legoland!

phil had last sunday and monday (labor day) off so we decided to make the most of this rare weekend and go on a spur-of-the-moment road trip.  but to where?  we threw around ideas:  las vegas, visit my dad, …?  i suggested going to legoland and staying there overnight, phil liked the idea, and so away we went!  well, first i had to pack everyone up (including phil– the last time he packed for himself was the day we got married and were leaving for our honeymoon!  ever since then the job has fallen to me.  even when he’s leaving by himself for interviews, or jobs, or etc.  but i don’t mind since he’s great about planning, driving, navigating, scouting out fun things to do, loading and unloading the car, so it seems fair.  ).

we had so much fun!!  and the time away was so refreshing, too.  love those little getaways.

so on sunday, we headed straight for legoland (after a stop at the carlsbad costco to pick up discounted tickets).  turns out we got to see plenty of sights once we got there.  it was surprisingly not that crowded there even though it was a holiday weekend, so we got to pretty much the whole park.

mount rushmore.  all in legos.  they even had little lego guys putting a q-tip into george washington’s ear.  cute.

 

the new york city skyline.

 

and we saw the vegas strip after all!

 

squeezed in a few rides.  it was a bit more complicated this time around with three kiddos.  before, phil and i would each ride with one of the kids and everyone was happy.  neat and compact.  jon gosselin was right– the world was made for families of four.  since they wouldn’t let lauren ride pretty much any of the rides (i thought what’s the harm?  the rides barely move!), phil often had to do double duty and go twice while i waited holding lauren and the child who wasn’t riding.  sheesh.

 

we waited an hour in line for this little boat ride.  the guy was nice and let both kids go at once.  mikey loved driving it himself!

 

my beco sure came in handy since each of the kids ended up in it at one point or other.

 

mikey’s very favorite ride there was this little racetrack “driving school” ride.  he wasn’t quite sure how to push down the pedal and drive at the same time the first time he went.  but he had it down great the second time.  and the third. 

 

allie was so sad she wasn’t big enough to drive a car.  we tried to make up for it with this car outside the ride that didn’t move.  she was happy in it at first, til she realized it doesn’t go anywhere!

 

the kids also had a chance to build towers with legos there.  allie LOVES building towers! 

 

phil was trying to get a picture of mikey shooting at the target, when mikey suddenly decided to turn and shoot at daddy instead!

 

it was a fun, full day.  we had dinner at claim jumper’s, then headed to the hotel where the kids went straight to the first order of business.  two little monkeys jumping on the bed.

 

we had requested late checkout so that the kids and phil could get a little swimming time in before we left.

here’s daddy showing allie how to blow bubbles.

 

allie decided to give it a try.  and ended up swallowing a mouthful of water. 

 

allie thought it was hilarious when daddy tried to get her to kick her legs in the water.

 

mikey took a while before he got in the pool, saying it was too cold.  but once the boy got in, he didn’t want to come out!

 

meanwhile, lauren supervised pool-side.

 

after we checked out of the hotel, we did a little sightseeing in the city of oceanside before heading home.

making our way down to the pier.  it was such a beautiful day!

 

getting frozen lemonades from this cute little lemonade stand.

 

“come with me, little sister.”

 

we opted not to spend any time on the beach since it was uh, a bit crowded…