Legoland California

Legoland was the part of the trip the kids were looking forward to the most and it did not disappoint.  The top picture is of Noah with his arm around James at the start of the roller coaster because he was scared, then he really enjoyed it... Ben, however, is done with roller coasters for a while I think;)  We were able to see inside the movie set from "The Lego Movie" AND meet both Emmitt and Wyldstyle.    We got to see where the lego "master builders" create new sets as well as the structures for the parks. James has decided that this is what he wants to do with his life.  The kids laugh so hard when they see the picture of the builder photobombing them. The boys were all proud to get their licenses and Audrey was thrilled to build and pose with all of the figurines. The boys have finally stopped asking when we are going to Legoland again... for now;)

San Diego Trip- Part 2

Tuesday we ventured back to San Diego to check out the zoo.  We really lucked out with this trip because almost every park is having a "kids get in free" deal in October! Everyone was probably a bit too tired to be extra excited about the zoo, but they all pulled through and really enjoyed the animals. The zoo was way bigger that we were expecting and it made me feel like I was in an Ikea... It was super confusing to find anything and there appeared to be short cuts on the map, but we were unable to find them in real life;)  The highlights were certainly the pandas, the insect house, the gondola tram, the hippo and many, many other animals.  James is really into getting his picture taken during this trip because part of his missed work from school is to make a travel journal for show and tell with he gets back. 

A side note about the hats... We forgot to pack hats for everyone... the dollar store here had these blaze orange ones... as it turns out this is one of the most fantastic things we have bought them... in a crowed park it is so easy to keep track of where they are!

We are really enjoying Oceanside... it is just beautiful. There is nothing like taking a morning run on the beach, watching all of the surfers up as early as you and letting the kids chase down the seagulls from the pier.  The view from our condo rooftop patio is just breathtaking and everyone has taken their turn having some quiet time out there... even Audrey:)  The harvest moon is also happening while we are here and we got a gorgeous view of it on our way home from dinner on the pier to watch the sunset.

Just north of Oceanside is Camp Pendelton which, I think, is why there is so much military presence here.  There has been what looks like a destroyer just off shore for a few days (we totally thought is was a cargo ship at first...).  We have also seen so many different types of military helicopters day and night... really cool ones that we had only ever seen in museums or in pictures (please excuse my ignorance here on the various types of military helicopters).

We did have a "proud parent moment" when out to dinner this night. At the end of dinner Ben said, "he is a really nice guy" referring to our server.  The guy looked like he was having kind of a rough night so we encouraged Ben to tell him just that.  They server was so happy that he gave all of the kids an ice cream. We fear a bit that Ben will forever think that complimenting people will lead to rewards of food, but it was a really nice gesture and the kids all saw how happy the compliment made him:)

San Diego Vacation Part 1

On Saturday we traveled to Boston to visit with the Carlile Family before hopping the train to the airport hotel.  The kids have been asking to take the subway for a few years now and this seemed the perfect opportunity. The kids donned their jammies and were thrilled to ride on the green line, then the orange line, then the blue line, then the shuttle bus... followed by a super cool walk from the airport to the hotel "up in the air".  Apparently the government center T station is shut down for a bit, but we rolled with it and got very lucky with the trains... it was a minor detour:)

Sunday morning we woke everyone up at 4:30 to catch our flight.  The adventures started right away when there was some confusion going through security and someone took Gabe's wallet... Luckily, the TSA was on top of it, checked the security tapes, tracked down the guy and got Gabe's wallet back just in the nick of time as Gabe was the last one on the plane... phew! The first flight attendant started the trip off well by offering the kids all huge Godiva Truffles (at 6:00 AM). The kids all did so well on the plane with two 3+ hour flights.  There was one unpleasant stretch of about 15 minutes where Audrey screamed inconsolably, but she got over it and we all landed in one piece.  Adventure #2 happened when we left one of our bags on the rental car shuttle... not just any bag, but the "technology bag" with our computer, iPad, dvd player and all electrical cords and headphones... it would have been a bummer to lose that, but thankfully it was found and returned to us... Seriously, it was a long day AND it all happened before 11:30 am local time!

Today we started the day with a refreshing family run along the beach and checked out the downtown of Oceanside.  There was a beautiful sunset from the rooftop deck/eating area which overlooks the beach... it is a rough life we are living here;)  We spent the day at Sea World where the kids loved the Sesame Street play area, the dolphin show and the river rapid ride (where Ben got to squirt Noah, James and Daddy with water as consolation for not being quite tall enough to ride).  Noah especially liked the "adult" roller coaster I unexpectedly/unknowingly convinced him to ride with me. 

Soccer 2014

Fall is in full swing here and what a beautiful fall it has been!  We have been trudging through soccer.  The kids are really enjoying it and I am enjoying watching them, but 4 nights a week we have supper at the soccer field and I am running out of "easy/healthy" meals to eat outside.  Thankfully Ben and Audrey have been troopers watching this much soccer... and maybe more so, I am thankful that there is an enclosed tennis court near the field so that I can let everyone run free in there and not have to chase them:)  

James loves math and in this picture his quote was, "please take a picture of me with this trapezoid I made"... thank you Peg Plus Cat and PBS! On the most beautiful fall day when Nannie and Grandpa came for a visit Ben, Audrey and I got to join them for one last lunch outside at Calzilaio's.  It was so hot and bright that we had to tie a napkin on Ben's head to try and block the sun.  James continues to make some crazy Lego creations and is so excited to visit Legoland in a few weeks!