The pillow did it.

After three weeks and two vacations, I think it’s about time we get back to a normal routine. Lego of the Week, laundry pictures and of course Connorisms. I had a conversation with Connor a couple of days before we left for California about his hair and the ever present knots that seem to be tied in his head.

I don’t know if I ever mentioned before but Connor does some of his best work in the shower. From telling me his new shampoo smells like apple juice, to singing Gangnam Style in the shower (complete with dance moves) and telling me what else the “Fox says” (also complete with dance moves. If you don’t get the Fox reference, either you live under a rock or don’t ever get on YouTube). Shower time is a curse and a blessing with Connor. It is always a struggle to get him to the shower but once he’s there, it isn’t so bad (most nights).  

Connor has always had longer hair. He was born with a literal mop of black hair. It was really dark his first year, when it started lightening up. We have always kept it long, because let’s be honest, it fits him. There was that time we cut it short but we don’t’ talk about that. The trauma and tears was too much. After the first cut, he bawled and started telling us to, “Put it back. I don’t want it short. Put it back on!” Since then it has been his choice how short he wants it. Well, since it is longer hair and it’s Connor and he’s a boy, his hair is bound to get, well, bound up (see what I did there. Hunh, hunh).  

We have always joked about the various animals that make a home in his hair when it gets all tangled in knots. There has been a pelican that made a nest there. There was a mountain lion. Our dog Henry has been accused of sleeping on his head, all sorts of animals that have lived in his hair. As he gets older I know these jokes won’t last but I still push the envelope because I’m selfish and I like the jokes. Well this particular night I was joking about the pelican that lived in his hair and he was playing back. I asked, “Well if it’s not a pelican what is it. Is it a robin?”

“No.”

“Is it a raccoon?”

“No.”

“Is it the new lion from the zoo?”

“No."

It went on like this for a minute or so when he informed me, “It’s not an animal, Papa. It’s my pillow.” “Oh, I see,” I replied. “Your pillow is it. Does it just rub your hair until it gets in knots?”

“Nope, he (his pillow is a he?) uses the corners of the pillow case and ties my hair in knots.”

This is what happens when you disrepect the pillow case. You get hogtied by the Lone Ranger.

That is one hell of a pillow, and more impressive, pillow case that “he” can tie knots in his hair. By the way when I mean knots, I mean knots. Mandy and I have literally had to untie his hair. Next time it’s in knots I’m waking up the pillow and “he” can untie it because I’m sick of doing it.

Yellowstone

I have told you about our little trip down to SoCal we had a couple of weeks back, so now it’s a little tale about our July 4^th weekend excursion. My awesome in-laws were gracious enough to pay for some hotel rooms in West Yellowstone, so that as an entire family we could spend the holiday weekend together. I had never been to West Yellowstone prior to this visit so I was excited and the boys were beyond excited for this one. Mandy had found them some books about the park and that only further stoked their interest. So after a four day stay in between vacations, we packed up the car and headed north this time (After a 13hour drive the previous Sunday, five hours is nothing. As a plus no puking this trip and no iPad covers were harmed).

The drive up was uneventful. Stopped in Island Park at Ponds for a quick lunch and we were back on the road. Quick side note about lunch. When we told the boys about going to Yellowstone and telling them about the wildlife and geysers and the such, they got some notion that bison meat (hmmmmm) was a mainstay at the park. So every time we stopped north of Malad (which was too often. No more liquids on trips) whether it was a rest stop or gas station the question was always: “Do they have buffalo burgers here?” Imagine the excitement when at Ponds they had, wait for it……..BUFFALO BURGERS! We bought them one off the adult menu to split. Alex loved it, Connor ended up sharing pizza. Alex finished Connors burger and also shared some of my pizza (yes that was almost an entire adult size burger and two slices of MY pizza. Lord help us when he’s a teenager).

We arrived early afternoon in West Yellowstone, checked into our hotel and headed into the park. Not 5 miles in and we hit buffalo. Connor has a certain liking for the beast and the trip could have ended right there for him. He saw his buffalo and he was happy. After that we headed onto Old Faithful and the lodge area. Now I have only been to Yellowstone once before and that was the year after the great fire up there (89?). So to see it now was a different experience. There were still burnt husks of trees everywhere but always surrounding those were dozens of 10-12ft tall pines ready to take back over. We saw the spewing of hot water from the ground at Old Faithful, toured the Lodge and did the hike around the Old Faithful area to Morning Glory pools and the surrounding area. 

