May 26 - 31
At the beginning of our summer break we went on a family vacation to San Diego, California! We camped at the KOA and it was awesome. The campsite came with electricity and was very clean, the grounds were beautiful and lush, and the facilities were incredible.
Staying at the KOA was so much more enjoyable than staying at a hotel. The boys could play freely without going crazy from being cooped up. In some ways it was a little more work for Curtis and I, but we made some lasting family memories and it was totally worth the extra effort.
On our way to Legoland!
This boys were really looking forward to this trip because we were finally going to Legoland! We had saved up our spare change and Christmas money for a couple of years in preparation for this trip. Nathan and Bracken were well acquainted with our "Legoland Trip" jar that we kept in the laundry room. They worked hard to save up their own spending money as well and they each had a nice chunk of change burning a huge hole in their wallets.
The boys found a love for jerky on this trip which they come by honestly, their mother happens to be a carnivore at heart.
First Day at Legoland
Legoland was all it promised to be and more. We were a bit overwhelmed our first day. I kept reminding the boys that we were coming back for several days hoping they would relax and not worry about doing everything the first day. Bracken was so excited to spend his money that he could hardly focus on the rides and attractions. Every gift shop we passed he begged to go inside and buy something. I knew that we could hit up The Big Shop near the entrance on our way out so I tried to help him understand that he should wait till he had seen everything there was before made a decision about what to buy. Plus I didn't want to haul who knows what around the park for the entire day. Luckily my persuasion skills prevailed and Bracken made his purchase of a sword and shield at The Big Shop as we left for the day.
Bracken got the front seat!
Junior Driving School
Driving School
This helicopter ride was Marco's favorite. Don't be fooled by his facial expression, he really LOVED it. When ever we passed by it he begged to ride it again.
This ride was only meant for families of 4, so Curtis sat out. Unfortunately we needed his arm strength to pump our way to the finish line. Our family lost the race, but we finished.
We waited in line for over an hour all for a ride that lasted less than 3 minutes and left us soaking wet. I was not prepared for that. But having wasted so much time waiting in line I wasn't going to wimp out. I wish I had know that you can access this side from the water park as well. It would've been much more enjoyable had I been wearing my swimming suit knowing my warm towel was waiting for me on the other side.
Second Day At Legoland
Our second day at Legoland we had more of a game plan. We worked out an itinerary that worked in shows and rides. We hit up the part of the park that had the BIG rides aka the roller coasters! Nathan was a ride junkie, Bracken not so much.
Nathan was so excited to finally ride the Technic, the biggest roller coaster Legoland has to offer. So we went to that ride first with plans to make our way down from there. Biggest mistake ever! Bracken is, I'm afraid, scarred for life. The Technic is really not that scary when compared to the rides at other parks, it's meant for little kids. Bracken was totally tall enough to ride it, just not brave enough. It was too much too soon. Live and learn, live and learn. It made for some hilariously awesome ride photos, but we never purchase those things so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Marco did spend a bit of time waiting in the stroller munching on snacks while we waited for Papi to take the big boys on rides. But as far as amusement parks go Legoland had a lot to offer for little kids especially if you are willing to split up and have one parent go with the bigs and one with the littles. But we wanted to stay together and it was still great.
Aqua Zone - one of our favorites!
All of the rides that usually have long lines were set up with a play area to entertain the kids while the parents weaved through the line all while being able to keep an eye on their kidlets. We picked a great time of year to visit because we never waited in line longer than 10 minutes, the water ride being the only exception. Our boys were bummed that we never got to linger in a line for them to play at these sweet Lego tables so every now and then we stopped in a line just to build and play and waved all the people to pass on by.
Another of our favorites was driving these RC Lego boats in Miniland USA.
One of Bracken's favorite parts was the medieval themed section. I think if Bracken could have one of his wildest dreams come true he would be a knight in full armor battling a fiery dragon with his trusty sword and shield. He was pretty much in heaven here.
The Hideaways - a great play place where the kids could run, slide, explore and build to their hearts content and parents could come too!
We all loved riding in and driving these little motor boats, especially Marco. When the ride came to an end Marco did NOT want to get out. I pried his fists off the steering wheel, set him up on the dock, and just as I climbed out myself and the boat started to pull forward for the next occupant, Marco made a mad dash to try and claim another ride. I think the ride attendant had a mini heart attack but we caught him just in time.
