Friday:
We headed out of town by 8:30, hit up a Starbuck's drive-thru on the way, and made it to the coast in about an hour. The weather was cloudy, but a nice temperature when we dropped our things off at the house we were borrowing for the weekend. We grabbed some early lunch after settling in and deciding against laying Luke down for a nap (it was still too early), and then we were off to LegoLand! None of us had ever been there before, so we really had no expectations. We were just happy to be 'away' and together! LegoLand turned out to be a PERFECT thing for Luke! Its a very hands-on, run around and climb on things kind of park, with some rides mixed in for good measure. Our first stop was a kiddie water area where Luke could shoot water at different types of creatures made of Lego's. As soon as we arrived, you could tell that he is in toddler-heaven! There were lots of tikes his age (but it wasn't crowded AT ALL!) and he soon found his way over to a big jungle-gym-maze play area where he spent about 30 minutes just running around, sliding down slides and exploring all the nooks and crannies of the area. I planted myself on a bench for awhile for a rest while Ty chased Luke in and around and through! It was fun to watch!
Once Luke had tired himself enough to relax in his stroller, we hit up one of the few kiddie rides that he was tall enough to enjoy...a safari ride through the 'jungle'. It was short and sweet, but he thought that steering the car was a riot and from my vantage point in the car behind him and Ty, he was pointing out every animal to Daddy. They were all formed out of a zillion Lego's, of-course! The rest of the day was much of the same.....running and playing....riding and relaxing. There were some really neat rides that we would have loved to take Luke on, but the height requirements were just beyond his. :( He's just about 35 inches, but most of the rides required a 36 inch minimum! :( At the end of the day, Ty tried to hike Luke's hat up on his head to add a little height in order that he might be able to ride a really cool dinosaur ride, but the attendant at the front made Ty remove his hat and turned him away. :( Bummer! Can't say we didn't try! Ty was cute....when they came back to where I had planted myself on a bench (again!) , Ty was telling Luke "Sorry, buddy! Daddy's just too little to ride. Maybe another time." He didn't want Luke to feel badly about being a shorty! :) Cute, huh! We were able to ride some other, less 'exciting' ones, and enjoyed the day just the same. Luke's favorite was the bumper boats, which weren't actually supposed to be bumper boats, but turned out that way due to his lack of steering skills! When I would try to take over the wheel and steer us away from oncoming traffic, I was fervently met with "NO!!!!! I DO IT!!!!" Okay, buddy....whatever you want! :P We laughed our entire way through the ride together....it was fun! The rest of the day was much of the same....playing, running and just enjoying being together. Luke was zonked by the time we headed out, and opted for a ride on Daddy's shoulders rather than the stroller. I just love, love, love seeing them together...father and son! Warms my heart!
Saturday:
Saturday was our beach day. We lounged around the house in the morning, while I tried to muster up enough energy to get moving. I was feeling pretty horrible that morning, so it took awhile to get started. We made it to a yummy cafe for breakfast around 10:30 and then headed to the ocean from there. It was overcast again, but not cold. Just right. The sun barely peeked out from the clouds most of the day, but that was fine by us...I think it might have actually been too warm had the sun been shining brightly! The beach day, despite it's beginnings for me, turned out to be my most favorite time. Luke absolutely LOVED it! Ironically last year, we had to practically drag him down to the waters edge, but this time around, he was begging us to take him down! He discovered the joys of chasing the waves in and out and didn't seem to mind the chilly water at all! He took a few face plants into the water on several occasions, and after a brief moment of shock, he would giggle, wipe his hand on his shorts and run back for more!
Ty and I both took turns digging holes and building sand castles with him and Luke loved every minute of it! Wasn't it great to be a kid and not be bothered by all that sand in your pants?! He couldn't have cared less about it all! He dumped, dug, patted and built for hours...in between trips down to the water to run in the waves, of-course! Towards the end of the afternoon, we decided to finally break out the new kite I had bought awhile back and Ty relished showing Luke the ropes. It was a favorite past time of Ty and his dad's when he was young, and Ty has shared found memories with me of his kite-flying days with his dad. So when I saw this little kite in the store not long ago, I just had to pick it up for my boys! Sure enough, the minute the kite took to the air, Luke AND Ty were all smiles and I could just see Ty's childhood flooding back to him! It was awesome to watch! Isn't that the best part of parenting, after all? To be able to be a kid again and recapture your childhood?! I think so! And this weekend, Ty and I did just that! We found joy in the littlest moments...we giggled and laughed....ran and played....built sandcastles and ran through the waves. Ahhhh....pure parenting bliss! :)
Saturday night, had made plans to meet our friend's Jeremy and his fiance at the Oceanside peer for dinner, so we left the beach around 3 in order to have time to get home, let Luke nap and get cleaned up. On our way to dinner, we had to drive right past the place where we had played at the beach that day. Looking at the window at the ocean, Luke pointed, gasped and said, " Mama! Sand and water table!!" Ha! He equated the ocean to a gigantic sand and water table like he has at home! Yup...pretty much! :) I just thought that was so cute! Dinner turned out to be nice, although all of our food was kinda crappy! The company was good and Luke kept us all entertained with his antics! We headed to a coffee shop after dinner to visit a bit more, and then it was time to head home.
We just cleaned up the house and hung out watching movies this morning, rather than making plans to do much more. I was STILL feeling ill, so relaxing around the house in our jammies was much more appealing than heading back to the beach or some other adventure. We were home by mid-afternoon and here I am....blogging! :)
I think I'll try to upload a little slide show of all the pictures from our weekend, rather than posting them one at a time. I took 250 shots in all, but won't be able to share all of them, of-course. Hopefully it'll work for you!
Monday brings a day to unpack and rest...maybe a trip to my primary care doctor to see what she has to say about this icky cold thing I've got. Then in the afternoon, I have an OB appointment, and we'll hopefully get to find out if this placenta issue of mine has resolved or not. So...again....stay tuned. I'm sure I'll have an update for you on Tuesday!