 The hike took waaaaaaayyyyyy longer than we thought, it was fun and a great time but by the end all of us were ornery and hungry (ok maybe I was the only ornery one). We headed back into town for dinner. On our way back we were stopped in traffic for a bear that was seen 500 yards off the road, under a felled tree and tall grass. Of course I grabbed the camera and headed up the road. My sister-in-law, Demi and I trekked up the road and off the beaten path to try and glimpse the animal, when I decided to try and get a closer shot. Not sure if you are aware but there are thousands of little streams and rivulets of water in the park. As I also discovered most of these are hidden by the extremely thick grass that is also in abundance in the park. To quote Seinfeld, I stepped off the path, yada, yada, yada, I threw some tennis shoes away (RIP Orange Kwiss. You always were and always will be my favorite pair of shoes). After a 30 minute delay we were back on the road. We ate dinner that night at a fantastic place, The Slippery Otter, albeit it was a late dinner. We got back late, (I had to change), we had a big party and it was the 4^th in a small tourist town. The burger and Moose Drool (from the tap) was worth the wait. Alex declared his pizza the best he has ever had. Great food and great service.

The next day was a lot of driving and sightseeing. We hit Gibbons Falls first on our way to Mammoth Hot Springs. Again, seeing the awe on your kids’ faces when they see something for the first time is better than me seeing the sights.

 Alex wanted to see an Elk more than anything and he saw one on the way to Mammoth.

We hit the Artist Mud pots on our way to Mammoth and did the quick tour there (I’ll get to more of this in a minute). After a long drive of gorgeous landscape we arrived in Mammoth. When I was a kid, Mammoth Hot Springs was by far my favorite site in the park. The hundreds of little pools in a kaleidoscope of colors was a something I have never forgotten. However, as with the Artists Mud pots, most of it is inactive due to the constant earthquakes that have hit up there recently. In the case of the Mud pots, it was active until the recent quake that was up there in March. Not sure about when Mammoth went so dry but it was and I was more than disappointed. However, the boys again loved it. From the elk that are always present up there to the pools and falls, they were in awe. I was too once we hiked up to the most active part of the site and I was able to relive a little bit of childhood.

We then decided to go over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone to check out the two big waterfalls. The drive took forever and normally I would blame car problems or little boy issues (see previous mentions of small bladders and car sickness) but this time we had a bigger problem:

This little fella decided to meander through the highest pass in the park at his own leisure.

Yup he got that close.

 After our little detour and one black bear later we made it to the falls (just realized I was damn scared of the heights I didn’t take a picture of damn water. FAIL). After falls, we wandered down to the Mud Volcano area. That was by far my favorite area. From the Volcano, Dragons Mouth and the sour lake it was all great. We even were entertained by two male buffalos that decided to it was a good time to play alpha male. There was snorting, hollering, rolling in the dirt and stomping. This guy was not in a good mood but it made for a great picture. 

We wandered around there for a good 90 minutes, when decided to head back into town for dinner. In town we had some BBQ and what I can only describe as God’s gift to the ice cream world. HUCKLEBERRY ICE CREAM! Alex and I are making the drive alone for more of this stuff. We should have gone back for seconds it was so good but noooooo shopping was more important.

The next morning we headed back into the park to let the boys get there JR Ranger Patches and explore the lower and middle geyser area. Again we were interrupted by some guests:

However because of this herd we decided to take a little side road and see where it took us. It took us to this:

Firehole Falls

We had never heard of this, let alone seen it before. Sometimes the road less traveled is worth it (sorry got sappy with some Frost there).  We eventually ended up at the Geyser area walked around for some time and by then we were all so tired, a family decision was made to head home at that point.

We can’t thank Brad and Linda enough for this opportunity. We definitely made the most of our three days. If only I can figure out a way to get that ice cream here……….

Final Installment of the 2014 Hedrick California Adventure

I know I said there would be four installments about our trip to California and I know I took five days off between posts but there is another adventure I’ll tell you about tomorrow that got in the way of this adventure. Confused? Great so am I. let’s move on.

