Summer discount at The Living Planet Aquarium

I love The Living Planet Aquarium.  It's pretty small, but educational and fun and worth the annual price if you go a few times.  But if you don't go often, you should take advantage of this deal!  It's $3 off per ticket during July & August.  Normally an adult ticket is $9 and a child is $7.  The discount brings it down to $6 and $4.  Here's the link for the discount: http://www.visitsaltlake.com/coupons/index.cfm?action=showCoupon&couponID=78

California trip--Beach and other stuff

The only time my kids have ever been to a beach was on our New England trip a couple of years ago.  Squeezing in time for a beach while in California was a must.  The first chance we had was after our first day at Legoland, since they close at 6 pm.  We walked back to our hotel and microwaved some Easy Mac (breaking some pieces of real cheese to add to it to make it edible) and washed some grapes for a quick and cheap dinner.  Then we drove less than 5 minutes to the beach.  We were just planning on having the kids "see" the ocean and walk along the beach for a few minutes.  Nearly an hour later we were brushing off as much sand as possible before letting the kids get back into the van.

Clara didn't like the feel of the sand on her hands or legs.  She also didn't like the cold ocean water when I lowered her enough for her feet to go in as the wave came up on us.  So I held her the whole time.

Spencer and Tessa were both soooo excited to see the ocean and the sand.  They loved running around on the sand exploring and looking for sea shells.  But they were both too scared to go to the ocean.  Tessa got over the fear first and went in with Brodie.  She was a bit surprised when the wave got her!

After seeing his little sister, Spencer decided he would go in just enough for the wave to come up and cover his toes.  Of course he made me hold his hand.  Gradually he got more courage and his shorts were completely soaked by the time we left the beach.

The kids were begging to go back and play with sand toys in their swimming suits.  But they were exhausted after the next day of Legoland and we didn't get back to the hotel until after dark on our Sea World day.  Checkout at our hotel wasn't until noon so on our last day we hit the beach around 9:00 a.m.  It was very cold but we let them play in the sand and the ocean in their swimming suits.  This time Clara actually enjoyed playing in the sand, although it was quite a chore to try to keep her from rubbing her eyes or putting her hands in her mouth.

The bigger kids collected more shells.  Spencer mainly wanted to just play in the sand, occasionally having me escort him into the water.  Tessa mainly wanted to play in the ocean until she was shaking so much her lips were blue.  We put on her rain coat so she would be warmer while she played in the sand a bit.  Then she was too cold so Brodie took her into the van with a blanket and the heater on while Spencer and Clara got a little more sand time.

 


They really had a lot of fun.  We headed back to the hotel around 10 to get everyone bathed, showered, and packed to go.  We stayed in Vegas this night.  We got a good deal at the Luxor for $39 a night and thought the kids would get a kick out of staying in a pyramid.  But our room was only on the 2nd floor so they didn't really get the feeling of it.  And the room was dark and dingy.  Actually I can't think of anything positive to say about that hotel.  Won't be staying there again.  Not to mention the $15 "resort fee" they charged when we checked in on top of the room charge.  We'll stay off the strip next time.

We got in kind of late and needed to eat.  We didn't want to go driving around and the kids really wanted to do something fun.  I remembered there was a Rainforest Cafe at the MGM Grande and thought it would be great for the kids to see the lions inside and eat at a fun place.  After the tram ride to Excalibur and the ups and downs and bridges to get there the lion exhibit was closed.  Rainforest Cafe had half an hour wait.  By the time we sat down we were hungry and tired and then saw the prices of the menu.  I haven't actually eaten at the Rainforest Cafe at MGM since spring break in college but I don't remember $25 entrees that didn't even sound that great.  Then they had a "storm" that really freaked out my skiddish kids.  So we left and went to the buffet instead.  It was $30 for an adult and $20 for a kid.  If I'm not going to get quality food for that price, I might as well go with quantity and variety, eh?

The buffet was okay.  That's better than bad.  Spencer ate two whole plates of food, the second one was all the fresh fruit they had at the buffet.  Tessa's eyes about popped out of her head when she saw the desserts.  I limited the kids to one dessert plus an ice cream cone.  Then we made our way back to our dark, dingy hotel room to sleep in a very uncomfortable bed.  The next morning we were up at 7 to get ready and packed and head out.  Then we couldn't find the Leapster for Tessa to play in the car (Spencer brought his DS).  We stopped at the hotel we had stayed at earlier to see if we had left it.  While I was inside, Brodie checked under the seats of the van (don't ask why we didn't look there first) and found it.  Then we headed out again.  After lunch in St. George, many potty stops, some traffic & construction, and the hour time difference, we didn't pull into our driveway until 6:10 p.m.  Tessa's dress rehearsal for her dance recital started at 6.

