Carlsbad on Tuesday

Tuesday in Carlsbad started off at the beach. The kids easily played in the waves for 2 hours!  I wish they were better swimmers and could enjoy more but they seemed happy with running and squealing in the waves. 

This was just too sweet not to capture.  It doesn't always happen...

We met our friend Krissie at the beach and went to lunch at a fun diner near our condo.  Totally missed getting pictures there. 

After lunch we went to the strawberry fields just down the road.  Krissie got us a bucket and we filled that thing!  It was one of the hottest days they'd had and I was a tad worried that the kids would be miserable but there was a breeze when we got there and finding strawberries was too much fun to be hot. 

Krissie, Jack and Kate. 

Krissie and Kate 

Jack the bucket holder

Krissie, Kate and Mark

They were delicious! 

We had some downtime after picking strawberries then met up with Krissie and her husband, Eric, at Benihanas.  This was our first time there.  The kids were nervous about it.  Kale was the most reluctant (reluctant meaning tears...he's the least adventurous and most cautious).  He didn't want to be in the picture.  

I didn't get a picture of our chef but he was great.  He made us laugh. Even Kale!  Who warmed up to the idea and even smiled and said the food was good. Here's a picture of Jack and Kate totally fascinated with what the chef was doing (flipping spatulas, throwing stuff into his hat, magic tricks...)

Their kids menus turned into chef hats :)

Showing us her use of chopsticks. 

We rocked Kale's world several times on this trip.  I think our theme with him was "Please trust us. Try new things.  You might like it!"  We had this conversation often. I didn't want to eat at places we have in Durango. And for the most part we accomplished that. Some of the new restaurants we introduced them to - In N' Out, Olive Garden, Pollo Loco, Benihana's, Breakfast Club, Ruby's Diner, Boards and Brews, Sub Zero ice cream... Adventure all around.  

Magnificent Monday

Monday was magnificent because we finally went to Legoland. This has been on the minds of my children for months.  Ever since they found out we we're gonna be in California for Mark's graduation.  

Here's my family sitting on our back deck, looking at a map of Legoland and plotting the adventures for the day.  Yes Mark was excited too ;) 

The park was open from 10-5 and I wondered if we'd have enough time to do everything.  We totally did.  It's not nearly the size of Disneyland. It was fun but it is definitely geared towards 3-12 year olds.  Which means my kids loved it. They were the perfect age to go. 

Jack was the right height for all the rides and because we went on a Monday, the park wasn't crowded at all.  We almost never had to wait in a line 

Here they are with a Bionicle.  It has a name but I don't know it...

Everything in the park is made of Legos, or at least is made to look like it's made of Legos. Like this giant spider. 

We went to Star Wars land. Of course we did!  We all took pictures next to our favorite characters. 

They had scenes from the movies all made out of Legos in mini land. Kale and Jack went crazy. 

A life sized Lego Darth Vadar!!

And R2D2!! 

At one point the kids convinced us to go on a wet ride.  One where the guy said we were guaranteed to get drenched. He  was right. I walked away from the ride like Anna did in the movie Frozen after she fell into the river "It's cold it's cold it's cold!" It took me a couple hours to dry out.  We were that wet! 

In mini land they had a lot of cities built with Legos. New York. San Francisco. Las Vegas. Washington, D.C. 

Only Mark and Jack rode this ride.  I really wanted to but they wouldn't let me because I couldn't take out my nose ring.  I've never heard of such a thing! I told the lady my nose ring hasn't come out in 10 years and it isn't coming out for one ride. You're strapped into the arm and it spins you around and upside down.  Jack, a kid after my own heart, wanted to go upside down but they said he was too little.  So the ride was boring according to him. 

They got to meet Emmit from the Lego movie. 

Inside the studio were props and Legos from the Lego movie.  Super neat to see the actual pieces from the movie. 

Emmit and Wild Style. 

They also had a couple rides where kids got to drive their own Lego cars.  Jack was disappointed that he didn't get to ride with the big kids until we discovered that they had a track for his age group. He was the best driver on the road! 

We we're actually exhausted by about 3:30 so we didn't even stay the whole day. But we weren't disappointed. It was great to come back to the condo and rest. 

More to come! 

Stupendous Sunday!

We had a stupendous Sunday! It started off by driving down to church at Angelus Temple where Mark's graduation was held.  It's the very first Foursquare church and it was a treat to attend service there. 

It's a big church so there were a couple confusing things. Like where to go after you parked in the seven story parking structure...they tried giving us directions to children's ministry but I was still confused. At one point we followed the crowd and shook hands with folks saying goodbye to the previous service.  I reached out and shook a guys hand and then said I couldn't figure out where the kids ministry was and could he help me.  He smiled and said sure and asked the guy next to him to direct us.  Once we got the kids to their classes Mark asked me if I knew who I had talked to.  Nope I said.  He explained that that was Mathew Barnett, the pastor of the church. I had no clue.  Super nice man! 

