that’s about my limit.” This time we skipped the Pirate Shores water ride but took in the Firefighter show and hit the water play area of Explore Village and the Coasterasaurus on the way out. Awesome.

After leaving the park, we drove to the Oceanside Pier (apparently the longest on the west coast) and walked to the end just in time to see the sunset before returning to the unit to pack and say our goodbyes before early morning departures. 

 
Whew. Sorry that got way long. Probably should have split it up more, but too lazy to go back and do that now. ;) Will be back later with the drive home...

Comments

[slammie]

FUN!

[Harriett]

Looks like you had a wonderful time. We miss living in CA and going to Legoland and all the great So. Cal. attractions.
Your pictures are amazing!

[Sarah Mullanix]

Looks like you had a great time...great photos!!! Seeing your pics makes me really want to go visit Cali again!
-Sarah