I’m pretty sure there are blogging rules written or unwritten, that include something along the lines of, “don’t overwhelm your readers & put more than 20 pictures in one post.”
I’m afraid I may be breaking that particular rule today.
This may be the most pictures I’ve ever jammed into one post.
In a perfect world, I’d love to have more organized, edited posts for you, but hey, I’m on a road trip! These things get messy. Thanks for understanding.
Like I said before, when we got to Vegas on Sunday evening, we were amused by the strip, where the architecture is tall, gaudy (ie. the Trump hotel, which is gold), &/or impressive.
The Belagio.
{We did not stay there.}
Vegas is blasted hot. Fortunately for us, they have these things called pools.
We think they’re great.
We discovered Asher can swim. In deep water. Doggy paddle is more like it.
All of a sudden, he’s jumping into the deep part of the pool, without any assistance from us.
After we checked out of our hotel, we went to Mandalay Bay (thanks to Michelle & Jen, who recommended it via FB).
We went to the shark reef aquarium.
Sharks? Stingrays? Plethora of exotic fish, lizards, & turtles? Heck yes.
This tunnel allows you to walk underneath water without getting wet (or attacked by sharks).
How cool, right?
The stingray petting pool. Not quite my definition of cute & cuddly, but the boys liked them.
Oh, & funny thing happened when we were in Vegas. Joseph & I had a little miscommunication.
I wanted to stay in Vegas a little longer on Monday. Joseph wanted to “get to San Diego.”
I was irritated that he didn’t want to enjoy being a place with so much to do. Later, while we were on the road to San Diego from Vegas, we realized that I thought San Diego was 10 hours from Vegas, while Joseph thought that it was only 4 hours (which it is, if you don’t get stuck in traffic). I don’t know where I got that number, I just thought it was 10 hours for some reason.
Because I thought we’d have a long drive ahead of us, I felt like we should have a good day of activity before being in the car for a long time. Since Joseph knew that it would only take 4 hours to get there, he wanted to leave earlier in the day so we could enjoy some time at the beach.
We had a good chuckle about it once we realized this.
Funny how misunderstandings can happen when two people make assumptions.
We arrived at Oceanside (which is just north of San Diego), Monday evening.
After hours in the car, the beach was a welcome site.
This was the first time my kids have ever been to the ocean.
The sun set while we were there. This photo reminds me of an old movie from the 60’s–The Endless Summer.
As a kid, we watched it with my dad, an ex-surfer who grew up in L.A. & was a beach bum in his youth.
We wanted to stay in a hotel next to the beach, but turns out, anything near the beach is price-y.
Because we hadn’t booked hotels prior, we didn’t have anything arranged. A night in the Holiday Inn would cost $319, we found out, which was not even close to our price range. We opted to stay at the Ramada Inn in a city more inland & north of San Diego. $89 was a much happier price for us.
Tuesday, we joined up with Joseph’s brother Ammon, & his family. We went to the USS Midway Museum, a retired military ship.
On deck with the aircraft.
Aunt Melissa & kids. Mali is holding her cousin, Zeke’s hand.
After the museum, Coronado Island beach.
I wish I would have taken pictures of the homes there. They were so beautiful, they made me want to cry.
I can only imagine the price tag for some of those beach front properties.
Lunch for the kids: Tofurky sandwiches, applesauce, & tortilla chips.
Lunch for me: kale salad w/ one of my favorite dressings–Asian ginger dressing, a packaged McDougall soup (these are great even cold, no cooking required), & a tomato sandwich on gluten-free bread. Also snacked on some edamame (I bought pre-cooked, packaged).
Thanks to Salem, there was sand all over, in everything.
Body boarding.
Ohmygoodness. So much fun.
I would love to do this as my workout every day if I could.
Salem taking a nap.
Since we were there with Joseph’s brother & my sister-in-law, they watched the kids for a bit while Joseph & I went body boarding.
After San Diego, we went to Knott’s Berry Farm, located about 2 hours north of San Diego, in Orange County. The boys wanted Legoland. But did you know, admission to Legoland is more than for Disneyland?
Highway robbery, I tell ya. We were not going to pay $400 so our family could go to Legoland for 1 day.
Instead, we opted for a much more budget-friendly option: Knott’s Berry Farm. We got 2 days admission to both their water park & amusement park & 1 night’s stay in their resort hotel for $320.
Slapstick humor–the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner type–makes Hyrum & Asher laugh out loud.
They loved the wild west show, where plenty of slapstick & physical humor was served.
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