The traveling Atkin family went on tour of the theme parks of southern California. It was a wonderful escape from the cold and snow. We started out in San Diego. It was wonderfully warm. Shorts and Flip Flop weather. I had to hit target after the first day to buy sandals for the family.
Monday we hit LegoLand. I didn't realize that they really made everything out of legos. The best part was that the park was fairly empty. The most challenging part was that they required that there be one adult for every child on the rides. I hadn't realized before that we were so outnumbered. It was some of my childrens' first experience with rides and roller coasters. They loved it. Caleb was pushing my tolerance levels. He didn't want to go on anything so we had to force him. Afterwards he always said it was the best thing ever. He never seemed to catch on that maybe new things were good.
Tuesday we went to Sea World. My sister came down to go with us and she helped out a lot. I hadn't seen her in over a year so it was great to get to see her and it was the first time she had seen our youngest, Lucy. She brought her new boyfriend, whom I hadn't met. He was very nice and it's always good to be able to put a face with a name. Lily loved the Buluga whales and Polar bears the most. I think she could have watched them forever. Jake made sure that we sat in the soaker seats for the Shamu and Dolphin shows. By the second Shamu show I knew to sit up high but Caleb, Lydia, and Jake were in the front rows. They were entirely drenched by the end and the day was over. It wasn't hot enough to be that wet, so that affected my kids memory of how much they enjoyed Sea World.
At the very end we decided to let the kids play in the climbing area. We discovered this is a bad idea at a theme park, because you lose site of them. By the time I discoved Lily was missing a park worker was walking her back to us. She had gotten in line for a ride by herself. When they asked her where her parents were she said "I don't know." When they asked her what her name was she said, "Pink Princess." Luckily when they asked her where her parents were last she said "by the slides." And they were able to find us. Luckily once again the park was pretty empty.
Wednesday we went to the Wild Animal Park for the first half of the day and a beach called La Jolla Cove for the second half. We rode the merry go round and went on a tour bus. We also had birds eat nector out of our hands and fed ducks. Their favorite part was the petting zoo. The kids loved being so close to the deer. My favorite part was the Baby Rhino's. They might be the cutest baby animal I've ever seen. We had lunch at the beach and played on the shore. We could see tiny crabs, sea urchins, and lots of rocks, caves, and shells.
Thursday my mom was in town and she kept Lucy while we went to Disneyland. Lisa met us there and hung out for the first couple of hours. We hit the bugs life rides and attended the playhouse disney show. Then JoDee took Lily to the small kids rides and Jake and I took Lydia and Caleb on all but two of the rides at California Adventure Park. We first rode the Tower of Terror and Lydia, who is usually are bravest, was pretty affected by that one. She eventually got over it. At Disneyland we took them on Space Mt., which was their favorite, the Matterhorn, splash mt., and Pirates of the Carribean. The park was very empty. A five minute wait or less for every ride.
Friday we went to Universal Studios. It poured down rain, which damped everyone's spirits. We saw a few 3D shows and we rode the tour bus. Caleb couldn't quite grasp that the ride was a setup. He was very worried when the bridge starting falling, but when we passed the Bates Motel and Norman Bates pulled out a long knife and kept following the bus, he thought he was after us and he looked for him the rest of the day.
Saturday we went back to Disneyland. We got in an hour before the park opened, but that hour went quickly. We rode the new Nemo ride and got in line to see Tinkerbell. Once again it rained quite a bit. We saw the princesses (Cinderella, Belle, and Jasmin), we hit toon town and poohs corner. By 3pm the place was packed with people. Most of the lines were an hour long, so we left.
We really made the most of every minute of this vacation. Jake's view is that he came back more tired than when he left. I think it was a great time and great memories for the kids. Even though we came back to a flooded neighborhood. (JoDee's drive lane is such a glacial river that it actually bent brackets of our engine driving to her house and we had to tow it to the mechanics.) And now I am suffering from a pretty bad cold that I think is due to the extreme weather change. But I still think it was worth it. I certainly wouldn't mind going back right now.