So I told you about our time in San Diego, the rip-off that was Legoland, Disneyland, and our baseball games. After four days in Anaheim and the happiest place on earth (Angels Stadium) we headed off for Newport Beach. Mandy found this great little hotel that was in the northern part of the city away from all the touristy crap around the pier. It was a four-lane highway and row of houses away from the beach. Literally a two minute walk from feet hitting sand. We arrived at the hotel before check-in but the gal up front told us to drop our gear at hotel, she gave us a parking pass and we headed for the beach. Two quick things about the beaches we hit, Coronado and Newport, the sand was better at Coronado and I liked the vibe of the island a little more but I wanted to really get away it would be Newport. The beach was bigger but not as busy, it was just laid back and relaxing. I have never had so much fun doing nothing. 

Yes we were having fun. Sun was bright and I forgot sunglasses.

We gave the boys sand toys and entertained themselves for the next 6 hours. It was run in the water, build castle, build a moat, build a mountain, chase the waves, have the waves chase them, watch the birds dive in the ocean and look for seashells. Mandy’s friend that lives in the area even came down with her husband and daughter to hang out for an hour or so. (Thanks Red and Paul, we had fun). We were in the sun and surf for almost six hours. When hunger finally grabbed ahold of us we decided it was time to head to the hotel so we could shower and get some dinner. 

Now here is the part where I don’t like Newport. We decided to eat at the pier at a Place called Ruby’s that is out over the water at the end of the pier. Great food, great view and great service and the smore’s shake alone was worth the trip.

However, the traffic was awful. All the bad things you hear about the beach crowds in California was manifested in this area. It took 30minutes from our hotel to park and its maybe three miles down the road. Just crazy busy. In Newport’s defense it was Saturday night and we were there around 530 but still, not a fan of the actual town part of Newport.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to grab our jackets and say good-bye to the beach and California.  We meandered down the beach to a rocky outcropping that was jutting off the beach into the ocean. On our walk we looked at all the sandcastles that had been built during the day. We watched how high the tide was coming in. The boys looked for more seashells while Mandy and I soaked it all in. What a great relaxing way to end our vacation.

It was about the time we were getting ready for dinner that Mandy and I realized that she and I were crispy. I mean burned. Have you ever seen a lobster after it’s been in the pot for a minute or two? Have you ever seen a University of Utah (GO UTES!) jersey? Then you have seen how red her back and the top of my arms/shoulders were. To this day we are trying to figure out how we were burned so badly. We applied sunscreen at least three times. We were there almost 10days ago and my arms are just barely starting to feel normal. It was brutal trying to sleep that night and even worse the drive home while being burnt is no Buenos.

Drive home was just lovely. The car sputtering just outside of Cedar City(still think it was something on the grill of the car that wasn’t allowing air to flow), an hour delay in Beaver because of construction and we discovered that Connor gets motion sickness on car rides (sorry buddy that is my fault. I still get carsick sometimes). If you are ever north of Fillmore about 30 miles heading north you might see an Ipad cover soaked in vomit still there. Sorry I know you shouldn’t litter but there is no way that was making the trip home with us. Pukey clothes in the trunk were bad enough there was no way we were dealing with an Ipad cover that wouldn’t come clean. Side note, those covers are like a sponge if liquid ever hits it. We arrived home later than we wanted but we were home safe and that was all that mattered.

We have had many vacations over the years but I will tell you this was our best. The baseball, Connor overcoming fears on rides, the boys really starting to “get” big rides, the food, the beach, the baseball,  WWII aircraft carriers, meeting Captain America, the monorail, baseball, and Newport. We put over 2,000miles on Mandy’s car and I am sure as a family we will remember most of those for years to come.    

For the Love of the Game

The other sports are just sports.
Baseball is a love.
-Bryant Gumbel

I have often talked about my love of baseball. I was horrible at it. If the ball were the size of volleyball I still couldn’t have hit it. All the same I loved it. The smell of the grass, feel of the ball in your hand, the vibration in your hands when you get the perfect bat on ball, and the dirt on your chest when you dive to get that ground ball. There is no greater sound than when a hard throw hits that mitt. For those that love baseball you know what I’m talking about. We have taken the boys to Bee’s games in SLC and Raptors games up north and I love minor league baseball. These guys and most of the time, boys, are trying to make a name for themselves and get to the Show. Deep down most of them know that this will be their pinnacle of success in the sport but they still do it. Why? They love the game. It’s poetic, nostalgic, Americana; its baseball. There is something about the bigs though.

