First Ocean Visit

During our Legoland trip we had an opportunity to take the boys to the ocean, not just see the ocean from the car, but actually take them to the beach and let them walk up and see the vastness of the Pacific up close. Since Legoland didn't open until 10am, it was a great way to spend some the morning.

It was fantastic, and an opportunity we couldn't pass up - especially when our hotel was only a mile from the beach! Both the boys were a little freaked out by the waves that were "trying to get them" and poor little Liam really got thrown for a moment or two, but for Galen, who loves to dig in the dirt and sand, well, as you can imagine, he was in sandbox heaven! We showed them seashells, seaweed, seabirds, seafoam, squirrels and surfers. The boys had fun climbing on the rocks, and as you can see, Liam had another one of his more, serious moments as he contemplated the ocean before him.

At a little inlet where the water formed a tiny pool, Thane showed them how he could dig a hole and it would immediately fill with water - seemingly out of nowhere! When it was time to go we were getting the sand out of the boys shoes and socks up at some benches overlooking the beach up the cliff and there were a bunch of squirrels looking for handouts. It was a fun way for the boys to get a close up look at some wildlife (that wasn't quite so wild unfortunately). All in all it was a great little visit, to a wonderful little spot in Carslbad.

Legoland

Our first real family vacation! We felt bad because Liam couldn't go on some of the rides, and he was definitely cranky as a result. It didn't help that it was nap time and that only amplified Mr. Cranky Boy. We went for two days, not sure if we would stay for a second day, but since we didn't get down as early as we'd hoped the first day and the boys were having so much fun, we left it up to them as to whether or not they wanted to go home, or stay the night and come back the next day. Well, of course they wanted to stay! It was a really fun trip.

The second ride Galen went on was the biggest, fastest, roller coaster they had in the whole park! He'd never been on any rollercoaster before so it would be interesting to see how he'd do. The first downhill was a shock to him, but after that it was all smiles! Liam loved the boat ride, one we went on about 4 times, if not more, and both of the boys loved the lego Vader and R-2 D-2. Gramma and Grampa Karnos came with us the first day and that was really fun to get to enjoy some of the trip with them too.

The boys were pretty tuckered out on the way home, which took us much longer than expected due to an accident and a pit stop at Costco. It was really cute how they hung onto their newly acquired Legoland swords and axe while riding in the car - and even falling asleep with them, as you can see from Galen's photo. We'll definitely be back again in a year or two when Liam is a little bigger so he can go on all the rides!