Spring Break (Part 3)

Our final day of vacation began with yet another trip to Old Town San Diego. That same yummy Mexican place we'd been to the night before also serves breakfast. Their chile relleno omelettes are fab.

The candy shop there also sells Brazil nuts covered in chocolate. Not that I would know about those, you understand, because while nuts are allowed on my diet, chocolate is not. Even if it was just a small amount of chocolate. Ahem.

Anyway, we got to Sea World shortly after it opened.

Judah was excited, but you could sense a bit of trepidation in his tone.

He'd heard of this place before, but didn't know quite what to expect. He kept asking things like, "Do we hafta get in da water wif da sharks?" I got the impression he thought we were just going to go stand on the edge of the ocean, and all the scary underwater documentaries he'd ever seen were going to suddenly unfold before us.

To calm his fears, we headed straight for the Arctic helicopter simulator ride but found that Judah was too little to ride on it.

So while daddy and brother went on that, we took the short cut to get down below and see the Polar Bear, many types of fish, and these cuties...the Belugas.



"Awww, Judah...look at the Beluga whales!" I said as they swam past so slowly and serenely that he was able to get a really good idea as to what they looked like. He was delighted, "De're wookeen at us, Mama!"

This was a tank that held several varieties of cold-water fish. "Hey...wookit da Judah fishies and dere mama!" he yelled when he saw a couple of smaller ones swimming beside a larger one.



Jericho asked to go see the Killer Whales.



Judah is here in the foreground, where he'd run to be closer to daddy when that ginormous black and white creature circled around and came towards the viewing window. Something about that word "Killer" Whale kinda freaked him out.

So we used their other name and exclaimed, "Awww, look at the beautiful Orca."

He finally got close enough to see.



Next, we scouted out the Shark exhibit.

I neglected to get a clear photo of this exhibit, but it involves a large, thick plexiglass tube that folks can stand up in and ride a conveyor belt through so that you can spend a few moments looking up and around as sharks and rays and Nemo and Dorie swim past without holding up the line behind you.

At first, Judah was a little bit fearful, clinging pretty tightly to daddy's neck.



He soon warmed up, however, and got right up to the glass to get a better view.



So much so, in fact, that Daddy had to hold him back to keep him from crawling in with the baby sharks.



In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea that we said, "Awww, look at the cute little baby sharks" to encourage him to take a closer look.

From that point on, he was all about reaching into the open tanks and touching whatever he could.



The Bat Rays were his favorite. They kept popping their heads up out of the water as though to say hi, and Judah just couldn't resist giving one of them a little scratch on the wing like he might do to our dog Raisin's ears. That's a good Bat Ray.

His fingernails came up with this nasty slimy gunk under them, and so daddy took him off to wash his hands.

We needn't have bothered, however, because not far away were the tidepool tanks with star fish in them.





Ewww, what is he holding?!



Oh, no...he's eating it!



Oh, wait...that's just a funnel cake daddy bought for him at a nearby snack shack.

Throughout the day, we again passed some fantastic, colorful flowerbeds.









That afternoon we caught the Shamu show which has always been one of Jericho's favorites.

It is spectacular to see the trainers surf around the tank on the back of a large creature that is at the top of the ocean food chain.



Creatures that toss sea lions and sharks around like rag dolls. (And yes, I do use that decription often, lol.)



I'm pretty sure Shamu is thinking, "Mmmmm....lunch!" in this one.

Here is one of my favorite parts of the show. A little thing I like to call Shamu's Revenge.

(For some reason, as I type these captions, I suddenly adopt an upper East Coast accent. Like say Danny DeVito or Joe Peschi.)

"You think it's funny to tap on my viewing windows, huh? Take THAT!" These people are makin' me crazy!

"You think it's okay that week after week, month after month, year after year all I get for my efforts in this tank are a mouthful of day old fish? Well, take THIS!"



And the crowds get soaked. Again and again.

After taking in a couple more shows involving dolphins and super well-trained pets (rescued from local shelters), and getting a pretty bad sunburn on my forehead, we decided to head out a bit early and go out for Italian at one of our favorite little places in San Diego...Luigi's at Mission Bay. Mmmmm...Eggplant Parmigiana. Yum.

Afterwards, we took a little stroll on the nearby beach.



It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Spring....Break : A Photographic Tour (Part 2)

Don't worry...there's nothing wrong with your monitor.











There is a very good reason why these photos seem to all have that pixelated, digital-still look to them. All of these fabulous sculptures were constructed from Legos.

Can you guess where these photos were taken?

If you guessed Legoland near good old "Sandy Eggo", California, you're right.

The boys couldn't have been more excited at their surprise. "Weow at Way-go-wan-d?" Judah shrieked in excitement when we woke him to tell them where we were.

I couldn't have agreed more. The artist in me is drawn to all the possibilities of things that can be constructed with legos, and this place does not disappoint.

Now, as the kind of parent that has dragged our kids through nearly every tourist trap we've ever passed by in their lives, this is probably my favorite amusement park of them all...even though, having been geared towards younger children, Jericho may be getting a bit long in the tooth for most of it by now.





He's not above reliving his childhood memories, however.

The thing I love best about Legoland is that navigating through this park is a breeze. It's not elbow-to-elbow like Walt's place up in Anaheim. Ever. Even at the busiest times we've been there.

Let me just say from experience that a sure way to stress out a parent and ruin a family vacation is to venture into parks with crowds so thick that you're on edge and worrying about losing your children in the crush all day long.

