Sleight Christmas Vacation: Days 1-3

A coworker left this on my husband's car the morning of our surprise trip to California.

But he came home to a sick wife. After calling in sick and sleeping all day, I felt a bit better and loaded up on some medication to make the trip to Las Vegas that night.

For the last few years we've skipped presents for the most part and done trips or expericnces instead and it's been amazing. The first year was a tropical cruise, last year was a week long "staycation" and this year we wanted to take them to Legoland. I'd been planning things out and packing at night when they were asleep and we didn't talk about it with them around, so it really was a big surprise.

We picked the kids up from school and daycare on Tuesday without them having any idea we were going on a trip. But of course when they got in and saw the pillows and the truck loaded up with stuff they got suspicious.

They were soooooo excited when we had them guess where we were going!!!

But it sounds like Bob and Laura's would have been equally as exciting! Maybe next time! :) 

  

I slept about half of the way to Vegas and had a delicious dinner of white bread and blue Gatorade! YUM! At least I wasn't still feeling 100% miserable!

We stayed on the 26th floor of the Paris Las Vegas. The kids loved seeing all the little Paris themed shops and walkways as we came in.

The next day we had breakfast in the La Café, walked to the MandM store, and hung out in the heated pool right below the Eiffel Tower before we hit the road to the coast.

  

 

 

We stopped in Baker and ate at Mad Greek Cafe which was quite enjoyable! The food was yummy, but my favorite part was Rhett shouting at the top  of his lungs, about the statue, every 5 minutes, "That boy is naked!"

photo cred Roy and Kathy

74 degrees! SWEET! (It's been an inversion and less than freezing everyday for the last week and a half, so we DESPERATELY needed sunshine and warmth!)

We were tired of driving/riding so we found a delicious locally owned pizza and pasta place called Primo's and walked the two blocks from our hotel so we could get some energy out. Both were very good decisions!



It was AMAZING!!!
If you're in the Carlsbad California area you have to try it!

Our hotel room was upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a full kitchen for free so we hit the grocery store nearby and loaded up on milk, yummy cereals for upcoming dinners, peanut butter for the boy, and some fruits and veggies. A hot breakfast was included each morning so that was awesome!

Thursday we definitely wanted to spend at Legoland as we knew it would be the least busy day we'd have. As you can see from the parking lot being empty, it was perfect! We hardly had to stand in line AT ALL!

Just for those of you who are interested, Legoland most definitely for kids less than 12 years old and geared mostly to less than 10 year olds, but perfect for Rhett, my tall 2.5 year old. If he were less than 36" there would have been a lot of things he couldn't have done. There were a few rides he still couldn't do but there was always something else nextdoor for the toddlers.

This was the best we could get for a lovely picture!! ROTFLOL!!!
Trust me...there were 9 others that were worse! Kate's eyes were closed in every single picture and Josie and Rhett chose a different pose for each as well!

I had read to head straight to the back of the park for the best lines and it didn't disappoint! Although we were probably fine regardless.

 The Water Park was closed for the season, but I didn't expect to see a splash pad! The kids were sopping wet in less than 10 seconds! :)

ONe of my favorite rides was right next to this one (you can see it in the background) and you were squirted with water in a pirate ship!

The miniature land was awesome!!!
We could have spent over a hour or more here!

The tiny version of the Excalibur that Kate liked from Vegas.

The climbing wall at Ninjago was great! There are about 4-5 different paths you can climb and they tried them all out!

 Josie's favorite ride was the 3D Ninjago shooting ride. I think we all liked it!

 After lunch we headed into a build and test center, which is basically like a pinewood derby you build from legos and then race! The kids loved these, especially Rhett. There was another one that you could build your own boat and race it!


I think we could have spent the entire day at these two stops and they would have loved it!!! We did spend a good hour of more!

The girls stacked the deck against the other teams!

This was Rhett's favorite ride in the whole park, Beatle Bounce. I think he went on it about 7 times total!

 Before we left we headed over the HeartLake City for Lego Friends. This is more of an older girl area and it was incredible! Josie loves watching their show on TV, so in person was amazing!

 

What a blast we had!
Stay tuned for the next three days of our vacation!