Goodbye California

We all slept in until about 9am, which really felt great after a long day at Legoland and the long week We dressed and headed down to our little breakfast place in the hotel and ate cereal, juice and bananas before heading back up to our room to finish packing before checkout. We checked out, thankful to be free of that crumby hotel, and said our goodbyes to Sian. It was such fun having her with us for our visit to Legoland and was great to catch up with her a bit. She's so great with the girls and it was fantastic to have another adult since so many of the rides are for two people and being with both girls would have been impossible on some of the rides. Hopefully we can see each other again soon.

As we drove off the girls settled into the backseat and started coloring in their coloring books. They have both been really fantastic travelers and have colored, played, looked through/read their books or made up stories while we drove. We stopped at Starbucks for a real cup of coffee and then headed onto I-5, heading for John Wayne Airport. We had plenty of time and I started wondering what we should do instead of hanging out at the airport for hours. Of course, we hit stop-and-go traffic even though it was late Saturday morning and not a weekday or rush hour.

Finally I decided to take a break and stop at one of my favorite places, the San Juan Capistrano Mission. I've visited the mission so many times growing up and worked at my Dad's office in college which was just a few minutes away. It's always been such a peaceful and beautiful place and I've enjoyed the history of Junipero Serra and the founding of the mission system in California, which was a huge part of our history lessons growing up.

We found parking right next to the Mission, even though it looked to be fairly busy and bought out tickets. Once inside the girls were drawn to a huge raised pond full of koi. The koi were fairly tame and kept returning to the gils and checking out if their fingers in the water might be food. We walked around and read about the Mission and took a lot of photos. It was a perfect day outside and it would have been great to explore further, but we had to get back on the road after an hour or so. As we left, we stopped at In N Out to grab a quick meal while driving. It was shocking how many people were waiting to get into the drive thru!

Within 20 minutes we were back at the airport with plenty of time. The girls were happy with full bellies of grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes. We returned the car to the right rental office and the man offered to drive us to the terminal which was a lifesaver! We had plenty of time but I dreaded the idea of getting all of our stuff out of the car and to the terminal. We checked our bags, checked in and were through the security line in minutes. It was so easy. On the other side, we bought See's candy to bring back to CK and the girls colored and played while I read. Before we knew it, we were on the plane and heading home to Texas. It was such a fun and exciting week but I think we were all looking forward to getting home too.

The raised koi pond and old mission in the background

The girls by an El Camino Real sign, which are all over California

Selfie!

Olivia "reading" up while sitting by the statue of Junipero Serra

The bells

Sofia by a small fountain

Another koi pond

The Mission's bell tower

California: Day 8

We all slept in until 9am which felt very needed after such a long day. We dressed and headed down to get breakfast which was included in our hotel. It included toast, yogurt, bananas and cereal and was perfect. Unfortunately their coffee was seriously terrible, so once we headed out I told Sian we had to stop at Starbucks! Sian isn't a coffee drinker so she probably thinks I'm crazy. We got to Legoland right as it was opening, parked and headed to the entrance. Sian took a picture of us and Olivia was not interested in having her photo taken. Given that, I decided to rent a stroller so she could walk when she wanted and sit when she was tired.

Once we were ready, we stopped at the first ride we got to which was a jungle car ride and it ended up being the longest ride line of the day. Sofia rode with Sian and Olivia and I were in our own "jeep" as Olivia drove us through the landscape with elephants, lions, peacocks, and all sorts of animals made out of Legos. It was a lot of fun and the animals and setting were great. As soon as we got off the ride, the girls saw a face painting station and asked to get their faces painted. I figured it was better to get it done first thing so they could enjoy it the whole day. Sofia picked out a red dragon and Olivia decided on a blue princess face. They turned out so great and the girls loved it.

From there we walked around and rode as many rides as we could. We visited the Lego Friends area and watched a show with the "real life" Lego friends characters, according to Olivia. They rode on the Lego Friends merry go round and then we headed to Fun Town where we rode bumper boats and tried not to get our boats heading backwards. I couldn't believe the boats weren't actually linked to a track and they were hard to control so we were bumping into everything and everyone around us. Of course the girls loved it with Olivia riding with Sian and Sofia riding with me. From there we went to "driving school" where Sofia drove around on the streets of Fun City. Olivia had an opportunity to drive also, but she would have had to drive on the other side on another street area, so she decided not to drive and instead watched Sofia.