And there he is. 

They had special seats for first time visitors so we had a great view of the stage.  Worship was wonderful and Caroline Barnett (pastor's wife) shared a message about not comparing. It was a great time!  Kids had fun too. 

After church we ate lunch at In n Out and then drove down to Carlsbad, Ca.  A fiend of ours is letting us stay in their condo and it's incredibly beautiful and we are loving it!  Here's the view from our back deck.  You can't see the ocean in the picture but you can see it in person. Lovely! 

The kids were super excited to go see the ocean so after dinner we headed to find a beach.  The weather was super windy and chilly but we were determined to enjoy a California sunset and beach experience. 

The kids were so fun to watch.  They exclaimed things like "the ocean is so huge!" "This is totally God's creation!" "Look! Pelicans!" "When God told Abraham that his descendant would be like the number of grains of sand, did He mean on the whole earth or just one beach? Cause this is a LOT of sand!" "It's so beautiful!" 

I loved it. :)

Kale and Jack standing in the wind. 

The pelicans!

Kate and Mark exploring the lifeguard stand. 

I tried to capture the sand blowing. It kind of bit at your ankles. 

All my loves. 

This is a framer.  

This might be too. It was so neat to watch the sun sink into the water. 

Monday was marvelous. It included Legoland.  Pictures to come soon! 

Graduation Day!

This week is a busy and fun week! 

We left Durango early Thursday morning and drove to Phoenix. 

View on our drive. 

There we stayed with some great friends of ours, Adam and Kristin Bleger, and got to spend Adam's birthday with him.  

The kids went swimming and we ordered out and had a great time catching up with them. 

Got some fun pics of the landscape around the house.  Jack says "mom look! They have a giant pineapple in their backyard!" Haha! 

Kristin read them stories before bed. Giant sleepover! 

Friday morning we got up early and headed to San Dimas, Ca from Phoenix.  We were greeted by hundreds of these. :) 

We got to San Dimas just in time for an informational luncheon that Mark attended.  The kids and I headed to lunch and then checked into our hotel. 

After Mark got back he spent quite a while ironing his graduation gown. We decided not to go to the baccalaureate with him.  I really wanted to attend but the kids were just at their limit so we stayed back and ordered pizza and went to bed early. 

Mark, on the other hand, dressed up in his one suit. Handsome guy! 

Today was the day.  Graduation day.  What Mark has been working towards for almost 2 years.  It's a strange thing though.  He's graduated but he isn't done with school.  He just started a new class last week that won't be finished until the end of June. Then he will be done with classes.  He has a final project due in December.  So he's kinda done. 

But we are still thrilled to be able to celebrate this monumental day! 

This morning we dropped Mark off at Angelus Temple (where the Foursquare founder preached) for graduation rehearsal.  Family wasn't allowed in for 2 more hours.  The kids and I had some time to kill. 

So we went for a drive to Hollywood Blvd.  It was cool but so difficult to be navigator, driver and tour guide. Not to mention parent.  Add to that the fact that I'm a small town Colorado girl, not a big city California girl. No offense to the few Californians who read my blog, but the traffic is killer!  And stressful.  

I turned on Siri to show me the way to the Hollywood observatory and somehow wound up back at Angelus Temple.  I gave up. We changed plans and went to Echo Park which is right across the street from the church.  It was beautiful. 

Looking at ducks. 

I just loved the tree outlines. 

The lily pads were pretty too. 

When it came close to being allowed in, the kids and I went and stood in line (that went around the block!). This is a picture of Aimee Semple McPhersons parsonage which is now a historical center. 

Our selfie while waiting.  Sent it to Mark :)

The church is big and beautiful inside. 

We had seats in the front of the first balcony. Right in front of some very enthusiastic and loud cheerers who practically knew everyone graduating! 

Name in the program. 

Our graduate with his back to us.  Second row. 

The graduation itself was neat.  It was awesome that we got to worship and pray and celebrate. The speaker was a tad long winded...so Jack snapped a pic of his feet. 

And I snuck one of Kate. 

After the ceremony we found Mark over at Echo park and then took him out to lunch at Red Robin.  

After lunch, I snuck off to Trader Joe's to get some snacks. I've never been inside one.  I got lots of great recommendations on Facebook and found some goodies.  Man they were busy though! Again with the small town-ness...

When I got back we finally took the kids swimming. They've been begging us and we promised we'd go after graduation. 

Love this pic. 

Tomorrow we are planning on heading back to Angelus Temple to attend church. Then we'll drive to San Diego to spend four days. And hit up Legoland...