Chuck and I each took a week off work. Which I've never done. Ever. Getting married, other trips, cruises, going to Canada even and all I took was a Friday or Monday off. Sad. Pathetic. I have months of vacation time I don't use yearly, which isn't cashed out and not all of it rolls over. I don't know why I don't use it other than its easier to not make up the missed time and I plan everything around work. Anyway, my resolution for this year was to actually use some of it, so far I have used 5 days but better than last year! I also never use sick days, which was my second resolution instead of going to work near death is to actually stay home. But enough about that, it was glorious to not go to the office (I did take some calls, return some emails and texts) but isntead to spend the whole week with Chuck and Mason was great.
Monday: We got up, packed up the car, had my sister Chelsey come over to get keys to feed and water our pets, had breakfast then went to the bank and gassed up. We headed out about 10am. Its about a 5 hour car ride. We stopped in Barstow for lunch, diaper change and to let Mason run around. In the car he played with toys, and watched Cars and Finding Nemo on the PSP which was nice. He finally fell asleep for his afternoon nap when we were about an hour away. Our check-in was at 3p and we got settled in at a Ramada in Carlsbad, CA. We had booked a "queen suite" which was supposed to be a bedroom and bath with doors going to a living room and dinnette where we were going to have Mason sleep in his play pen. Instead we got a full living and kitchen area with TWO bedrooms and bathrooms which was even better! It turned out for the best since we set up all Mason's belongings in his room and bathed him in his bathroom then while he was napping we could still watch TV in the living room area or eat in the kitchen area and had more space. Mason thought it was great to run from room to room, turning the TV's on and off. We brought his toys from home so he could play in the living room area and brought his drinks and snacks and had a fridge and microwave to use. After we unpacked everything we decided to drive around. We were just a few blocks from the beach, so we found a park near the hotel. It had GIGANTIC squirrels. These things were beasts, like small cats. Mason chased them and played then we went to Sammy's Woodfire Pizza which was right near us. The hotel had a lot of restaurants around it like Claim Jumper and then fast food places as well. Mason was kind of a bear at dinner, probably from being in the car all day and not napping well. We walked around the hotel to see the pool and waterfall and then let him watch tv, take a bath and get to bed.
In the car on the way to California
These two were tired from driving, watching TV at the hotel
Giant freaky squirrels at the park near the ocean
Sliding at the Park
Tuesday: We got up and ready then went to breakfast at the hotel who had free breakfast every morning. It was in a glass atrium with tables inside or out. Mason got to sit in a big boy chair and eat little muffins. We kind of stalled for a bit sine Legoland doesn't open til 10am (which is lame for young kids who wake up early) but the SeaLife Aquarium which is right next to Legoland opened at 9am. We went and took some pictures out front, got great parking then waited in line for the Aquarium to open. We went through it (takes about an hour) and Mason loved it. We almost took him to the Shark Reef today actually since he's still talking about "fishies and big sharks". We then toyed around in the gift shop where we purchased a photo they took of us and Mason got a Nemo (clown) fish stuffed animal he drug around California for the rest of the week. Then it was time for Legoland! I'll post more later about Legoland itself but we had fun. We went on rides, played in the splash pads and took a ton of pictures (over 650 to be exact) and then left to go eat lunch. We stopped for fast food then went and ate in our kitchen area at the hotel and put Mason down for his nap. We let him nap a couple hours then got our swim suits and headed back to the new Legoland Water Park. Unfortunately, it was overcast and under 70 degrees even though it was supposed to be the warmest and sunniest of the week. We braved it anyway and the pools are all heated to 80. We went down water slides and had fun then played in the new zoo splash pad that opened up just last month. It was getting really cold so we changed into our dry clothes and went on more rides and walked around more. We had dinner at the SeaLife Cafe which had a big tank in it that Mason and Chuck loved and didn't eat since they were too busy watching the fish. We then headed back to the hotel (Legoland closes at 8p but we left early) to get Mason bathed and into bed. We watched TV and brought our laptop while we were at the hotel but Mom and Dad got plenty of rest too, think we slept 10 hours straight most nights! It was draining not being used to the 70% humidity and sun (when it was shining). 