I have been to six MLB games in my life. I’ve been to the old Rangers stadium, Astrodome and Kingdome (all three of those stadiums are either gone or no longer habitable). I was lucky enough in my first MLB game to see Nolan Ryan pitch. It was 91 and father time was finally starting to catch up with him but I saw him pitch 5-2/3 give up six hits and three runs to the A’s that featured Dave Henderson, Ricky Henderson, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Dave Stewart. I still have the program and game card from that hot, sticky Texas summer night. I proposed to Mandy a year or so ago that when the boys were older I wanted to do a baseball trip to California. Hit as many games as we could in a week. When she said let’s start small first and get a couple in while doing other things, well duh, let’s go.

The boy’s first MLB game was the Padres vs. the Dodgers in San Diego at Petco Park. I’ll never forget the excitement of walking up to my first MLB game but compared to the awe on both of my boys faces as we walked across the street to Petco, well it’s not even close. Let me tell you that is a great place to see a ball game. 

It was a Sunday afternoon game; the salty ocean breeze coming off the bay, smell of popcorn and peanuts was the perfect setting.

I always judge the quality of ballpark food based on its hot dogs and I was disappointed with this one but who cares. They had a large collectable cup and popcorn tub that was refillable for free while at the game. Pause here for a public service announcement.  Just because a popcorn tub has unlimited refills, that doesn’t mean you should keep it full just for the sake of it. I think all four of us were more brine that human by the end of the game due to the constant stream of popcorn and soda. It was a fantastic way to start the baseball portion of the trip. One complaint about the stadium. Mandy went online and it said we could bring one unopened water bottle for each person but it didn’t say how big it could be. Apparently, the difference between 23.6oz and 20oz is a big deal. We had to leave the waters behind, which wouldn’t have been too bad, except for the attitude of the attendant. It didn’t ruin the day but it was annoying.

A couple of years ago, I heard on the radio that Mike Trout was called up from AA ball to AAA and would be in SLC that weekend to play for the Bee’s. I had read a lot about this kid (kid is appropriate. He was only 19 at the time) and told Mandy we have to go see this kid play while he is here because he won’t be here long. That weekend we went to the game and Alex for the first time really started to get baseball. He unleashed a flood of questions that game. From stances and throwing motions, to why there is a big black wall in center field, to why is Trout so special? This was also the first time he really caught on to the minor vs. major league setup was about. After, the game I was told, “Sorry Papa, I know you like the Cubs but I really want to be an Angels fan.” In the back of my mind I was privately happy. Being a Cubs fan is a miserable existence. At least the Angels have a legitimate shot every year. It was awesome seeing him start to become his own person and not what I wanted him to be. All that being said this is about our California baseball experience.

When we first started looking at tickets for these two games it became apparent that MLB wasn’t as cheap as I remember but this was the Angels and both my boys like the Angels so hell let’s spend a little more for great seats.

Yup, we were that close. It was again an awesome experience. Even though it was a noon first pitch and it was hot and humid (OMG IT WAS HUMID) we loved it. It was a little disappointing that they didn’t do b batting practice that day because of the early start but the boys still got an autographed ball Erick Aybar so all was well. The stadium wasn’t as nice as Petco but they didn’t care this was the Angels. This was Trout, Pujols, Hamilton, Kendrick and most of all Weaver.

The past year, since he found out this was his first year of kid pitch, Alex has wanted to pitch. He loves to pitch. We are in the front yard almost every night practicing pitching, not because of me, but because of Alex. He wants to be out there. He loves to pitch and his favorite pitcher is Weaver. Weaver is tall and lanky just like Alex and I think he feels connected because of it. Alex throws over the top because of Weaver. We found out the Monday before our game that Weaver was the probable pitcher. You would have thought it was Christmas, Easter, and Birthday all rolled into one day when Alex found out. He walked on a cloud all morning at the stadium. He was so fun to see Alex that day. For the first three innings Alex would lean forward with every Weaver pitch, relax when it hit the catcher’s mitt and lean forward again when he started his rotation. Alex was the first one on his feet when Weaver was pulled in the seventh. Connor enjoyed it too. He was all about the Gatorades, frozen lemonades and the baseball cards we bought him. The heat did start to wear on all of us as the day went on but who cared. This was Angel baseball and it was Jared Weaver pitching.

The Angels ended up winning the game 6-4 and about the time the game ended we ended up in the shade. Connor was all about Disneyland and the beach but he enjoyed baseball that I am pretty certain he will not to forget his first MLB game. Alex, however I know will never forget his first baseball games. He will never forget he saw his baseball Hero pitch. I will never forget the shear awe in their eyes as we walked up the steps at Petco, or the absolute excitement of seeing Alex when Weaver emerged from the dugout to take the mound. Sports are sports but baseball is love. At any level, any park, any field, any diamond, any front yard where a son asks his dad, “wanna catch?” baseball is love. And after the experience I had last week with my own boys last week, I believe it.

