Legoland California trip May 26 - Jun 6, 2023
5/26/2023 - Friday, after work we drove to Mesquite and stayed at the Virgin River Hotel. On Saturday we drove to Grandma and Grandpa Cornwall's house. On Sunday Grandma Cornwall set up a kid splash pad. The kids enjoyed that. That night I was teaching the kids how to do "magic eye" pictures. Julie was able to get it and eventually Austin. They were so stoked when they got it.
5/29/2023 - On Monday we drove to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house. There was just enough water in the pond to go boating before the end of the season. Michael, Stuart, and Grandma Dorothy were there. The kids also got to ride on the ride-on lawn mower. I asked Austin what he thought about me growing up on my parent's 10 acres of property. He said, "I'm actually kind of jealous."
5/30/2023 - Sailing Day! Grandma and Grandpa Smith took us sail boating today at Paradise Point. Grandma Dorothy came too. It was fun hanging out in the front of the boat.
After sailing we had a lunch picnic at Paradise Point. Afterwards, we walked around and enjoyed the scenery.
Then we went to Mission Beach and played in the water. Boogie-boarding was a highlight for me. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand most and getting chased by the waves at the shoreline (lots of giggles and laughter from the latter). However, Julie was feeling sick and didn't get to experience much of the beach. It had been sooooo long since I had gone to the beach. I could've stayed there all day. 
Next, we drove to Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, CA where we would be spending the next two nights. We got an Indiana Jones explorer-style room. They had lots of different themes. This was the most expensive trip we had ever done up to this point (~$2k+). There was a scavenger hunt each day for the kids to figure out and come back to our room and enter the code into a treasure vault. Inside was a mini Lego set for each of the kids. The elevator in the hotel was set up like a disco dance party.
5/31/2023 - Day 1 at Legoland. The kids couldn't wait to get inside the park, but first we needed to eat our free complimentary breakfast (which was awesome). There was so much to see inside the park. There were life-size Lego structures and figures everywhere. It was very much a family park for younger kids. There were almost no teenagers and no adults who didn't have kids with them. The kids had a blast. It was too cold to go to the water park on both days, which was a bummer (that was included in our passes). We also got to go to the Sea Life Aquarium, which was fun. We pretty much did everything we wanted to do on day 1, so on day 2, we just went on our favorite rides. The problem was, Dylan (almost 3) wasn't tall enough for a lot of the rides. Wyatt (almost 5) was the perfect age for Legoland rides.
The San Diego Lego exhibit (below) was new when we came.
Wyatt enjoyed this ship rocking back and forth. It was his favorite, despite how he looks in the picture below.
We stopped by the beach just to see the view of the ocean.
Day 2 at Legoland:
Austin enjoyed building cars to race. Building them was fun, but racing them didn't work out too well. They wouldn't go straight.
A favorite ride for the older kids. Technic Coaster is the most extreme ride there.
Austin loved this Ferrari.
Julie enjoyed jousting.
6/2/2023 - Back in Julian. We toured Grandpa Bill's property, including the leather shop, boat, and gold mine. We went to town and had Julian mountain-berry pie.
Then we headed to La Jolla to see the tide pools. Everyone enjoyed this. Chuck enjoyed looking for crabs. Dylan's leash was a life-save wherever we went.
We walked a half mile north to "The Children's Pool." It's actually a spot dedicated to seals. We enjoyed watching the seals, but the boys mostly enjoyed the waves splashing against the wall.
We ate at Jersey Mike subs afterward and said goodbye. We were heading back to Grandma and Grandpa Cornwalls in Palmdale, CA.
6/3/2023 - Today we celebrated Wyatt's 5th birthday. We went to a park in Palmdale.
6/4/2023 - Today was Chuck's birthday. After stake conference a friend of the Cornwalls brought over an old Model A car and gave us rides.
Chuck Wanted to go to Vasques Rock for his birthday. The kids were very brave, maybe a little too brave.
We finished the evening with ice cream sundaes to celebrate Chuck's 38th birthday. 
6/5/2023 - We drove to Mesquite and stayed in the Virgin River Hotel.
6/6/2023 - Jaycee did some work at the New Harmony house that she manages. I drove the kids around New Harmony trying to find fun things to do besides Kolob Canyon. I guess Kolob Canyon is the only cool thing in New Harmony (we didn't want to pay because we didn't have much time). After Jaycee finished up, we drove home. It was an exciting trip.
