Family Vacation- Legoland

The kids were SO excited to finally get to Legoland after 3 days on the road and months of counting down to our trip. We stayed at the Legoland Hotel (it is SUPER cheap to stay there in February) and I was so glad we did. Really, the hotel was just as fun as Legoland itself and it was so nice to be so close to the park.

 They had several characters walking around

The whooopie cushion floor was a big hit

The kids looked forward to riding the disco elevator several times a day

The figurines in the rooms were amazing

And the kids got to do a fun little treasure hunt and find a prize in the treasure chest in our room. Emma and Matthew got the good cop/bad cop from The Lego Movie, and Ellie got a scientist.

They also had a big castle playground and this big Lego play area (the Lego swimming pool) right in the middle of the lobby

Alyssa didn't make it into hardly any pictures because she was usually sleeping. In fact, a couple weeks after we got home, Emma asked me if Alyssa ever got to go to Legoland. I kept telling her that Alyssa went with us, and with a very confused look on her face she would ask me again if Alyssa ever got to go to Legoland. She really had no recollection of Alyssa being there at all. So, here's proof that she was there. :)

Thursday morning we got up and headed to the park, where we spent the next several hours. We went back to the hotel for some lunch and to hopefully let Alyssa take a nap. As soon as I got her to sleep the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the hotel. So much for a nap! She had had a hard time getting any naps that day, so this was incredibly frustrating and I was not in the best mood. But, we tried to make the best of it.

Emma and Matthew's very first roller coaster. They LOVED it.

After our lunch/nap fiasco, we decided to check out Miniland. They built models of several cities out of Legos. It was really impressive.

Ellie in New York

The Painted Ladies in San Francisco

more San Francisco

The sea lions at Pier 39

Lego Star Wars!

Despite the fact that the temperature was in the 70's, it was HOT. We were all getting sunburned. So we tried to find some water rides to help cool us down.

The kids each got to build a minifigure

So many impressive Lego models. Seriously, I would have gone to Legoland just to look at all the things they built.

Lego car anyone?

The Lego Movie experience opened our first day there, so we were able to go in and see the set from The Lego Movie (the big city at the end of the movie).

And Lucy just happened to be there as we were leaving

Before we left the kids each got their drivers license

Such a busy, hot, crazy, fun day!

Family Vacation Days 2-3

The next morning we packed up and headed out. Before we left Cambria, we went to check out Nit Wit Ridge, which is this old house surrounded by and filled with junk. The man who lived there apparently worked at the nearby Hearst Castle and would bring "treasures" home from there. It was crazy...and oddly enough it's for sale.

Our next stop was another quick one. We had to stop and see Bubble Gum Alley in San Luis Obispo. It is exactly what the name implies, and it was pretty disgusting. The kids were fascinated though.

After another short stretch of driving we made it to Pismo Beach and stopped to play for awhile at Dinosaur Caves Park, an animal themed park right on the coast.

From there we went right up the road to the Monarch Butterfly Grove. It was the end of butterfly season, so there weren't as many butterflies as there were the month before, but it was still really neat to see them all. It is fascinating to see the orange trees and realize the color is all the butterflies in the trees.

After the butterflies we drove a few more minutes down the coast and stopped at Oceanic Dunes State Beach. This was probably the stop that Jon was most excited about on this trip. You can drive on the sand right down to the water and then drive a mile long stretch of the beach. It was pretty fun. The kids had a blast getting out and playing and Jon loved "off-roading" in our minivan.  :)  It was a really fun stop.

Our next stop was the little Danish town of Solvang. We'd heard a lot about how cute and fun this town was, but when we got there we realized we weren't entirely sure what exactly we should do there. It was a cute town, but the thought of walking around looking around shops with 4 little kids wasn't appealing. We opted to stop in at a little bakery and get some treats and then we were on our way.

The kids all got meringue and LOVED it.

From Solvang we drove up in the hills above Santa Barbara. Way way up on very windy, skinny, scary roads in search of the Painted Caves. We finally reached them only to find that they are closed. So we headed back down and went into Santa Barbara to our hotel. We grabbed some pizza at Rusty's, which is apparently a big deal down there, headed next door for some ice cream and lemonade and Chick-Fil-A (yes, a little random!), and then headed to our hotel pool for some more night swimming. All of the hotel swimming may easily have been the kids' favorite part of our trip. 

Day 3 we headed out after another yummy breakfast at our hotel. We decided to check out the Old Mission Santa Barbara. What a beautiful building! We didn't dare take the kids inside for the tour, but we spent quite a bit of time walking around the grounds.

"Hey kids, go stand in front of that poky plant!" -Jon

We only had one more stop this day but it was one that I was really excited for. When I was growing up one of our favorite beaches to visit and camp at was Leo Carillo in Malibu. We didn't have the $12 in cash to pay for parking and the kids were getting anxious to get to Legoland, so we stayed long enough to take a few pictures and let the kids play. It was fun to take that little walk down memory lane.

From Malibu we continued our drive. Late in the afternoon we finally reached our final destination. As we got closer we were greeted by several large Lego models, and finally the hotel came into view. Matthew's reaction made the whole trip worth it. He enthusiastically cried, "Aaaah, I think I'm going to cry!" That kid cracks me up. We got checked in and explored our room and then headed to Olive Garden for an amazing dinner. 

I have to say I was sad to be done with the Highway 1 part of our trip. It was so fun to watch the landscape change as we drove down the coast from Northern to Southern California. It was fun to explore all the little towns and beaches and obscure little attractions. I would have loved to finish the drive down to San Diego...maybe another year!