“I see great things in baseball. Its our game, The American game.”

                                                                                                -Walt Whitman

 

Disneyland

We spent 3-1/2 days in Disneyland, so rather than chronicle the entire 3-1/2 days and 237 miles total walked (give or take a 100miles), I will merely hit some quick highlights.

First day in the park we went early to get in line, thinking (correctly I might add) that the park would be super crazy busy. We arrived around 715 and people were already streaming into the park. I asked one of the attendants if that was for Magic Morning (for you non-Disney people you can get in before the park opens with these passes), after telling us yes it was, she promptly handed us four Magic Morning passes. This was going to be a good trip.

The boys made us a promise that they would try every ride in the park, minus Tower of Terror and California Screaming, this trip. We started on Indiana Jones, Connor freaked out so Mandy took him out and I went with Alex. We tried Thunder Mountain Railroad, Connor freaked out so we took turns with Alex. We tried Star Tours; both boys loved it, although Connor would not go again. Oh well, he tried it once. No matter how old you are or your kids are, you have to do Autotopia, Jungle Cruise and the carousel in Fantasyland (even if it’s only because your wife wants to relive Saving Mr. Banks moments. Ok not really it is for nostalgic reasons too). Especially, when they hit that magical 56” height and can drive themselves on Autotopia. We met Captain America. We saw Iron Man’s suits from the movies (editor’s note: I was more excited than the boys to see the suits. My inner 10 year old boy was in full effect seeing Iron Man and the Cap. I was actually mad I didn’t wear my Iron Man shirt that day. Yes I have an Iron Man shirt. Don’t judge, I have a Millennium Falcon shirt too. Wow, I am such a loser.)

Day two was almost all California Adventure. Since Cars Land opened a couple of years ago, our mornings start out with Mandy getting Fast Passes for Radiator Springs Racers while the boys and I get breakfast and more importantly coffee (Starbucks in Disneyland GENIUS) for all of us. Toy Story mania is always fun and no lie, we never had longer than a 25minute wait for this ride the entire trip. Mater’s Junkyard is now a family favorite and Tower of Terror still scares me. As evidenced by last year’s picture:

There was some drama the second day. We have never ridden Grizzly Rapids on any of our trips there; something about being soaking wet the rest of the day is just not appealing to me. However, this is an observation deck on the big drop that you can get relatively close and get some spray. Think the observation deck at Niagara Falls (editor’s note: I have never been to Niagara Falls but I’ve seen pictures and it must be close to the same thing) but on a smaller scale. Alex and I went down there with Connor. Me being the fantastic father I am (sarcasm font) I decided to pick up Connor so he could experience the full effect of being sprayed. First drop no problem, “ok Papa put me down now,” he asked. “No let’s get one more spray,” I replied. That is when the next car/pod dropped and a wave straight out of The Perfect Storm hit Connor and I. There were immediate tears, immediate guilt and $80 dollars and 30minutes later Connor had new socks, shorts and a beach towel (no ever said Disney was cheap). As I was shivering later that night at dinner at the Blue Bayou, Connor and I could finally laugh about the experience. My shoes and socks were still not happy with me.

Day three was only at night due to our day Angel’s game and it was mostly Star Tours, Pirates and Thunder Mountain Railroad, more about the Railroad a little later (crap this is turning into another long post. Oh well, I’m on a roll baby).

Day Four was a day where we had no plans, no dinner reservations, just what do we still want to do and let’s do it. It turned out to literally be the best day we have ever had in the park. It was dead. A Friday in June and it was dead. We counted that night and we were able to get on 26 rides on various attractions (albeit I think 25 of those were between Pirates and Thunder Railroad).  We ruled the Fast Pass. Spent the morning at California Adventure and the rest of the day at the main Park. We were able to ride in the front of the Monorail with the conductor

Picture taken before conductor joined train…..or was it????????

We went Goofy (see that pun) over hats:

 

Just had a great relaxing day that ended up being awesome.

