The Lee Family: 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