Vacations Blog

Legoland front entrace

My husband and I have amusement park-phobia.  (There must be a scientific name for that.  For now, I’ll go with the clunky made-up version.)  When we travel, we prefer to head to destinations in the middle of nature, with as few other people around as possible.  Now that we have two young children, however, entertainment and conveniences are much more necessary.  Stick a ton of both of those things in one place, jack up the price, and poof!  You have an amusement park. Read More »

Legoland in San Diego, CA

A big worry I often have when deciding to take our recently-turned-four-year-old twins places is whether that place will be age appropriate.  Restaurants have to be scrutinized.  Will there be things the kids can eat?  Will the kids be engaged or bored?  And that’s just for a night out on the town.  When it comes to amusement parks, I’m always dubious that young kids will have much to do.  Usually, amusement parks are built for the over 40-inch crowd and those with smaller children are left with whiny kids and even whinier parents.  (Is whinier a word? It is now.)

But Legoland, in Carlsbad, CA (located in San Diego County) and it’s newest attraction SeaLife Aquarium, are made for younger kids.  Recently I had the pleasure of a tour of the SeaLife Aquarium and LegoLand and was informed that the age range they aim to please is 2 to 12 years old.  Perfect for my little ones.

Rays at LegoLand's SeaLife Aquarium

If you go to LegoLand, go early – especially in the summer.  It gets mighty warm and the morning crowds are still manageable (For ways to beat the Summer crowds at LegoLand, see this post).  You can also eat at the new Ocean Journey Cafe which is part of the new SeaLife Aquarium.  The food is freshly made and really yummy.  You can choose between smoothies, muffins, eggs & potatoes made to order, cereal, fresh fruit and a multitude of other breakfast fare.  Breakfast is served from 9:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. and make sure you get a cranberry or blueberry muffin.  My wife, a true muffin connoisseur, highly recommends them.

The new SeaLife Aquarium was a lot of fun for the kids.  It has interactive tide pools for the kids to touch starfish and horseshoe crabs to a large 200,000 gallon ocean display complete with sharks, rays and tropical creatures that swim amongst some pretty cool Lego displays.  The LegoLand park itself has a lot of rides for kids of all ages.  My kids were able to go on a mini-rollercoaster (accompanied by me and my wife, of course) and had a bunch of fun running around in Explore Village and playing with the water features that make up part of the village.  Good times for a couple of four-year-olds.

Of course, vacationing in San Diego offers many things to do, but you’d be hard pressed to find something that is so uniquely catered to younger kids.  And big kids like me.

Tomorrow marks the arrival of my friend and her family from the east coast to our home in Los Angeles.  Two adults, two children.  That means there will be four adults and four children in my house during the hot summer heat that is hot in the San Fernando Valley.  We may not stay inside with the air conditioner on full blast, eating ice cream and watching “Wall-E” on repeat.  No, we have to do some stuff.  I’ve been planning and stressing out and researching and making lists about how to entertain and pacify all these kids without taking the fun out of our visit.  Here is the list of survival tactics activities I’ve planned and supplies I’ve stocked up.

1.  We’ll enjoy at least one relaxed meal at home.  I’ve gathered fresh fruits and vegetables and some indulgent treats from the farmer’s market and a discount produce store to keep costs down and freshness up.  We’ll grill some meat and sit in our backyard with some cocktails while we watch the children play in the wading pool or run under the sprinklers.  It’s four on four – we’re still in a man-to-man defense, so this should be do-able.

2.  We’ll expect less and/or interrupted sleep.  The kids will sleep on air mattresses.  Even my kids will do this, if it makes them go to sleep easier knowing they are mimicking their guests.  We are lucky enough to have a guest bed in the 2-year-old’s room, so my husband and I will sleep in there with him while the friends all sleep in our room.  As such, I expect much havoc with bedtimes and have low expectations for the morning routine.
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Encinitas, CA

Famous for its poinsettias and surfers, Encinitas is a seaside community north of San Diego that is a short drive from Los Angeles and a perfect weekend destination.  We ventured down there recently for a wedding and some beach walking, but if we had more time we would have poked around at Legoland, SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, or any other of the attractive family activities located in the area.