Two more items about Disneyland and I promise I’ll be done. I mentioned above that Connor had meltdowns over riding the “scary” rides. At the end of day 3 he was bribed (we are not above bribery) with a Indiana Jones play set if he would just ride Thunder Mountain at least once. We went and got our Fast Passes, waited until it was our turn to go. The walk down was torture, would he have another tantrum? Did he get the play set or not? The normal chatter box that is Connor went into hyper drive: “Youknowpapathedinsaourbonesareattheveryendrightthere.Doyousee?Righttherebythelights.Aretheirreallyrattlesnakesontheride?Goats?Istheexplosionloud?” That last sentence is verbatim and it was said in the span of 2.12seconds. When it was our turn to get in the train, the whole world went silent. The tension could have been cut by Captain Hooks, well hook. He insisted I ride with my arm around him. The curtain was lifted after the first drop. He laughed and screamed on the ride, not the hysterical I’m going to wet myself before I die scream but pure unadulterated joy scream. When the ride was over he put two little arms into the arm, pulled them straight down, fists clenched with a resounding. “YES I DID IT. THAT WAS AWESOME!” He was able to overcome another fear on the trip. Hence why we rode Thunder Mountain another 6 times. After the last ride on Friday night, he had a moment alone by the fence of the ride to say good-bye to his new favorite ride.

Second last thing; food in the park is beyond good. BBQ in Frontier Land, dinner at the Blue Bayou (jambalaya), churro bites with chocolate sauce, chocolate twist, Red’s Frozen apple drink (Red as the fire engine from Car’s not the apple flavored beer), Mickey Cookie, Bengal BBQ, pineapple spears, Dole Whip, Perfectly Pleasantly Punch, and finally beignets. I love the food in the park. I could go back and just gorge the whole time.

All in all this was by far our most successful Disneyland trip.

 

Tomorrow’s blog: BASEBALL!!!!!

The 2014 Hedrick California Exstravagaza

I have not blogged in over a week. I know some of you were going through withdrawals because of it (insert sarcasm font here. We were on our 2014 Hedrick family adventure to all things Southern California. We were gone over a week so I thought I would break this down into three portions of the trip: San Diego/Legoland, Disneyland/Angels baseball and Newport Beach.

Today’s installment is the Coronado Island/San Diego/Legoland portion of our trip. We left Utah Friday after work and drove to Mesquite that first day. The trip to Mesquite was uneventful, except Connor managed to lose his Nintendo DS between here and there (update. This was written still on our trip. When we started unpacking tonight the DS has been found.) We made a mistake and slept in on Saturday, so we got on the road later than we would’ve liked but we still made it to San Diego in time for the USS Midway. What an awesome way to start the trip. We pulled into San Diego and went directly to the ship. What an experience. The ship has planes on the deck, a tour of the second level, a cutout on the second level that you can walk over to see how far down it really goes (vertigo), and if you ever make it there, wait in line and do the guided tour of the tower on the flight deck. It was a 30minute tour of the entire tower. The boys were able to sit in the all the different chairs and climb all over the ship. Connor was scared of the ladders at the beginning of the tour but was jumping off the bottom rung by the end. Touring the ship really makes one appreciate all that our sailors did then and do now (especially if you are over 5’ 10” damn short doorways). As a family we’ve had grandparents and I had a cousin that served in the Navy and working all day on those ships in such tight spaces is not something that I could do.

After the tour we wondered over the pier to The Fish Market Seafood Market. WOW. I had the Panko crusted tilapia and it was just damn awesome. The best part of the restaurant was the view over the water:

Sorry picture does not do it justice.

Now comes the drama part of the day. After a great start we went to check in at the Best Western on Coronado Island. We had to move the trip back a week after some scheduling conflicts; well because of this something’s were missed. For instance, when booking with Best Western always and I mean freaking always check the confirmation. We were booked into a smoking room. No big deal expect, we have two boys with asthma and that really doesn’t work very well. The front desk clerk was awesome to work with, even after he told us there was nothing he could do. All worked out in the end though. After some gentle persuasion (Mandy going all Mama bear on his ass), he found us a room (UPGRADED SUITE) and all worked out well. After settling in the room we walked down to the north end of the island and just explored and relaxed.

The next morning we had the big event. The moment that Alex and Connor had been looking forward since the trip was announced: FIRST MLB BASEBALL GAME! We’ll cover this in another post. Due to this family loving baseball (Mandy might disagree but she’s outnumbered 3-1. Democracy RULES! Please don’t tell her I said that. Wait, she reads this blog? Damn it) and it being two MLB games in a week, it deserves its own post.

