Legoland

Well, finally, the conclusion to our May vacations. We ended our time with a day at Legoland. The boys LOVE Legos. We have them everywhere and so we thought, what a perfect place to go.

And it was a great time, but with the holiday weekend (Memorial Day) we picked a busy time to visit. Unfortunately we didn't get to ride all the rides they wanted to try, but the ones we did ride were a hit. A favorite part of the day was all the replicas of cities across America, made from Legos. There's Washington DC, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and more. Their favorite was the newly opened Star Wars with scenes from the movies redone out of Legos. It's really amazing what a person can do with enough Legos!

Without further ado, the photos from our visit!

At the entrance with the characters

This one's for Grandma Sheryl- we'll get you a copy

My facial expression in the last photo is a bit embarrassing for how small the slide really was. To see it closer just click on the photo! I figure I slightly embarrass everyone else in my family on this blog- so it's my turn!

The Capitol building- with an actual Lego Marching band!

The Star Wars area

After waiting an hour to drive this car, Little Brother cried for the whole 3 minute drive. 

The above are made of sand! Really amazing...

The End!

Beaches and more beaches

The day after big Brother graduated Kindergarten, we headed to the beach. My kids love Marmaduke (the movie) in which they move to the OC. So, when we landed in California, Big Brother asked, "Is this the OC?" Just made us laugh a bit!

Our first few hours there, we headed to Huntington Beach. It was actually cold and very windy, but we had to see the beach after preparing and traveling all day to get there!

After a walk on the boardwalk, we found our favorite restaurant from Hawaii. It's called Duke's. In addition to locations on the different Islands, they have 2 in California. It's fantastic- I love the fish tacos and we all loved the Hula Pie. It was gone so fast, I couldn't even get a photo snapped. Little Brother said it was the best restaurant ever. Here he is above with a mac-n-cheese mustache. 

The next day, Kevin was working. I was on my own with the boys for my first time ever in California and one of my first times driving a rental car. I found my way to a Walmart, picked up buckets, shovels, towels and snacks, and we made our way to the tide pools in Laguna Beach. We saw tons of snails, crabs, and even some lobster that were washed up and eaten by the seagulls. We found a few small fish and when the kids got bored, we headed over to splash in the ocean.

We picked up Kevin after his meetings were done and headed down to San Diego. We stopped in La Jolla to visit the seals and do some sight seeing. The kids really loved it.

The next day we hung out on Coronado Island- one of our most favorite places on earth. It was a beautiful, relaxing day- the beach, our favorite ice cream place and a sweet little town. The only non-relaxing (is that a word?) part was a bicycle ride around the island. The boys hung out in the basket up front, while Kevin and I pedaled them around for an hour. Easier said than done!

Our last beach day was spent at Mission Beach. It was a cold, gray morning, so we walked along the beach, writing messages in the sand. Eventually it warmed up and the kids made more castles, found more shells, and ran through a zillion more waves. We relaxed!

Spent the evening with old friends from our high-school days that live on Mission Beach. Had great pizza and fun at their house afterwards. (No Pictures, though!)

Our last day was spent at Legoland. That's a post in itself...

Book Review!

I need to take a break from Vacation Photos and share something that I've loved! It has been a very long time since I've read a book. Sadly, I read to the boys every night, but find myself wasting hours on the internet or in front of the television! So, with 4 long flights and some time on my hands on vacation, I read three books! 

Let me preface this by saying- I haven't written a book review since high school and even then, I was forced to do it! I know I won't do these justice, but the last one, especially, is definitely worth reading!

First, there is my always favorite, easy to read, author- Nicholas Sparks. I usually read his books as soon as they come out, but this one has been waiting over a year for me. It was true to his style and a good fast read. I always feel like I'm watching a movie while I read his books. It's the story of a woman who is hiding from a past life and struggling to start a new one. It's got love, suspense, romance, and is probably going to me a movie someday (just like his other books!)

Next, came Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua. It is an autobiography of a chinese-american mom who describes her ways of raising her two daughters. Oh My Gosh! If you want to feel a little better about your parenting approach, you should read this! I was really amazed at how much she shared and the struggles they had. Not my favorite book, but pretty good nonetheless.

Lastly, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This is by far the best book I've ever read. It's over 500 pages and I couldn't put it down. I read it in record time and every night I am sad that I'm done with it. It's a story of a young girl who lives in a poor neighborhood in Munich, Germany during the reign of Hitler. She doesn't have much, but her most prized possessions are her books, many stolen, some gifted to her. I've always enjoyed books (fiction and non-fiction) that covered this era in history. I really enjoyed the perspective from which he wrote this book. A fresh look at the struggle of the Jews and the Germans who didn't really buy into Hitler's propoganda. All in all, I was really sad when I finished the book. I know it will be on my "favorites list" for a long time to come.

San Francisco: Conclusion

Since it's been 2 full weeks since we got home, I figured it was about time to wrap this up! On our 3rd day of the trip, we scheduled a tour that included the Muir Forest (Redwood trees) and Sonoma wine country. After all the walking we'd done, a day on a tour bus sounded pretty good!

We thought we were visiting were those huge Redwoods that you can drive through, but apparently that's quite a bit north of where we were. These were still Redwoods- just the super tallest ones. Still neat in their own way and only a short drive from San Francisco. What a change in climate, though.

Next, we were off to two wineries in Sonoma. We are not big wine drinkers, but it was a great time. We learned a lot about the process of making wine and enjoyed several types we tried! 

These oak barrels are from France and some are over $6,000 per barrel! Who knew?

At our 2nd stop- Cline Winery

The house in the distance belongs to the Jacuzzi Family- the one who invented Jacuzzi's. Now, they run a winery.

Our last stop of the day was to see the Golden Gate Bridge. He got us a pretty great view!

On our last full day, we walked around San Francisco a ton more! I was determined to see the victorian houses, but there were no buses or trolleys out that way. So, Kevin being a good sport and I took a very long walk to see them. 

Still not sure if it was worth it, but it was a beautiful, more relaxed part of town.

I loved seeing doors like the one above. We couldn't quite figure out if the doors were there first or the sidewalks. Either way, what a pain to get in and out of your house that way! We spent the afternoon in Little Italy (North Beach) and I loved the way the posts were all painted so you knew you were in Little Italy. 

Finished off the day (hiding from the cold wind) in this beautiful church. On one wall, they had many pages from very old Bibles. The one below was an Italian translation of Job from 1217.

It took a couple of days to get my normal home routine out of my head. I kept thinking what my mom and kids were doing while we were out and about the town. Finally, I was able to just enjoy the time away and I'm so grateful that my mom spoiled my kids and allowed us to get away on a much needed little escape from home! Thanks Mom!

 

Here she is getting a much deserved massage when we got home! 

She even offered to do this every 6 months for us. You don't have to ask me twice! Just gotta decide where to next!