Brodie, Spencer, and Clara headed inside while I quickly threw Tessa's costume and some makeup and hair stuff in a bag and ran back out to the van.  We hurried inside Jordan High School to the bathroom to quickly get her ready.  Then we sat down by her class to find out they were still rehearsing the earlier show.  Brodie called to ask where a diaper was as I had brought the whole bag we had on our trip and all our stuff was still in the van.  Luckily he found a lone diaper floating around somewhere (which really surprised me as I don't leave diapers floating around the house).  Tessa and I got home with some Del Taco around 8:30 that night.  After eating tacos and getting the kids to bed we unpacked the van.  During the night and the next day I plowed through all the laundry and unpacking process before leaving at 4 to get Tessa to her performance.  She absolutely LOVED dancing on the stage in a costume with make up!  She was dang cute too.  Here's a picture of her as a Flower Fairy.

It was a fun trip.  The kids got along great and had a good time.  Spencer woke up around 6:30-7:00 every morning but was really good about quietly reading until closer to 7:30 when the rest of us were getting up.  My sister lent us her awesome Phil & Ted's stroller, which was so much better than the cheap Graco I have, and that really made the parks much smoother.  Here's the girls in the stroller at Legoland.

Back home we have some awesome neighbors who took care of our dog, Pace, and our garden while my parents hamster-sitted.  Although we've been back a couple weeks, I'm reminding myself how much fun we had as I blog and upload pictures.  I sure do love my family and all the time we get to spend together.

California trip--Sea World!

What's a trip to the San Diego area without stopping at Sea World?  I don't think I've been since I was 12 and Brodie's never been.  But I still have great memories of it and wanted my kids to also experience it.  It was great!  This is actually one place I would even say was worth the full price of admission (in my opinion).  That being said, I didn't pay full price.  My favorite coupon code website (retailmenot.com) had a great Sea World deal to get an adult in at a child's price and get a child in free.  So instead of paying $260 we only paid $124.  It was an AAA discount (SeaWestwaysSmr2011) and the coupon expires June 30 but the tickets are good for a year.  Once again by purchasing online we bypassed the ticket counter and went straight to the gate.

Just after entering the park we were approached about an all day eating deal.  It was $30 for an adult and $15 for a child.  I was hesitant at first, but then the girl looked at our kids and said if they usually share a meal we could purchase one child meal and have them share.  She then told us you could eat anytime at one of the 4 restaurants.  You got one entree, one drink, and one side or dessert each time through the line.  And as soon as you exited the line you could go through again.  Since we got there at 10 am and were planning on staying until closing at 7:30 we knew we'd be there for 2 meals.  Not to mention the drinks throughout the day.  So we decided to do the plan.  It ended up being a great deal.  The sizes were ridiculously huge--Brodie and I could almost have split a meal.  And the variety was great!  For lunch Brodie and I each had a BBQ platter with a piece of brisket, chicken, and 3 ribs plus fries and a large cup of strawberries and a salad for a side.  The kids shared a chicken finger/fry plate and a large cup of strawberries.  Then we went back and got a large Shamu shaped cookie for them to share for dessert and a large chocolate cake for Brodie and I to share.  Later for a snack we went through and got drinks, a salad with a bunch of fruit on it for me, and large Jell-O cups for the kids.  For dinner we went to the Italian restaurant, that wasn't very good, but large portions.  We wished at that point we had gone to the Shipwrecked restaurant for the salmon, but it was too late.

Okay so in terms of Aquariums we've been plenty of times to our Living Planet Aquarium (which although small, is a great place for the price of $9) and to the Mystic, Connecticut Aquarium.  Sea World is way out of their league!  We loved every bit of it!  The Wild Arctic was so much fun.  Watching the Beluga Whales, Polar Bears, and Walrus both above and underneath the water was so much fun!

Then we saw the penguins, who are so cute!  Turtle Reef wasn't open yet, but the Shark Encounter was awesome!  First we watched the sharks from the top of the water.  Then we went down and down until we were walking through a tunnel underneath the sharks.  It was really cool to have the sharks swimming above and around us.  The kids also loved this.

