San Diego + theme parks

Back home from a California vacation, mentally rested but with wincingly sore feet. We almost had to cancel this trip at the last minute, but fortune smiled upon us. We spent a lovely weekend with my eldest sister’s family in San Diego, where we checked off my sons’ three requests: 1) go to the beach, 2) tour the Midway aircraft carrier, and 3) make homemade guacamole with their aunt – not to mention spend lots of quality time with their cousins.

The tide was on the high side when we got to the beach. My sister spotted a bunch of these little butterfly-like shells scattered across the sand, all different colors.

Shells

The aircraft carrier was pretty impressive. I enjoyed weaving through the labyrinthine forward loop.

AIphone — I’m pretty sure the “AI” on this phone doesn’t stand for artificial intelligence…

And the homemade guac was delicious! Later everyone surprised me with an equally yummy chocolate cake for my birthday, which was the day we headed out from my sister’s house to our next destination, LEGOLAND.

My other sister had convinced me to stay a night in the LEGOLAND Hotel, and oh my goodness, it was awesome.

LEGOLAND Hotel disco elevator interior — Two words: Disco. Elevator! All other elevators will pale in comparison for me from now on.

We stayed in an Adventure themed room, all ancient Egyptian style.

LEGOLAND Hotel adventure room — I snapped this in the dark. Hopefully the faded look adds to the temple-like ambience and doesn’t just reflect on my lack of photography skills.

We had much fun in the park too, especially getting early access one morning and doing the Ninjago ride three times in a row before the main crowd arrived. That enabled me to claim two spots on the daily top five scores (apparently using the same moves). Check it out:

Ninjago Ride high scores — Achievement unlocked.

However, I feel compelled to point out that the number one slot appears to be occupied by… Is that..?

Ninjago Ride high score closeup — A water bottle?! Achievement rescinded.

Sigh. Moving on. We headed up to Disneyland for a couple of days that really put my feet to the test. So much walking. This was a week just full of birthdays, because we inadvertently arrived on the day of the park’s 64^th birthday. Plus, LEGOLAND had been celebrating their 20^th.

We discovered on this trip that my kids have already surpassed me in the intensity of rides they’re willing to go on. Not that hard to do, actually, but still. Good news for my husband. Also, Disney has really upped their game of character meet and greets. Spying for stormtroopers in the new Star Wars area? Playing hide and seek with Peter Pan and Captain Hook? Yup, my boys had a very magical time. We all did.