July 4th 2015

Of course we celebrated Papa.  

He serves us on his birthday...making pancakes, putting up tents, getting 4-wheelers running, running all over supporting his kid and grandkid activities. Madison had performances and duties as Southeastern Utah's Outstanding teen, Tatum was crowned Miss Pleasant Valley Days (again), and Erik was in charge of a tire flipping contest in Price. My parents ran back and forth and all over the place!

Getting patriotic during the parade....

The Razor rides from Uncle Jared...

Cousin time! Hiked the Bear Cave, played wolves, balanced on Darin's slack line, made mud in the sandbox, went to the swings...just your basic free range weekend in the woods.

The fireworks....

The American Girls and their dolls.....

Weeekend highlights:  Slackline, BBQ Ribs 2x, Werewolf, Gestures (especially when Tatum said "capiche" for the O.K. sign Byron was making...hilarious).

Major Howard Egan

Major Howard Egan was an Irish immigrant, rope maker, sailor, Mormon, pioneer, body guard, pony express rider,  murderer, and Darin's great great great grandfather.  I think just about in that order.

He is a wild west character every bit as iconic as Wild Bill Hickok.  It was argued at the symposium Darin and I attended, that the main reason the country at large doesn't know about him is because he was a polygamist...that wasn't, and still isn't looked on very favorably by most people (me included). But I share Lousia May Alcott's view of men "I do like men who come out frankly and do not own that they are gods".  White washed history is fine for the kiddos, but at this point, I want to hear it straight.  I want to hear about real life, warts and all. As amazing as M. Howard Egan was, he had some really big warts (don't we all?).  The thing that makes him great is that he seems to have had more grit and endurance than most of us.

The reunion was like no reunion I have ever attended! Huge symposium where historians, authors, and professors spoke PLUS a blue grass band which included an old friend of mine from Price.  There was a Pony Express trail ride,  a historical sights tour, a hike, and it all concluded with a program and dinner at This Is The Place state park.

It was all very interesting, and the kids loved This Is The Place. 

 It was especially fun to be there with cousins!

We wore Soren right out!  I think it was the Irish Dancing that finally took him over the edge.

I am so glad the kids got a taste of their family heritage.  Hopefully that will spark a life-long interest in their ancestors on both sides.  

Hopefully, when the time comes that they need it, they will remember that they have lots of genetic grit and endurance floating around in their little bodies.

Day 6 BEEYOBV

Our last day....we had until 2:30 pm before we had to start heading toward the airport so we asked everyone what was the 1 thing they wanted to make sure and fit in before we left.

Byron and Soren wanted to do the Chima 4D experience

Miriam wanted to do Coastersaurus

The kids wanted to find some more penny smashing machines.

Darin and I both wanted to do Captain Cranky's Challenge which I kept calling Captain Crusty's Revenge for some reason and it got stuck in my brain as such. 

I also wanted a crepe from Heartlake City.

If you stay at the Legoland hotel you can get into the park an hour before it officially opens.   Only the stores, and Explorer Island rides are open at that time...but luckily those were the rides we hadn't been on yet (I don't think we planned that...I think it just happened). So we got down to the Brick's breakfast buffet at 7:00 to be out the door by 9:00.

Brick's was a kid breakfast buffet dream, balloon artist made swords for the kids and all!

I wasn't super impressed, but I can see why the kids loved it.

I am like an old lady with my obsession with the weather but again mid 70's with overcast skies!!

Explorer Island has lots of slow - look at the legos - type of rides but we all loved them! 

There were hardly any lines at all so it was a relaxing and fun hour together.

Right at 10:00 we hit "Captain Cranky's Revenge".  The kids were not excited about this ride but ended up loving it so much we went on it twice, in a row, just our family.

 

We hadn't been through the Star Wars legos either, so glad we didn't miss that!

We squeezed in a Miniland USA boat tour before the guys hit the 12:00 showing of Chima.

Miriam and I surprised the boys by going to The Big Shop and picking out souvenir T-shirts for the boys, and of course she got to pick one for herself. 

(this was both fun surprise and me having control issues, I didn't want the boys picking out their own t-shirts, Miriam's taste I can trust)

We smashed some more pennies, and the kids got ice cream cones. 

Not me though, because remember....the nutella crepe request...in Heartlake City....with the Friends.

I love the Friends.

M & B wanted one more ride in the Driving School, and Soren wanted one more trip to Duplo Village.  We sent M & B off with instructions to meet at the village when they were done.

The kids ran around, built some impressive towers, and then we all shared the crepe.

Some of us could have done more...played longer at the playgrounds, went on a few of our favorite rides again, but Soren was done and it was time to be on our way.

Good-bye Legoland!!

Hello crazy California highways!

There was an accident so traffic had already started backing up, a closed on-ramp we needed AND the San Diego county fair to deal with.  Darin saved the day on that one.  I was about ready to cry from traffic frustration but he went into save-the-day mode.

We got our rental returned, and made it to the airport with time to peacefully enjoy some dinner.

This was my favorite airplane ride ever (well, since having kids) because Darin and I got to sit by each other with all three of the kids in the row behind. We were taking off just as the sun was setting, so it was beautiful, and then as it got dark we could look down and see the lights from cities below. 

It all went by so fast!

There was some vacation let down (mostly me) and major adjustments to how normal summer days will be (chores - mostly the kids) but I think we are all satisfied with our adventure...and content for now to be home. Although I, as mentioned, had a hard time facing the responsibilities of being home I loved the feeling of waking up in my own bed, in my own home, with my own stuff. 

