This was such a fun trip and I am so thankful that we were invited and were able to go. About a year ago Mandy had reserved a condo in Oceanside for their family vacation, they booked it for a week. Paola and her family decided to go up the end of the week and spend the last couple of days with them since Bubba had to work and wouldn't be able to get the whole week off.
So that was that, the plan was set. Well the planned changed big time. Mandy had called Paola and told her that LEGOLAND was offering five days for the price of one. She thought that they would benefit from that offer then just going a couple days and paying full price for two days.
Well long story short, this was us:
So Paola offer to pay for gas since they were going up there anyways, and Mandy helped with the tickets. So a couple days later Paola and her three kids, Ashley, Brookie and myself were on the road to California. We left Dave and Bubba at home since they both had to work.
I would not have been able to go if it wasn't for my amazing boss and co-workers. Who can call their boss on a Monday and ask if they can leave the next day for the rest of the week?
Because the trip was so last minute I didn't really have time to stress as much as I usually do about everything, but I did stress. I was worried about Brooklyn being in the car for so long. I think the farthest we have ever taken her was to Mesquite. But she was SO good. I was so proud of her. Thankfully she had cousins and Aunt Paola to keep her company. Because we had to stop a few times with the kids, it took us 8 hours to get there.
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| At one of our four stops! |
We didn't get to California until 10pm that night. Once we got there the kids were so excited to see each other and it took us awhile to get them calmed down for the night. Brookie did pretty good sleeping there, but the first night she did wake up a few times. When we got there Mandy had told us that we could see the ocean from their back patio but because it was so late we weren't able to see it.
DAY 1
So the first thing I did when I woke up was look out the patio window and it was so pretty. So beautiful compared to the St. George heat we had just left behind.
We all got up, ate breakfast and headed to LEGOLAND.
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| I knew I'd make it to New York one day. |
DAY 2
The kids were asking about the beach, they wanted to go so bad. So we decided to take them to the beach on the 2nd day. Everyone was so excited, I hadn't been to the beach myself since I was little. We were able to walk their from the condo. The walk was so neat, to be able to see all the boats docked and the little restaurants and cafes that are close by. It looked like something off TV.
Once we got to the beach it looked awesome, then we hit the sand. Mandy and her family had been there before and she told me how much she hated the sand on everything but I didn't think it was going to be that bad. It was not easy taking Brookie's stroller so we had to pull it, then she just thought she would get sand everywhere. But I loved seeing her reaction with the beach and the waves.
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| I had tripped and fell trying to pull the stroller so Ash took over for me. I think the locals knew we were tourists. :) |
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| Allie DID NOT like the beach at all. She told Mandy she didn't like the water chasing her. So she was very content playing in the sand. |
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| As you can see with Brookie, sand was EVERYWHERE! |
So stupid me didn't think I needed any kind of sunblock. I had put some on my cute white baby, but not me. I thought since it was only 70 degrees outside I would be fine. NOPE, Ash and I both got burnt, raccoon eyes and all.
On our way back to the condo the boys and Allan tried to catch some dinner.
When we got back to the condo we took advantage of the pool shower and rinsed off as much sand as we could. Then we took a dip in the pool there. Finally we all showered and made dinner. We pretty much went to bed early every night.
DAY 3
LEGOLAND water park. I didn't get a lot of pictures here, but at the end of the day when we were all getting ready to leave. The kids found a little shaded area where they had huge Lego pieces and had a blast building forts. Brookie just wanted to knocked everyone's work down. Since everyone was telling her no, she ran around saying "NO" really loud.
As soon as we left the water park Brookie was out. Since we still had time before the park closed the kids rode some rides.
That night after dinner Paola was cleaning the kitchen and let Brooklyn help.
DAY 4
This was a last and final day at LEGOLAND. We decided to go to their aquarium and then ride some more rides on the last day.
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| Let's look at some fishies. |
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| Parker had asked me to take a picture of him like this. There you go bud! |
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| Brooklyn was yelling in this picture. |
When you leave the aquarium you enter the aquarium restaurant. Legoland is so tricky, they want you to pay $9 for your lunch, but thankfully they let us take coolers into the park. So we found some nice tables in the shade and had some lunch.
On the last day there it was a Stars Wars theme. So they had live characters and lego models of fun Star Wars things.
It was pretty hot on our last day. They have this HUGE playground for younger kids will all types of little houses, stores, cars, and even a jail. Brookie had fun playing there, but you couldn't sit on the cars or anything because it was too hot.
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| Another fun lego center with shade! |
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| Watching a princess show in the distance. |
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| These lego people are in front before you go into the gate. Every time we passed them we wanted to take these pictures. They are too funny. |
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| Ash and her little family. |
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| One last ride on the story book boat. She didn't seem to like it as much as the first time. |
We got up early the next day for the drive. We wanted to get home as early as possible since it was Father's Day. Thankfully the kids were so good, and we made it home by 4pm. Brooklyn was so happy to see her dada!
It was such a fun trip! I'm so glad it worked out.
