Legoland trip

We had been planning for about 6 months to take the kids to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. We finally got to go during Rodeo Weekend (a four day weekend in February given to all the school students when the rodeo comes to Tucson).

We left Tuesday (February 22). Stayed the night in Yuma.

Stopped on our way to San Diego for a picnic lunch

Wednesday (February 23) we saw Uncle Derek and Emily and Thomas. They live in San Diego.  Derek gave us extra snacks and cereal to use for the trip and those things turned out to be SO helpful.Thomas wanted to sit in my lap the whole time. Emily was pretty talkative and I had fun getting to know her and chatting with her. They are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I would move to CA in a heartbeat if we could.

Thursday (February 24) we were up before the crack of dawn. The kids woke up at 4:30am Cali time. They wanted to go to Legoland right then--too bad it wouldn't open until 10! We made them lay in bed until 6am, but there was not much sleeping going on.

We spent the rest of the day at the beach and Legoland. Grandma and Grandpa Hancock, Uncle John and Aunt Cherece and Kiersten, Brayden, Stephanie, Katie, and Megan came too. They had decided a couple of months earlier to join us. The kids were stoked about seeing so many cousins. This was Hailey's and Clay's first time at the beach too!

I love this picture!

 Friday was another Legoland day and beach day:

A Megan mountain!

The water was pretty cold, but the kids jumped right in. They were shivering when they got out of the water so we covered them in the warmer sand to warm them up. It was fun to watch them bury each other!

Kate and Hailey

Hailey called this "getting bundled up in the sand."

Love you Joey! 

We had a lot of fun at Legoland. The kids were totally worn out by about 3pm. There were lots of smiles and maybe one or two tears shed too ;).

Kiersten, Brayden, Kate, and Hailey hanging out at Legoland.

This is what your kids look like several hours later after they get up at 4:30am...come on guys, smile! You're not tired are you?

Saturday started with a trip to the Naval Hospital to see Emily. She was admitted while we were in town because of a fever that had lingered for 2 weeks and a high white blood cell count. Unfortunately she is still in the hospital today, still has a fever, and still no definite answers. We are praying for her and she's often on my mind.

Later on, we saw our friends, Brian and Mackenzie and their kids Morgan, Sadie, and Carson. They moved to California last year, lucky them! They took us to a beach that has been taken over by seals, and we had a picnic lunch. Later we headed home. It was a LONG drive home. We were all exhausted when we got home at almost 11pm.

I already want to go back on another vacation! I'm totally California dreamin' this week!