Be it ever so humble...there's no place like home!

Day 5 BEEYOBV

We hit Pirate Reef right before going to the Chima Water Park.  Good choice, it got us so wet! Darin declared it his favorite ride of the day.

This was a huge hit with our Chima loving boys.  The decorations were so great, we loved Mount Cavora above the wave pool. The kids could have spent half the day in the wave pool but there was so much more to see!

The day started out again in the mid 70's but sunny so we were thrilled with our weather luck.  

The sun quickly went behind cloud covering for the rest of the day so we weren't as lucky as we thought.  It was too cold for me to totally enjoy myself.  The water is heated to 80 degrees so as long as you kept swimming it was great....getting out was hard! On the flip side...no worries about sunburn.

We ate at the Wolves Cantina right by the wave pool.  It wasn't on the map so it must be a new thing.  Great burgers.

After lunch we went to the original water park where the big kids LOVED the lazy lego river and Soren LOVED these big bricks.

We ended up springing for the $5 family dryer because I couldn't stand the idea of walking around that wet and cold! It was so warm I wanted it to last forever!

We went on a factory tour, two thumbs up from our family.  

 

Darin then took the kids to the aquarium while I put our little surprise together.  The kids had been researching the Legoland Hotel for months but when it came time to book we told them it was just too much.  In actuality we split the difference between the two hotels so I went to move our car and gear and then meet them at the aquarium for the surprise reveal. I snuck a shower in there as well...I couldn't resist, and then accidentally put lotion in my hair rather than conditioner....so it took me a bit longer than expected.

The kids showed me their favorite parts of the aquarium and when we walked outside I said "whats that big building over there?" Some random kid yelled "The Legoland Hotel" which made me laugh, then I took out the key card and said "we are staying there tonight!"

A lego scorpion in the bathroom, a lego monkey on top of the safe holding mixels,  their own tv playing nothing but kid shows, disco elevator...

and fart noise carpet?! How could they not love it? 

We ate at the Skyline Cafe that evening, stopped by the dance party they were having, toured the hotels grounds a bit, and then lounged around the room.  We watched some of the Lego Star Wars movie they were showing at the pool from our room window, but none of us had the energy to leave our room at that point.

Another Legoland miracle....the kids wanted mixels from the same set so they could build a mega mixel.  The front desk had exactly 1 of each of the sets we needed! 

Day 3 BEEYOBV

We woke up the next morning and said goodbye to Laguna Beach as we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to Carlsbad.  We checked into the Sheraton which we were all impressed with.  Really beautiful, quiet (it was a Tuesday however) hotel with its own back entrance into Legoland. We didn't know this at the time but, that entrance sets you up for a good way to do Legoland with bigger kids.  It's right near all the more intense rollercoasters which tend to have long lines if you wait until after lunch.  We were able to get in all the really thrilling rides first thing and then leisurely enjoy the rest of the park without ever waiting in too long of a line. The only one we missed was the Lost Kingdom Adventure ride because the line got too long for our patience, we decided to do that first thing another day.  

It was in the mid 70's with overcast skies, we could not ask for better amusement park weather!!

 The first ride of the day....

We had a Legoland miracle - when we measured Soren at home we didn't think his height would allow him on the bigger rides.  When we got there he had either grown...or was wearing the right shoes because he could go on all of them except the big driving course.

We went on the Technic Coaster 2 times at Miriam's request.  She declared herself "not a roller coaster person" but ended up loving it!  Check out Soren's hair and Miriam's face! I was so glad I snapped this picture. There was a similar one taken by the coaster camera and EVERYONE who saw it busted up laughing.  

After all those thrill rides we needed a power boost! Luckily that end of the park also has ice cream, and the Granny Apple Fries my friend Stacie had told us not to miss. I agree, don't miss out on the fries.

Then off to get drivers licenses.  M & B loved their driving course but when Soren's ended he said with indignation "That's it?! So short!! Not worth it!"

It's nice that they had building stations to entertain the kids while parents waited in lines.  One of Soren's favorite things about Legoland was building with the huge soft legos, he LOVED Duplo village. I loved Heartland, I made Miriam watch the musical show with me. Byron says he loved it all, and I think Miriam would say the Technic Coaster became her favorite part of the day. 

We love those rides when the kids could go together so we could get a tiny sliver of alone time.

I am glad the park closes down at 6:00 pm so we didn't feel the pressure to keep going just to fit it all in.  We had an excuse to stop for dinner (Pizza buffet...which was actually better than I was expecting, great salad and some fun pizzas) and then head back to the hotel.  Against our better judgement we let the kids go swimming in the pool...it was kind of chilly and late but how could we say no? They loved it, of course, and totally zonked out that night.

Some travel advice for future Legolanders:

 People told us we could easily do Legoland in one day, but that was not the case for our family.  Perhaps we are doddlers, and we didn't get there until about noon, but we didn't fit in the lower half of the park, the water park, or the aquarium before it closed. Also 6 hours at an amusement park is about all Soren can handle and even the big kids needed a break.  I was glad we had gotten the 3 day Hopper pass through Costco. I didn't know if we would use that third day (same price with or without it) but we did, and we still didn't get to do all the playing we wanted to.

Also I think the Sheraton is a great choice for a hotel.  Not only do they have a back entrance to the park, they also offer a free trolley to Carlsbad beach, and have kid activities every evening.  They are not as bombastic as the Legoland activities...but they even had kid movies by the pool on the weekends. I'd stay there again.