Nathan was just as thrilled with his Legoland Lego set purchase as Bracken was with his sword and shield. Nate spent a good amount of his free time at our campsite working on one of the designs in the instruction booklet.
Nathan was obsessed with the idea of renting a bike at the KOA. We decided to give it a whirl mostly to get Nate off our case and $5 was worth a little peace and quiet. Nathan knew exactly which bike he wanted to try so we went with it and in the end Nathan didn't like it all. The reason he didn't like this particular bike was because Bracken could ride it faster than him! Nate is a wee bit competitive and his ego was injured therefore the bike was not cool.
Curtis and I sure got a kick out of watching Bracken cruse around the KOA having a grand time knowing he had bested Nate at something.
Third Day - Beach
After 2 full days of navigating Legoland with our 3 little boys, Curtis and I decided we needed a change of pace. We spent the morning enjoying the activities at the KOA and after lunch we packed up some food for dinner and hit up the beach for some relaxing family time.
It was our boy's first real beach experience and it took them a while to venture out through the piles of seaweed to the water's edge. They lingered around some tide pools while they watched surfers, which totally made their day! Then once their courage and curiosity had grown they waded out into the deep blue sea.
Marco was happy so stay in the tide pools and even happier to be held by Mommy. The pull of the waves on his little legs was a little unnerving for him so he didn't like to wade out into the surf.
Life on the beach is not something we are used to or even well prepared for. I didn't think to bring sand toys at all. Luckily we had a few random plastic spoons in our picnic tote that we used to dig until they broke in half, but even then we continued to use them! We still had a blast digging and next time I'll come better prepared.
Bracken raiding our stash of candy while no one was monitoring it.
Our day at the beach ended a bit tragically. As Marco was digging with one of our broken spoons, he accidentally flung a spoonful of sand into Bracken's face. It was not good. Bracken screamed and screamed. As luck would have it, Curtis had just left to go find a bathroom so I was stuck with our stuff and our kids and I couldn't leave. I did my best to calm him down and keep him from rubbing and scratching his eyes out all while trying to rid his face of as much sand as possible, with little progress. Once Curtis returned he rushed Bracken back to the bathroom he found because they had showers outside that he could use to wash his eyes out. It worked well enough, but Bracken's day was ruined. So we packed it up, ate our dinner at a park table nearby and returned to our home sweet tent. After a good nights sleep Bracken's eyes were just fine.
Fourth Day back to Legoland!
Being that we packed our days as full as we could, Marco never had a traditional nap. Each day he slept to and from our destinations which in the end added up to approximately the same amount of time he usually sleeps for naps so it all worked out in the end.
Our last day at Legoland we decided to check out the aquarium and the water park!
That's an octopus above Brack's head!
The petting tide pool was Bracken's favorite part of the aquarium. He loves animals and when we go to places like this he just soaks in everything with wonder and awe. He could have stayed here petting sea cucumbers and star fish all day.
SHARKS!!!! Big ones too!!!!
Leogland and Chima Water Park
Playing with giant, floating Lego bricks while you bob along the lazy river is totally rad. We were huge fans.
We didn't get very many action shots of the boys at the water park because water and cameras just don't mix. But the water park had some amazing water playgrounds with all kinds of wet and wild fun. And they had plenty of water slides to meet all your water slide needs. I wish we had spent an entire day at the water park instead of one afternoon. We probably only made it to half the attractions, but the half we experienced was really FUN!
On our way out of the park we hit up a few things in Legoland that we had missed out on due to school field trips monopolizing them for huge chunks of time.
Marco chilled out and built this adorable Duplo train while Nathan and Bracken built cars to race down a timed track. Nathan was annoyed that his car had zero chance of winning (again the competitive ego emerges) because another kid had brought his own super awesome mega Lego wheels from home so his car was skunking everyone else who had to use the basic Lego wheels provided by the park. Nathan still reminds me from time to time that next time we visit Legoland he is bringing his own super awesome mega Lego wheels just like that kid did, and this time he'll win.
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This is a perfect example of a kid who has been utterly exhausted from having too much fun.
We loved our family trip to San Diego and now that we have discovered their awesome KOA we want to make it our tradition to go at the beginning of the summer, before Curtis gets tied down to teaching summer school. We won't be able to do a week full of Legoland every time (EXPENSIVE!) but San Diego has so much to offer, we'll never run out of fun things to see and do.
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