After the game we took a friends suggestion (Thanks again Nick&Brit) and ate dinner at a little Italian place on the south side of Coronado; Il Fornaio. I could live solely in San Diego based on the food. It’s a good thing we walked approximately 15miles each of the next five days to burn off all the food we ate. If you ever get to the island, please, and I mean please, do yourself a favor and check this place out. The best restaurant mac & Cheese the boys have ever had (Mandy’s is the best. There that makes up for my previous crack. I’m saved!). Mandy loved her cappelini primavera and chocolate mousse dessert we all shared. I had butternut squash ravioli and it was out of this world fantastic. The view off the back porch wasn’t too shabby either:

The next morning we said good-bye to Coronado and headed to Carlsbad for the moment of Connor’s trip he most excited about: LEGOLAND duh, duh, dunnnhhhhh

What a waste of flipping money. Have you been to Lagoon? Have you been to any Lego store ever? Great, you’ve been to LEGOLAND. The concept was awesome. A whole theme park made and modeled off of Legos. Great idea right? What a crock of crap. It was dirty. All the rides were of the same magnitude of the kiddie area at Lagoon. Hell there was even a Wild Mouse rip-off that wasn’t as well done. The best part of the day was when we left (rim shot), sorry, the second best thing of the day was all the models in Miniland. They had a scale model of New York City, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and many Star Wars battles (yes the Star Wars was to scale. Even the Naboo temple and battle of Hoth).  Really, the coolest part of the park is the set from the Lego Movie. They have the actual set that was used in filming the basement scenes from the movie. Complete with all the Lego’s that were used in the filming. It was pretty cool. We did get Emmet to do the “U”:

Yes that is a "U" from Emmet. Remember his hands are the shape of C's. Deal with it. GO UTES!
 

Food was even more expensive that Disneyland and not as good. The place was dirty. Rides sucked. Alex was beyond bored and Connor was more excited about the giant Lego store than the park itself. The worst part about the experience: It’s $92 for adults to get into the place and $82 for kids. Thank God Mandy found a buy one get one free coupon or I’d really be ticked off. With all the damn money they have made off of toys, merchandise and now a movie, you would think that the execution of the theme park would be awesome. It wasn’t. This isn’t just another anti Lego rant. All of those other posts and rants have all been tongue in cheek. I really do like Lego’s. They are great for imagination and challenges the minds of kids to think outside the instructions (no matter how much I just paid for that Lone Ranger Silver mine adventure set) and think for themselves. This was a week ago Monday and I am still pissed about it. I would not go back if you paid for my whole family for a whole day with food and everything. If the best thing of the day for me was the deep fried apple fries (wow good) it sucked. If both my boys wouldn’t go back, and they don’t want to, it really sucked because you know how much both of them love their Legos. This picture sums up the whole day there:

Tomorrow I’ll have the Disney portion of the trip and it will be more positive. Promise. 

 

Leaves? What leaves?

I have apologized for this before but I guess I will have to say I'm sorry once again. Life has been super, crazy, busy this last week. The time I usually spend behind a keyboard has been spent working or doing yard work. Again, I am a whining almost as bad when I found out the new U2 album(yes I said album) was delayed (again). My posts will be sporadic for the next ten days. I actually miss not writing. It has been a release from the daily grind to share my thoughts and adventures of our little family. 

When I started this blog it was due to the items that came out of the washer and dryer after laundry. It was almost always Legos (ahhhhhhhhh) but I still was able to get some stories from them. That went great for a couple of months but somewhere in there, the boys started to empty there own pockets at night. How dare they! Don't eney know I have a blog to write (actually they do know)? Because of this I had to go back to some old stories and sharing the story of turning Alex's pants pink (fail). I was starting to get desperate for more stories, then summer hit. And Connor. 

In the picture we have a Lego skeleton, old pencil eraser, a dime, fruit snack bag and what looks like leaf remnants. Normally this would be normal haul from the dryer, but al of this came out of one pair of pants. Did skeleton buy fruit snacks and that is the change? Did something eat the leaves and fruit snacks and the skeleton scare it off? We may never know the true horrifying story. 

Wait, why are there leaves in there? Not just remnants but a couple of full on leaves? 

When I asked Connor, he replied, "I didn't put them there, they just jumped in, but I didn't  put them there. Promise." Well, there you are. They jumped in. That explains the leaves. But what about earaser? Da, da, dummmmm.