The drive down from the San Fernando Valley was not bad on a Saturday at noon.  Apart from the blip of preserved nature you see driving through Camp Pendleton, the whole stretch feels like one long extension of Los Angeles.  Sign of the times:  without any pre-planning, we stopped for lunch when we got hungry, looking for the familiar signs of fast food eateries along an industrial stretch of road in Long Beach.  The beacon of a Quizno’s called us, but when we pulled up to the place we found it closed down.  That turned out to be a happy accident, because right across the street was a tiny shack called OK Burger that was deserted, so the cook whipped us up two delicious meals for the road in just a few minutes.

We stayed at the Best Western Encinitas which was the lodging of choice of the wedding party, so the deal was fantastic – $130 for the night for this balconied room with a view:

Balcony room at the Best Western, Encinitas

View of the pacific ocean in Encinitas

With a view like that who cares what the room was like?  Well, it was fine, but a word to the wise:  the coffee maker and cups are hidden in the dresser under the flat screen TV.  And once you lay down, you might not get back up.

Soft bed.

The wedding was held at the breathtaking Quail Botanical Gardens.  If you want to save money on your wedding flower budget, have it here.  I can’t imagine a more breathtaking backdrop for such a momentous and beautiful occasion. 

Quail Botanical Gardens

Wedding backdrop

The gardens were open for visitors while we were there, so we wandered among the different areas and found that everywhere the eye settled, there was something beautiful to photograph.

A pathway beckons at Quail Botanical Gardens

Quail Botanical Gardens is open every day from 9 to 5, and if you come with 4 people in your car they’ll waive the $10 parking fee.

I’ve been scolded in the past for not including local restaurants in my travel posts, and that will happen again;  if you have been out to eat in Encinitas please leave a comment with your favorite spots.  Like I said, we only had 24 hours for this little trip so we took part in the hotel’s continental breakfast – which, I might add, was actually quite good and included delicious breakfast burritos – before heading out to the beach.

The beach at Encinitas

"No having fun"

Long way down

There were surfers in the water as far as the eye could see, due to the incredibly long waves and seemingly polite nature of the crowds.  My husband, who is a surfer in Los Angeles, was surprised that multiple surfers could catch a single wave without getting in a fight.  Maybe it’s the local vibe, maybe it was the beautiful day, or maybe Los Angeles just needs some self-realization, Encinitas style.

Self-Realization Fellowship Temple

The clock was ticking on our daycare meter, so we had to settle for a morning walk and then head back north.  For parents of two young boys, we get our relaxation when we can, and Encinitas delivered nicely in even a small dose.

Relaxed mom.

Since our school is closed this week, we decided it was time for a quick trip south to San Diego. Our son is almost at the age when Legoland will not longer be interesting, and both my husband and I went to college at the University of California, San Diego. That, and the generally good weather in San Diego year-round, helped us decide on this quick family vacation.

We drove down from the Bay Area (a wonderful 9 hour trip in the car with two small kids!) and stayed at the Pacific Terrace Inn in Pacific Beach, and visited Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. Both places are excellent for families, and the American Automobile Association (AAA) is even running a special for Sea World! My kids loved Sea World, my daughter commenting to me that she was surprised that Shamu could jump so high.

After a day of visiting Sea World, and another day spent on the beach (we could see the Pacific Ocean from our hotel room), we drove north, visiting UCSD on our way to Legoland. U.S. News and World Report ranks UCSD as the 7th best public university in the nation, and 32nd among the nation’s top 50 universities. Clearly, this all happened after I graduated, but I still looked forward to visiting the place where participation in the Overseas Travel Program in my junior year helped me discover my desire to explore the world through travel.

Following our morning visit, we headed up to Legoland in Carlsbad. Our friends have told us great things about this park, and my 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter certainly found much to entertain them. My daughter loved the fact that she was tall enough to ride any ride she wanted. My son, of course, wanted to spend all his time on the Knights Joust. However, both kids were slightly disappointed in Legoland, after our action packed Disneyland experiences. Legoland is great for a first-time amusement park visit and is also perfect for the toddler set, as many areas of the park are specifically designed for the experience of little kids. That night, we stayed at the West Inn & Suites, which offers a double king room and complimentary breakfast, great for our family of four. And, they provided complimentary shuttle service to the park!

After a second half day at Legoland, we headed back home, taking an easy drive up the coast. All in all, a pleasant trip to San Diego for our family!