From there we made our way to Miniland USA which was super cool! New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Washington D.C. were all made in Legos and in great detail. It was fantastic and Washington D.C. was by far the best. I loved seeing all the monuments made out of Legos and Sofia studied every city very closely as she wandered around. At one end of the Miniland USA was an opportunity to build your own boat and race it with others down a little river. Sofia was really into it and made a boat and then later made some modifications as she raced her boat. I tried to get Olivia interested in getting out of her stroller and join in making her own boat, but she refused. After Sofia was done with her boat making, we headed to have lunch and ended up at this great patio overlooking Miniland USA. The food was actually very good and we had the whole patio to ourselves. Legoland never really felt terribly crowded and we didn't have to wait long in lines, which was great. It remained a cloudy and slightly cool day, which felt better than too hot.

After refueling, we headed over to see the Star Wars exhibit, which was equally as cool as Washington D.C. and Sofia studied every single set up. As we walked toward the Death Star and Darth Vader, every Star Wars character was on a pillar. Of course, Sofia wanted me to take a photo of her with every single one of them! After fully enjoying all of the Star Wars scenes and characters, we moved on to Castle Hill. The girls loved the Royal Joust ride and went on it several times since there was really no line and each of them got to "ride" on their own horse throughout really pretty scenery. They both had huge smiles on their faces while they rode and wanted to go on it all afternoon. Finally, after the third time the girls got off their horses and the princess was there to meet them! They were so excited! She told them they had to ride on her friend "Breddo" the dragon roller coaster. We headed over there and while we were waiting in line, Olivia asked the young man "Is this dragon real?" and he looked at me with a smile that basically said "what do you want me to say?" It was so cute! Again, there was a very short wait time, so we rode on Breddo several times which was a lot of fun.

After we said goodbye to Breddo we happened to catch a castle show which was a lot of fun. After the show was over, the girls wanted to meet the cast, which was fun and they were all very nice. It was getting close to closing time so we raced over to go on the Ninjago 3D ride. It was actually a lot of fun and a good end to our day. We had just a few minutes to return the stroller and exit, which of course took us through a massive gift shop. Both girls bought key chains and necklaces before we headed out.

For dinner, Sian had an awesome idea! She suggested we eat at one of the hotel restaurants and we could explore the hotel while we were there, since the Legoland Hotel is apparently really cool. Actually, Sofia's buddy and our neighbor Brandon kept telling Sofia that there was a "surprise" in the Legoland Hotel elevator. We figured our that the best place to eat would be the City View Restaurant but before sitting down we decided to explore. We used the bathroom, which was really cute then took the elevator up to the top floor and found out that the surprise is that a small disco ball turns on and the song "Dancing Queen" plays! It was fantastic! Sofia told us that Brandon had actually already told her the secret, but she kept the secret and it was a fun surprise to us all. After exploring each floor, we visited the pool that looked like a lot of fun. After, we sat down at the City View Restaurant and had a great dinner. The food was delicious.

After, we headed out of the hotel to our car which was impossible to miss since it was literally the last car in the parking lot!! We made it back to our hotel and we were in bed by 11pm. Another late night after a very fun day!

Legoland! Olivia was not interested in getting her photo taken!

We found a Lego lion!

One of Sofia's favorite dinosaurs!

My little Jeep driver

A Lego Rhino

Love the dragon face painting and blue princess mask

Sofia's Dragon face

Olivia's princess mask

All of us on a ride together.

Lego Friends Village!

Lego Friends merry go round

The girls with Sian

Bumper Boats

Sofia driving in Fun Town

Exploring Miniland USA

Las Vegas, Baby!

Sofia, the Smithsonian Castle and Washington Monument

The Jefferson Monument

The White House

Sofia and her Lego boat is ready to race

Enjoying lunch on the patio

Riding the Helicopters

Flying

The Death Star - Sofia loves it!

Darth Vader

The Millennium Falcon

One of the Star Wars villages

Sofia's very favorite Star Wars character - Boba Fett

Riding the horse - I think this was their favorite ride

With the princess

The girl loves her dragons

With the cast from the castle show

Saying good night to the dragon at the Lego Hotel

California: Day 7

Since Chuck took the day off so we could visit Universal Studios together, he had to go to work today so I got up at 7am to have coffee with him and chat briefly before he headed out. We agreed to meet for lunch, which gave the girls time to sleep in and allowed me to relax in his awesome backyard and enjoy some California summer weather for a bit. Of course the girls got up by 8am and played in their room while I read and relaxed by the pool. I did laundry, showered and we headed out to meet Chuck. We had lunch at Red Robin which was maybe 10 minutes from his house and his office. It was fun to spend a short time with Chuck over the past few days and we were sad to say goodbye but hope to visit again soon. Of course, the girls would love to stay with him and visit Universal Studios again!

