Carlsbad & San Diego Trip

Hard Working Dad has been working TOO hard lately.
We decided it was time to get away from the computer for a weekend.

On Thursday, October 7, we began our journey 3 hours behind schedule, HW Dad getting only 3 hours of sleep in the previous 48 hours, lost mapquest printouts & eating our dinner in our vehicle through rush hour traffic. At about 12:30 AM, we hit a MAJOR Highway 5 detour that led us through an industrial-looking area of Los Angeles. When we arrived at our hotel in Carlsbad at about 1:30 AM, the entire area was in a blackout. We were given a flashlight to help us get to our rooms and told that around 4:00 AM the lights should be back on. Well... if you know children... they had wanted to make sure that the lights really WOULD NOT turn on BEFORE we went to bed. Soooo at 4:00 AM, ALL of the lights illuminated. Dad slept through the bright lights.

We got some rest, woke up at about 8:30 AM and started reading the newspaper that is delivered to each hotel guest. What should we learn from the front page headline? A main sewage line breaks closing a stretch of the Carlsbad State Beach! Our hotel is a half mile from that beach! We decided to head to Legoland instead of the beach.

Friday, October 8
Legoland

We all enjoyed the amazing Lego Structures!

Splash Battles (shown) and Aquazone Wave Racer were definitely our favorite rides!

We all got drenched from the water rides!

Family Photo with Tourist Lego.

Legoland was very relaxing. In October, there are no crowds and short lines. WE LOVED THAT!

In the evening, we decided to watch a pay per view movie in the hotel. But following the Byrd Luck for this vacation, the screen flickered as if you were watching it on VHS with horrible tracking. We called down to the hotel desk and because of the blackout, all of the internet and cable servers were down until Monday morning. Oh well!

Saturday, October 9
Birch Aquarium

The next morning we decided to head over to the Birch Aquarium which is located near UC San Diego. Lovely Daughter was fascinated with finding any fish that she could identify from the movie "Finding Nemo".

The hands-on water activity "Go with the Flow" was probably the favorite of all the children, though. They were able to change the water currents and the speed by moving or placing panels in various locations in this waterplay station. Very fun and educational!

San Diego Temple

Our family was pleasantly surprised to see the San Diego Temple right across the highway from UC San Diego and the Birch Aquarium. WE just HAD to Stop! Beautiful temple!

Oceanside Beach

The whole afternoon we splashed in the ocean and built sand castles!
(FYI: Beach toys are no longer in regular stores after September.)

Sunday, October 10
Mormon Battalion Visitors' Center

We highly recommend going to this visitors' center! There is a free tour that takes about 40 minutes that is a MUST SEE! Very interactive!

We were amazed at the opportunity to learn more about our Great Great Great Grandmother, Phebe Draper Palmer Brown who went with the Mormon Battalion as a laundress and her son, Zemira Palmer our Great Great Great Uncle. We feel honored to have our ancestors' story told.

Though it began with a rocky start, we were blessed in the end to be able to share some much needed family time. We are also extremely grateful for Grandpa Byrd who gave us a wonderful Christmas gift last year. It's called a GPS! This Global Positioning System got us completely lost in Utah, but here in California... it was a complete lifesaver! It got us through that early morning detour, directed us to our hotel, guided us to various museums, parks and a cleaner beach!

This little video is classic Byrd family. Slide down, trip, get up, slide, trip, fall down, get up, go on another ride. That's life.