Legoland and Oceanside

We decided to make a stop at Legoland for a day before driving up to Utah. We weren't sure how much the kids were going to enjoy it. They don't have any Legos and were not impressed that so many things were made out of the tiny blocks. They really love rides so we banked on them having fun. Well, we were really disappointed. There were hardly any rides that Simon could ride on, even with an adult. Miriam could ride most of the rides, but one of us had to ride with her. Since one of us had to stay with Levi and Simon while Miriam rode we ended up splitting up some of the time. Simon didn't have very much fun because he was so sad that he couldn't go on very many rides. However, Miriam had a great time riding with Michael on all the roller coasters.

After Legoland we drove up to Oceanside where we were going to stay for the night. We grabbed some dinner and stopped to have some amazing snowcones that were topped with sweetened condensed milk. I wish I had one of them right now, they were great. Our hotel was right by the pier so we walked out and watched the sunset. We also saw some dolphins. We were sad we only stayed one night in Oceanside. The beach looked great for kids. Hopefully we will make it back soon.

Our Last Day in San Diego

Tuesday morning we went back up to La Jolla to check out Birch Aquarium. It was pretty small so it only took us a couple of hours in the morning to see everything. We watched the small sharks get fed then walked around to see all of the tanks of fish. Outside they had a small area to pet sea stars and small fish. Miriam bought a dolphin necklace and Simon bought a killer whale toy.

After the aquarium we wanted to get fish tacos. So we went to Blue Water Seafood for lunch. This was our third DDD stop. Oh my goodness, it was all so delicious. Simon got fish and chips. Michael and I got fish tacos and they were massive. (Miriam is still not so adventurous and stuck with chicken and french fries.) If we lived in San Diego we would frequent this yummy food stop.

After lunch we decided to let our kids play at the beach one last time. We went back down to Imperial Beach with Trevor and Robyn's family. Michael took Simon down into the water. Miriam played in the sand while I kept Levi out of the sun under the beach umbrella. We had so much fun that I didn't take a single picture. We were just too busy enjoying our last day in San Diego. For dinner we went to a fun taco shop (yes, tacos again) that was recommend to us by a local lady we talked to at Mitch's Seafood. It was called Lucha Libre Taco Shop. It was good, but not great. So hard to complain about too much because our visit to San Diego was amazing. The kids keep asking when we can go back to California... maybe someday kids, definitely someday.

Belmont Park

After dinner we went to Belmont Park. We got the wristbands that included unlimited rides on all the rides on the boardwalk. The kids rode the rides over and over, as many times as there was an adult to take them. Michael and I even got away for a ride on the roller coaster. After we all had our fill of rides we went over to the beach to watch the sunset. I think the pictures say it all.

San Diego Safari Park

On Monday we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido. It was about a 40 minute drive from where we were staying. We started the day on the safari tram. They take you out to the areas you can't walk to and you see a lot of animals in a more natural environment. After that we saw the lions, gorillas, and elephants.

The highlight was definitely the tigers. As you can tell from Simon's shirt he loves tigers. Miriam and Simon watched the tigers for a while. It was really neat how close they were to you. Actually, most of the animals at the safari park were great to view. The kids loved being able to actually see the animals without a problem, as opposed to most zoos where you have to search. Miriam bought a big stuffed tiger and Simon bought a smaller stuffed tiger as their souvenirs.

After we had our fill of animal watching we headed to Ocean Beach for our second DDD stop, Hodad's. We ate very delicious burgers and drank the most amazing milkshakes. The owner came out for a minute and Michael snapped a quick iPhone picture. For the rest of the evening we headed over to Belmont Park, but that is a whole other post...