We had a 5-day Go San Diego Pass, which I'd recommend highly. All of the places we visited were included, including some discounts in shops and food. Plus, in the interest of getting the most out of the pass, it really did get us up and out the door each day. The drawbacks were the 5:30pm cut off time as we would have enjoyed some evening activities. It also didn't include Sea World.
Today, we set out for the Birch Aquarium, in La Jolla. A much more manageable place than Sea World-less crowds, less showy but the boys loved it.
In the tide pool area, the boys got to touch a sea cucumber and a starfish. Connor was ready to get into the pool with them, but that was frowned upon.
Having fun in the shark exhibit.
Perhaps the coolest area was the water play, where they could rearrange slats in the water to allow boats to race down to the end. There were jets on the slanted table, so they propelled the boats down, but it was interesting in how some boats got stuck and others followed the current easily. Science experiments and lessons to be discovered. My brother-in-law Chris would probably have some super explanation for what was happening. It's a little eerie how much Ian and Chris are alike.
The kids play area included large hand puppets.
We ate our lunch and headed off to the San Diego Zoo, which I didn't remember as being quite as rigorous when I went 12 or so years ago. Maybe I was more agile then and didn't care. But wheeling over 60 lbs of boys up and down steep hills-let's just say it was a great workout.
Tom decided to head over to the BodyWorks exhibit at the Natural History Museum, which I saw when they went to the Science Center. (I think I forgot to mention those in my previous posts) I think this is the exhibit that Jesse and Tewlyn were telling me about and it was definitely very interesting, but probably too macabre for young children. While Tom was visiting the exhibit, I took the boys down the street to the zoo.
I hauled the kids around the zoo, which was like a comedy routine. I asked Ian twice about visiting the restroom, with a clear NO each time. They wanted to see elephants. Ian, at one point, stands up in the wagon while I am pulling and falls flat on his back on the pavement.
We get to the elephants and neither of them are remotely interested in looking at them. Instead they wanted to see the scorpions, dung beetles and spiders. Greeeat.
Ian announces he needs to use the restroom, now that we are close to any of them. This is Murphy's Law. I haul them to the restroom and begin parking the wagon in front of the building. Ian hops out of the wagon and yanks down his pants, ready to take care of business.
Ian: Okay, I am ready to go standing up!
Mommy: NOOOOOO, pull up your pants! The restroom is RIGHT THERE.
Ian: It's okay, Mommy, I can pee on the tree right there.
Mommy: Yeah, no you can't.
Passerbys: (whispers and giggles)
The joy of boys.
Tom meets us in the zoo a bit later and takes the boys on the SkyRide. I am not certain how Ian liked it.
We met up at the Reptile House at Ian's request to see snakes. (sorry, Grandma Sheila)
A photo of all of us.
And just for fun....a photo of Tom and me, B.C. circa 1997.
Back at the ho and tell, more Lego building and playing.
Camping Update: I have no update! I haven't heard from Tom or Ian, but they should arrive sometime today. Connor and I watched Thomas the Train, read stories and I watched some Friends until 1:00am.
Ian, now being of pure heart and golden behavior, was thrilled that we actually were heading to Legoland on Tuesday. My husband, appalled to see a huge line for parking, was disappointed we didn't arrive right at 10:00am. This at 10:15am, which if anyone knows the two of us, is NOT bad at all.
We arrive at the Land of Legos.
Where everything you see is a Lego creation...
Oops, except them.
The first ride we see is a safari jeep ride, which the boys were excited to go on. We waited about 46 minutes...my husband actually timed it and he could speak to the exact time.
What is potentially great about Legoland is their kid waiting area, where they have several Lego tables and bricks set up for the kids to play while one (or both) parents wait on obnoxiously long lines.
I say potentially great and here's why.
Connor played with about three bricks. He was fine and happy.
Ian, alone at the tables for a few minutes, began to build a large house, which you can see in the upper photo. This required a lot of bricks, scaffolding and meticulous decisions on his part. Several boys came to look-a few didn't touch based on his hairy eyeball. One set of three kids, undaunted by Ian's stares, came to "help" by dismantling various pieces and putting them in different spots. Ian, at first, clearly irritated, quietly took the bricks and replaced them to their original place as quickly as they took apart another section.
I see him take a huge breath, as if to calm himself down. I could see how much he wanted to just shove these other kids to another table so he could work in peace. He said nothing. I didn't intervene too much, allowing him to figure out how he would deal with the other kids. He didn't really deal with them, but tolerated them until they left. I want him to be flexible and I want him to be more confident-I see a lot of my younger self in him, and I don't think I would have done anything different at his age.