After we said goodbye, we drove to Carlsbad which is about 11/2 hours away from Chuck's place. Once we were in Oceanside, I got off the freeway and rolled down the windows excited to enjoy the salty air. What I wasn't expecting was the temperature! It was chilly! We continued through the main drag of Oceanside and into Carlsbad, where we stopped at the Starbucks to get drinks and so the girls could go to the bathroom. I hardly recognized either town! Oceanside is super clean and modern now and I hardly recognized anything about it. Carlsbad is in a similar situation, although I've visited more recently than I've visited Oceanside.

After Starbucks we drove along the ocean and to Shore Drive, where my Mom and Dad lived while I was in college and I have a lot of great memories of. While they lived there, most of the houses were the originally from the 1960s and were simple homes. Now, most have been upgraded and are very modern and two-story. It's changed so much! From there, we drove to the Ramada, which is the hotel that I made reservations for on-line because they had a great deal on tickets to Legoland. Plus, I knew roughly where it was located although I had not been there before. Sofia couldn't wait to get to the beach and swim and play in the sand. I told her once we checked in and got our things into our room we could change into swimsuits and head to the beach. We checked in and made our way to our room. It was soon apparent that we may have been checking into the worst hotel ever! Our room was dingy and felt very well used and not very clean. I contemplated switching to a different hotel but finally told myself that it was two nights and I didn't want to waste the time in finding a different place. We dropped off our bags and the girls changed into their suits and we were off. Sian was due to meet us sometime that day and she called to tell me she was on her way!

The girls were a little hungry and I really wanted a coffee so we drove to Pannikin's in Encinitas. I ended up getting a Mexican Hot Chocolate which I used to order from Pannikin's all the time and which is so rich and spicy and delicious. The girls both had apple juices and we ordered two huge pieces of cake - key lime pie and chocolate cake. The girls were in Heaven and gobbled up their pie, cake and juice. They actually ran out of steam halfway through the chocolate cake and stopped. We were all stuffed and I even found my beloved Mexican Hot Chocolate to be too rich. We bought a new "Pannikin" mug to replace the one I bought a few years ago and broke by dropping it and we headed back to Carlsbad to the beach.

We ended up parking at the South Carlsbad State Beach, which in the years my parents lived in Carlsbad I'm not sure I ever actually visited. We headed to the beach and the girls were in the water within seconds. We only had the one beach towel that we bought in Laguna and I set it up with the boogie boards and watched the girls splashing and playing. The beach was actually full of round beach rocks and the girls had to be careful where they walked in the water. After we'd been at the beach for about 30 minutes Sian parked and met us! We'd originally thought she wouldn't make it to Carlsbad until dinnertime, so it was great to have her meet us earlier and she and I sat on the boogie boards while the girls took turns swimming and playing in the water and digging in the sand and creating sand castles. They had a ball! I tried to get into the water at one point and the water was chilly! Plus, the temperature was only about 77 degrees out, which felt very chilly! Soon, Sian and I were both freezing and we were literally the only people left on the beach. I looked at my watch and couldn't believe it was nearly 8pm! We convinced the girls of a hot bath and dinner and headed to the car. I could tell Olivia was tired, cold and hungry but we made it back to the hotel and got them into the bath.

After changing into warm clothes, we loaded up the girls into the car and headed to dinner. Of course Sofia wanted to wear her full Harry Potter outfit, but I convinced her to dress in regular clothes. For dinner Sian suggested the Pizza Port, where she and John go often since it's a brewery and John is really into beer. It was a cool place but felt a little like a college pizza place with a few folks above college age and the rest a bunch of surfers. The pizza was great and the root beer was homemade and fantastic! I kept sneaking sips from Olivia. After eating we headed back to our crumby hotel and the girls were asleep by 11. Another late night but both girls were asleep quickly.

Chuck's fabulous backyard

After lunch with Chuck

Driving along the beach in Carlsbad

Girls in their swimsuits ready to tuck into key lime pie and chocolate cake

Sitting in front of Pannikin's

Playing in the sand

Enjoying the ocean

Building a huge sand castle

This wave caused a lot of frustration after so much work

Taking a little break and warming up

Sunset at the beach

Telling Sian about Harry Potter and showing her their outfits