To my knowledge, that sort of thing doesn't happen here. It's never been our experience, anyway.

There are also plenty of benches and other places for weary parents to sit down and wait with nice ocean breezes and plenty of vegetation to provide cool shade on hot SoCal days.

Even on busy days, the lines are reasonable, and the people standing in them are generally patient, courteous and friendly.

It's also a pretty pleasant place to be due to the fact that Legoland caters to a very low-key clientele.

Nerdy Intelligent children that enjoy playing with legos for extended periods of time are about the only kids that would be caught dead in this place that beg their parents to take them to this particular park.

Which is fine by me, because there is something about watching such children put elaborate lego sculptures and robots together in some of the attractions that gives me the distinct feeling of rubbing shoulders with greatness...witnessing the future generation of engineers, scientists doctors and professors hard at work.

At least that's what I try and remind myself since my children are right in there amongst the other bona fide Legomaniacs, lol.

Of course, while there one must also take advantage of all the great rides.

Most of the rides are geared towards younger kids, so Jericho was forced into going on some that he wasn't exactly enthused about for little brother's sake.





Note the rather sarcastic, Jim Carrey-esque look on his face.

We made sure he got to go on a few of his favorites, too...especially the one with the big scary dragon at the entrance.



As you can see, Judah wasn't too thrilled about this particular ride. I believe right here his exact words were, "NOOOOOOooooooo!"

Daddy and big brother, however, LOVE it, and it goes without saying that they chose 'extreme' for their ride level. They're kinda crazy that way.

Upon getting securely clamped into your 'seat' you are lifted up



twisted and dangled upside down and sideways



flung overhead like rag dolls





and mercilessly spun around until moms taking pictures can barely stand to see anymore because they get dizzy just watching.

It more or less simulates what getting caught in an enormous dragon's mouth might feel like if it were a vicious dragon and whipped you around like dogs sometimes do with chew toys.

But then, almost before they know it, the ride gently sets them down before coming to a full and complete stop.



And Jericho begs to go again.

So while waiting for dad and brother on round two, Judah decides to finally brave speaking into the voice-changer feature at the base of the Dragon sculpture.

You yell into it and it converts what you say into a roaring dragon type voice.



It thrilled him to wield such power, though I couldn't quite capture in photos how he jumped back in fright the first time he heard his own voice roaring just above his head, lol.



One thing about this park is that it fulfills a lot of kid fantasies.

You want to know what it would feel like to be whipped around in a dragon's mouth? Check. To fall five stories? Check. To pilot your own boat, plane or helicopter? Check. To drive your own car? Check.

Speaking of which, Jericho (who long ago earned his 'driver's license' here) is an old pro at the 'driving' attraction, though this time he switched it up a bit by swerving around on the roads just to see what those cars are capable of.



Which wasn't very kind or courteous to others, as he found out when kids began yelling things like, "Hey, you're breaking the rules!"

Meanwhile, Judah went on the little tykes version of this ride next door, but didn't even make it all the way around the track.

He kept crashing into either the outer wall or the curb in the center.



He just didn't seem to 'get' how the steering wheel turned the direction of the vehicle.



The attendant finally just shadowed him, because she knew she was going to have to clear the accidents off the roadway in a moment or two anyway...and she was right.



I kid you not, he crashed SIX times.

We're so proud. (Did you detect my sarcasm here?)

I hate to think what our insurance rates are going to be when these boys start driving on real roads.

One thing that really cracks me up about amusement parks these days is that they all seem to have a 'playground' area.

These parks are filled with all manner of mechanical rides to dazzle and thrill and amuse children, and yet every time we go, our kids always BEG to hang out there.

Kind of like recess after having to stand in line, listen and follow rules all day, I suppose.

There is just something about cutting loose and running wild and crazy over bridges



and through all types of courses and getting bopped in the face by dangly foam boat bumper pads that our boys find hilariously fun.



They also love climbing up the shaky rope ladder for a couple of stories to take the super long reflective slide down to the bottom.





One of my favorite parts of SoCal amusement parks is all the beautiful or otherwise interesting vegetation. Beautiful and interesting things grow in this climate.

Like this, which looks rather like a green knee to me.



Green knees in need of a good clean shave.

Especially if you turn it upside down, lol.



And oh, the flowers! Gorgeous.



Just look at these Hostas.



There were, of course several other wonderful photo ops throughout the park as well.



On that same ride, I got a couple of other great shots



My baby. A mama duck and her baby.



While most children will go with the flow when it comes to appeasing their mom's with picture taking. Mine do not.

As for the sharks jaws, Judah clowned around.



And Jericho played dead



Then, instead of sitting nicely on the old Salt's lap, Jericho opts to give him a noogie, while Judah tugged on his beard.



Then, after a photo with his beloved Thomas



we found that it was close to closing time.

So, we hoofed it back to the car and headed for Old Town "Sandy Eggo" (as both my boys always call it) where they have some of the best Mexican food this side of the border.

While awaiting our food, we were even serenaded.



See the very obvious notes posted on their guitars? The ones suggesting tips?

Well, I didn't (until loading my camera card onto my computer later, that is).

Which is probably why the guy didn't look too happy there at the end of his song.



Oopsie. (Sorry about that, fellas. Your song was lovely, by the way.)

It was a great day, and little did the boys know that our little vacation was not yet over. In fact, it included a rare hotel stay. In a hotel with a pool.

Though how they still had energy to expend in said pool after a long day at Legoland was beyond me.

I was already turning into a pumpkin back at the hotel room just thinking of what the next day held in store for us...