The kids finally left, only to have another young boy come along, about Ian's age. This boy seemed to connect with Ian, although neither said a word to each other. The boy helped rebuild the house and they quietly played together without talking. There seemed to be an unspoken understanding of how to build. I would pilfer a few bricks to put on other tables, so they didn't hog all of the bricks. I
It was fine, until another mother came over with her two children, who wanted to play. They set themselves up at the table next to Ian. The mother, without warning or niceties, took Ian and the other boy's house-destroyed about three walls and smashed the pieces apart and gave them to her kids. Now, just to be clear-there were Lego bricks at all of the tables. Her kids already had some bricks with which to play.
The look on the boys' faces-complete disbelief and discouragement. The mother, on a cell phone (of course) didn't speak to them at all-not a "Hey, could we share?" or "I'm about to destroy your building."or "I'm a raging $#*%@ so, watch out"-nothing. The mom of the other boy nudged him back into line, upon seeing this princess of a mother. Ian stood there for a good two minutes, trying not to cry and tried to process what had happened. Finally, he began to build an AT-AT walker, which we had to leave about two seconds later for the ride. I took a picture so he wouldn't completely lose it.
The 46 minutes to 2 minute ride time ratio was a little irritating, but the boys enjoyed turning the steering wheel with zero interest in the Lego safari animals.
Chewgabacca-Tom made me take this.
The kids playground had several houses and a small train to ride on. The boys loved this little train and I think they secretly liked that we let them go on by themselves....twice.
The Lego/Volvo raceway.
Poor Connor wasn't able to really work the wheel and the gas pedal so the ride assistants had to help him around. But he had fun!
The Lego helicopters-Connor wanted to go to the very top and spin around like a madman. Michael and Terri-I see skydiving in this kid's future.
The Coke machines look like Legos.
The Lego factory, which was a bit lamer than I anticipated. I was hoping for that Hershey Park type ride and explanation of how they make Legos. But the boys enjoyed the short walk-through and seeing some bricks were made.
What you don't see is our Pirate Ship ride, where Tom and I were soaked and afraid to take the camera out. It was a great ride, but I had to do the Madonna Desperately Seeking Susan dryer move following the ride.
Here we are at Miniland, which was one of my favorite areas in the park. Replicas of cities made from Legos, including motorized cars and trains.
For Aunt Soooz and Uncle Jeff, some NYC....
San Francisco.
For Aunt Terri, the Hollywood Bowl.
A break to steer the Lego boats around the lake.
NYC's Rockefeller Center.
For Julie and Sean..Las Vegas.
A picture. Of the four of us. Really. Except one of us has to be uncooperative. Guess who it was this time.
For Michael and Terri-Mount Rushmore. I have about twenty more pictures from Lego Miniland, but I tried to spare you. I probably could have tried harder.
We spent a good half hour or more navigating the Lego store.....packed to the gills with parents pushing strollers and excited kids carrying enormous Lego boxes. I didn't have a stroller, but I did have some claustrophobic moments and some moments where I wanted to smack random people, but I didn't. ;)
Tom took Ian around to pick out a set with his saved money. Ian chose a huge Republic Attack Ship from Star Wars. Tom chose a Secret Agent Robot for himself and Connor chose a Thomas the Train Lego set. We also got a few small characters from Star Wars and Hot Bob to complete our shopping.
Before leaving, the boys posed with Lego Darth Vader and R2-D2.
It was a fun day and we definitely recommend it. The lines were not too bad after the initial safari ride and plenty to do for kids Connor's age.
By the way-Grandma Sheila, the wagon was essential during our vacation. We brought it everywhere and it was a lifesaver! We are happy to have put it to good use and thank you.
Connor's vacation MO....asleep in the car before we leave the parking lot.
The rest of the evening was spent putting Legos together at the ho and tell. (Ian's word for hotel, which initially he called the "Show and Tell." "Ho and tell" is much funnier.
Camping Update: Ian and Daddy are enjoying their camping weekend up north, with a check-in call this morning. They are going to explore the Lava Tube, so I am sure it is a great Father's Day for Tom. What I didn't tell him was that Connor and I stayed up until midnight watching Cars while eating chips and homemade guacamole.
Really.
We opted to stay one more day and just relax at the beach for the day. This time, we decided to drive to Coronado to a beach we have visited in the past. The weather was perfect and the water was a little chilly, but didn't deter swimmers, surfers or Connor.
Tom actually thought he might relax and read on the beach. Riiight.
Instead the boys got him to play in the water.
Ian enjoyed a short leash of freedom to run down to the water and fill up his sand buckets.
He did need some assistance with the large green bucket.
The boys then decided to get covered in sand. Ian loved it.
So did Connor.
A view of the Hotel del Coronado.
Daddy enjoyed being covered in sand.
And when he emerged as some crazy sand monster, the boys LOVED it.
Following a quick rinse and change, we drove and found a little seafood restaurant on the bay that Tom and I have eaten at several times. As it turned out, they changed hands and became a much swankier place to eat, which we didn't realize until we were out on the deck. Swanky isn't too much our speed. The food was good and we all got some hot cocoa to chase the chill in the air.
