Our trip got off to a really rocky start. Our flight was delayed by five or six hours because of air traffic at LAX, and then when the plane arrived at LAX there still wasn't a runway available for us. Our plane didn't have enough fuel to keep circling in the air, so we had an emergency landing at the Ontario airport. The airport was closed (!) and airport workers had to come to open up the building and let us off of the plane. There wasn't a car rental company that was open at 3:00 am, and, because the airport was closed, we couldn't find a taxi to take us to a nearby hotel. It was miserable! We finally flagged down a motel van and convinced the driver to take us back to the motel.
As a result, our time with our California cousins got cut short, since we weren't able to meet up with them until the following day (after we got a few hours of sleep and finally found a rental car). We did get to see their home in Moorpark, visit the campus for N's work, and go out to dinner. They also gave Sam and Lucy some Christmas gifts (Lucy was asleep in the car, so she isn't pictured below).
After seeing our cousins in Moorpark, we drove south to see our friends the Manchaks in Irvine. We swung by 3338 Sawtelle Blvd on our was down the 405, and it was fun for me to see the area where I lived as a kid (even though our apartment building has been torn down).
JB and Meka took us to Crystal Cove State Park, which is near their home
Lucy and June were a cute pair of toddler buddies
Mexican food with the Manchaks! We love these guys so much. Sam took this pic for us
After the cruise (which I'll write about in another post), we came back to California for a few more days. We drove down to LEGOLAND and spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day there. Sam and Lucy had a great time. I think it was a good fit for our family because the rides were small, the lines were comparatively short, and Lucy could do a lot of the activities.
It rained really heavily on our first afternoon at LEGOLAND (and that's saying a lot if we are Seattleites!). The sidewalks weren't equipped with drains to carry so much water, so the puddles in the walkways were a few inches deep. We bought ponchos and opted for as many indoor activities as possible, and then decided to head back to the hotel and watch the New Year's Eve fireworks from there.
We went into the Adventurer's Club to try and stay dry
The next day, New Year's Day, was perfectly sunny! It was like the rain never happened. I thought it was appropriate that we got to pose with Buddy by this rainbow when we entered the park.
Lucy's favorite ride was Mia's Riding Camp
Before we got on this rollercoaster, I offered to hold Sam's Lego mini figure (that he got by trading with one of the employees). As we were riding the rollercoaster, Sam was so concerned about losing his figurine that he shouted at full voice (while we were being jostled about), "Did you remember to zip up your pocket?!?" We both thought that this ride was a lot of fun.
Sam wanted his photo taken with every single Lego Star Wars figurine...
...and life-size Star Wars figure. Sam had the biggest grin when he saw this large Darth Vader!
Sam and J went to the Lego Mindstorms activity and built a little robot
Lucy loved the swinging ship ride!
We stayed at the LEGOLAND Hotel, which was perfect. Sam chose the "Adventure Theme" room, which had Egyptian-like Lego designs and characters that seemed reminiscent of Indiana Jones. It was great. This is the only "themed hotel" that J and I have ever visited, and we joked about how romantic it was for our anniversary celebration.
Probably my favorite thing about the LEGOLAND Hotel was the elevator, which had a disco ball and played music while the elevator was in motion. It was fun to dance to music with complete strangers for just a few seconds, before the doors open and people go their separate ways.
After spending our second day at LEGOLAND, we drove to San Diego and spent a few hours visiting my friend Josh (from graduate school) and his family. Then, the next day, on the morning of the 2nd (New Year's Day Observed), we went up to LA to meet up with our cousins (including the H cousins too). We moseyed around the top of the Walt Disney Concert Hall (a Frank Ghery building) and looked at the garden and sculpture up there.
From this outing with our cousins, we said goodbye to California and headed back to LAX. Luckily, we didn't deal with any delayed flights (or emergency landings) like on our previous flight, but we were underwhelmed with the Spirit airline (they charge extra money for everything!) and don't want to fly with them again.
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