Nice people are all over taking your pictures to hussle you to purchase them, we did. Its not even centered!
This was actually on the last day, this being the 4th time walking through the gates
This is the first trip to the aquarium, all the displays and figures were made out of Legos there too
Walking into the park, Mason was excited to see all the dinosaurs and elephants
At the aquarium, Mason liked the "sea horsies" as he calls them
In front of Legoland, see how early we were, no one is there!
Second day, meeting the real Bob (Lego Bob to the left)
On an airplane ride, not sure if he's scared or waiting for it to start...
At Duplo Playtown which is geared toward younger children (2-5 yrs)
Duplo Playtown, he was in a second story playhouse looking down
At the Water Park, the kiddie pool was 2ft deep, in the back distance are the larger slides
Day 2 at the aquarium, this bridge and slide went over two open fish tanks
At the aquarium cafe, the restuarants all had play areas for the kids, EVERYTHING made out of Legos
At the Water Park again, Chuck and Mason going down the slide, you could fit 4 people across
At the Sports Cafe out front, old-school baseball player Lego guy, Mason wanted his bat
Daddy and Mason on an airplane ride, lots of rides for little kids
The Full House houses! This was like 1/100th of Miniland. It was incredible.
Spraying the alligators and frogs at one of the splash pad areas, they were all animated and making noise
Chuck and Mason in front of a Lego board of the three Star Wars movies they have displayed in Lego form at Miniland
Thursday: We had breakfast at Denny's (I was sick of eating the hotel breakfast) then headed to the beach. It was pretty chilly so we just played in the sand and brought sand toys. We got our feet wet and the water was actually pretty warm but too cold to swim. We stayed awhile and as we were leaving it got sunny. We then drove to the Carlsbad Premium Outlets mainly to kill time before going in the car back home, we were trying to leave at nap time. The outlets were nice but way overpriced, I'm talking the toy 'outlet' store was twice the price of the same toys at Target, lame-o. We just walked around in the cool sea air then had lunch at Hot Dog on a Stick, which was a weird because it had an extended menu, not like the mall Hot Dog. Sugar Free Lemonade there, yum! Then we got in the car to come back. Mason watched another movie in the car, we stopped to gas up and went to Baskin Robins for some ice cream then Mason napped for a couple hours on the way home. We got home about 5p, had dinner then went to my sister's house to show her pictures then put Mason to bed and started to unpack and do laundry.
Walking on the beach, it was chilly that early in the morning
The waves came in faster than they expected I guess!
Mason's "cheese face" he makes for every picture.... sigh
Mason thought it was hilarious to have his feet buried then to stand up
He was rolling around on the sand and was covered in sand
Watching the waves and relaxing before heading home
Friday: We still had the day off even though we were back (you know how you always need a vacation after a vacation, we wanted a few days to relax after returning) and we took Mason to Pre-Preschool. Yes, two pre-pre's before the school for his Friday morning class for ages one and a half to three. Its at the rec center and he loves his teacher, they do coloring, learning to cut with scissors, then circle time, ring around the rosie, stickers and its over in 45 minutes. We then went to Purple Penguin Snowcone Shack which I love because of their sugar-free snowcones (adding cream is a must!) and delivered some snowcones to my siblings then again had naps, went to Target to get Mason what else, some Legos! He didn't even have any before Legoland so we got some Cars Duplo legos on clearance (yes!) for his upcoming birthday. We saw some at Legoland but figured we could buy them at home for cheaper. Then we watched some train movies with Mason and had dinner and put him to bed. I don't think he feels great, he says his ear hurts (possibly swimmer's ear from all the water park/splash pads) so I'm going to let him rest and recover, he had a busy week for an almost two year old! We had a great time and I'll post more on my tips for Legoland! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment