San Diego Trip June 2023

Before we headed out on the road to spend a week in the San Diego area, very important things needed to be addressed. The boys' first question: How many stuffed animals can we bring? 

I said four.

Jack selected Penguin, Pole-y, Baby Nar-we and, of course, his beloved Blue Bunny:

Henry then insisted that in addition to Purple-Owl-the-Grape-Purple-Penguin (his favorite) and his new red Boba Dragon, he needed to bring all of the aquatic-themed Squishmallows (can't take some but not the others! Henry exclaimed):

I just wanted to leave, so I relented. So, Jack had to add Banana, Jell-O the bear, Unicorn, Nar-we (the larger version) and Smaller Bluer Bunny to make things more fair. 

Sigh.

Henry on the road:

Travelin' Jack:

It's hard to believe how tall they are.

Steve's sister Jessica was kind enough to host the available Southern California Loveridge clan for lunch on our way through Long Beach. 

Henry made a new friend:

Henry loves animals, and has since been agitating for his own bird. Sadly for him, his mother refuses to take care of any additional things of any kind right now.

It's hard to be a kid with a mom who is certifiably no fun. 

Legoland!

The star of this trip was definitely Legoland.

I corral somewhat reluctant children to take a very necessary picture with the construction penguin:

Henry and Jack loved this Lego dude:

Of course we had to get a picture of my dad Larry with Lego barista Larry: 

Steve and Henry in the red boat, Grandparents in the green boat:

Grandparents cruising: 

Jack and Mom in the yellow boat, Henry and Dad in the red boat:

Jack pauses his piloting to appreciate the Lego penguins:

We didn't manage to get a picture of the boys' favorite attraction: Lego driving school. The ride allows kids to drive their own little cars but, unlike autopia-type rides, there are no tracks, so the cars can go wherever the driver desires (within the ride space, of course). They absolutely loved it. 

Steve and the boys build boats to race: 

Carefully selecting their pieces: 

Henry debates if his boat is ready for the flume: 

Jack contemplates whether he can cram any more green pieces onto his boat: 

Launching Jack's boat: 

Henry works on a roller coaster in one of the Lego building spaces:

Ta da!

Jack with his rocket creation: 

Legoland was a lot of fun, and definitely worth doing for any kid that likes Lego. I was reminded how fortunate we are that the boys are extremely good walkers, as we watched kids whine and collapse around us while Jack and Henry happily charged off to the next attraction.

Lawrence Welk Resort

After walking all day (7 miles in all per Steve's phone) at Legoland, the adults needed a rest day. During our trip, we stayed at my parents' time share in Escondido. Jack took the following pictures of the resort.

My favorite weather (which is anything without sun):

Looking up the hill from our back porch:

Our two-bedroom unit was on the ground floor: 

The unit has a landline phone, which my dad used to call the front desk for more blankets. After watching this, Jack's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, referring to the phone, "I saw one of those at the museum!" 

Now, he was referring to a play phone in the pretend pizza parlor at our local children's museum, but it cracked me up.

Forlorn children wait for their slow parents to get ready to go to the pool:

Jack is hoping sheer force of will is enough to get slow parents to stop taking pictures and get ready for the pool:

There are several nice pools on the grounds, but unfortunately they weren't heated. I'm sure this isn't usually a problem in that climate, but with the unseasonably cool weather, it was chilly in there. The boys are lucky their dad is tough, because I put one foot in and said forget it!

Playing with their beach ball:

Shark Steve closes in on Jack:

One of the pools even has a large water slide. Henry wasn't ready to try it, but Jack must have gone forty times.

Steve gave it a try too:

Steve needed to defrost, so kids are put on their tablets in the living room:

San Diego Zoo

Our next adventure was the San Diego Zoo.

Jack was most excited to see the polar bear, which of course was not doing anything either time we went by (even though we checked back in the evening right before leaving). Oh well.

The boys pretend to be seals: 

Mammoth statue (with human children for scale):

In the reptile house, the water monitor put on a great show, swimming around for Jack:

Jack wanted a picture with this frog (small and green, about even with the bill of Jack's hat):

Happy kids at the zoo! Hooray!

Boys discuss strategy while eating an acai bowl: 

My favorite stop, the penguins:

Watching them zoom by:

I think everyone was bored of penguins... too bad, Mom wasn't done yet. 

Boys turn their back on the bear turning its back on them:

One of the highlights for the boys was the axolotl, who drifted toward the front of the tank and posed nicely for them: 

Of course this resulted in my being forced (I had no choice really) to buy an axolotl stuffed animal souvenir. 

The boys also really loved the flying buckets. 

Mom and Jack staring into the sun:

I managed to have only a very small panic attack (not the best attraction for people afraid of heights). 

Henry and Dad (very much not afraid of heights):

Jack peering out:

A great series of happy Henry pictures:

USS Midway

Having thoroughly worn out my mom between Legoland and the zoo, she stayed behind at the timeshare while my dad accompanied us to the USS Midway Museum. The Midway is a decommissioned aircraft carrier still floating at the Navy Pier that now houses an extensive walking tour and lots of aircraft to look at up on the flight deck.

Henry wanted a picture with this pilot display:

Henry poses while Jack and I listen to our audio tour:

Grandpa and the boys check out a helicopter: 

The scale of an aircraft carrier was something I truly did not appreciate until we spent the day wandering around on one. We walked 2 1/2 miles just on the ship and still didn't see all the areas open the public. It was a really interesting outing.

Grandpa, Henry, Jack and I check out an information sign:

Fantastic view from the bow of the ship:

After observing a yacht with a helipad on the bow, and watching a fancy glass elevator rise up the side of luxury hotel while we ate lunch on the Midway, Jack exclaimed, referring to San Diego generally, "This place is sus!" 

Mom and Grandpa chat while Henry trots down the ramp:

The radar room was a huge hit. So many buttons and lights!

Jack in a pilot's chair:

Having dutifully listened to the children's audio tour, the boys were able to answer the quiz questions and earn their junior pilot wings. 

Attention!

Wrong hand, Jack! Jack shows off the boys' complete lack of familiarity with military customs: 

That's better:

Official junior pilots!

Jack selected a remote-controlled aircraft carrier as his souvenir. The boys try it out in a spa back at the resort: 

Sadly, the time eventually came to go back to real life. On the long drive home, we did manage a brief lunch visit with friends Scott, Eric and Gail. 

We had a fantastic trip. It could not have worked out better. The weather was fantastic. The selection of activities was absolutely perfect for the boys' age and, upon leaving, they were immediately asking when we could go back.