Vacation

We got back from a week in California a week ago, but we've been busy, busy, busy every day since. I'm just now really getting around to emptying out our suitcases and catching up on laundry, and I'm happy to have a day mostly at home today.

As always, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

When we arrived on Monday in San Diego, we rented our car and drove around the city a bit. We happened upon the Maritime Museum, which sounded a little boring when we read about it in a brochure but turned out to be really cool. It's actually 7 or 8 ships docked in the harbor, and we got to tour all of them, including a Russian submarine. After that we headed to Carlsbad, checked into our hotel, and went to the beach.


Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early and drove to Disney Land. We were there when the park opened, at 10 am, and stayed til about 5 pm. We picked the perfect time of year to go. There were no lines for rides, and the weather was in the 60's and cloudy almost all week. Disney really has their act together. The park is so well run and clean. It's a lot different from Six Flags, and I think that's mainly because it's all families with little kids and not bands of marauding teenagers. Not that I have anything against marauding teenagers. It's just easier to keep an eye on your little kids when the big kids aren't running through trying to get to the next big roller coaster.

Wednesday we went for our second day at Disney, and by 5 pm we felt like we'd fully experienced it. We went back to the beach that evening, looking forward to the next day at LEGOLand.

Thursday we made it to LEGOLand, which was about 2 miles from our hotel, by 9:15. They opened at 10. We were the first people through the gates when the park opened, and Ryan was shaking from excitement. It was way more fun than Disney Land and much less crowded. We had a two day pass, but they were offering an extra day to anyone who bought a ticket for one day, so they gave us passes for a third day. This made for a really relaxed second day, because we knew we didn't have to cram everything in.

Saturday, after two days at LEGOLand, we went to the aquarium in LaJolla then spent the day beach combing. There are beautiful cliffs and tide pools in La Jolla, and the water is turquoise. The kids collected buckets full of shells. They had already collected buckets of sea rocks in Carlsbad. That evening we toured the USS Midway, a huge aircraft carrier, in San Diego and went to an incredible raw restaurant called Cilantro Live. All the food was delicious, and it was so hard to believe it was all raw. Amazing!

Every morning and evening we walked on the beach. Our luggage is filled with sand, and our heads are filled with happy memories. Sunday we had a relaxed final day at LEGOLand and headed to the airport, ready to sleep in our own beds and see our dogs after a completely fun-filled six days.