We also got to see the seals and sea lions and dolphins up close without glass between us.  And there were a few mini-aquariums where we got to see various fish and turtles (more similar to our Living Planet Aquarium type exhibits).  There was also a large California tide pool where the kids were able to hold and pet starfish.  We really enjoyed the up close exhibits.  Spencer really loved seeing all these amazing sea creatures live.  He is an avid reader and especially enjoys non-fiction.  He has an animal atlas that is probably one of his favorite books and he has read about many of these sea creatures and loved seeing them "for real life".

Then there were the shows.  I still remember the shows I watched twenty years ago.  Of course if you try to hit every show you'll never get to see all the exhibits in one day.  The exhibits were my number one priority, and the shows next.  I decided the Shamu, dolphin, and Sea Lion shows were the ones we would make sure we hit.  We had to arrive a little early to get a seat (I wasn't in the mood for the splash zone with the cool temperatures and the baby) and then contain the girls for about 45 minutes (the waiting time plus the show).  Spencer was great but the girls didn't want to sit around so they made it quite difficult.  The dolphin show was a lot of fun-jumping and flipping dolphins, people riding the dolphins, the birds, the acrobats, etc.  It was very entertaining.  It was also educational--I never knew dolphins could dive so deep!  The Shamu show wasn't what it used to be.  I understand why they had to change it and it was still cool to see those amazing whales up close and doing cool tricks.  But for the other 15 minutes of the show all they did was splash the audience.  We enjoyed going down and watching the whale swimming in the tank as well.  Then there was the Sea Lion Show.  The best part of the whole day was the pre-show.  "Bif" and his many re-enactments of the movies I grew up watching--from Dirty Dancing to Footloose to Grease to Flashdance and a bunch in between.  I was laughing so hard!  The actual Sea Lion show was fun and entertaining as well, but boy was I glad we arrived to that show 20 minutes early!

As I wanted to see all the exhibits and we had to eat and use the potty plenty of times, we didn't make it to the Pets Rule or Cirque de la Mer shows.  But at one point Clara was about asleep in the stroller and we were by the Sesame Street 4D show.  My kids saw the Sesame Street sign and became very excited so I sent them in with Brodie while I stayed with Clara sleeping.  I thought it was funny we were spending time at a Sesame Street movie when we were at Sea World, but this ended up being Spencer's favorite thing.  He loved the show, especially the 4D effects like the wind, rain, and popping the bubbles.  I thought Tessa would be frightened, but she also loved it.  They waited in line 20 minutes before the 25 minute show and some noisy people (expected at a park this popular) woke up Clara right as they were walking into the theater so Clara and I ended up walking and playing around while they watched the show.

There are a few rides here, but Tessa's too small for most of them.  We did take the Sky Tower ride together as a family and looked down over the park and the ocean.  And we let our kids play at the Sesame Street Bay of Play, which became Tessa's favorite part.  They had a splash pad, but it was especially chilly this day so we had the kids avoid that.  They also had a little playground where they climbed up the ropes, ran across bridges, and eventually ended up at a twisty slide to go down.  There was an employee there making sure no one older than 12 or shorter than 37" went down the slide.  Seriously?  It's a basic, plastic twisty slide that lands on a padded ground.  Safer and slower than at most parks around here.  But neither Tessa nor I could go down it and we had to take the stairs down while Spencer slid down.  Little Tessa was heart broken.  I guess she should get used to it as I'm not sure she'll ever even be tall enough to legally be out of a booster car seat (the law is 4'9" I believe.  With luck Tessa might pass this in time to get her drivers' license).  I still couldn't believe they wouldn't let Tessa go down the twisty slide.  They did have a few other play areas where they only allowed so many kids in at a time.  Spencer went in a padded area where he could run into boxing bag type things.  Tessa was of course too small so Brodie took her to a large padded blue mat for babies.  She was so excited to do something that Spencer was too big to be allowed on.  Justice in her eyes.  That's why this blue mat became her favorite part of the whole trip.  Maybe there is some of me in her after all.  Spencer then saw Elmo and Cookie Monster and actually wanted to see them.  So Brodie took him while I let Clara join her big sister on the blue mat.

 

















There were also 3 rides in the Sesame Street Bay of Play.  And just as Legoland, neither kid was big enough to ride without a parent so Brodie rode on the Elmo ride and I got the Oscar ride.  We ended up skipping the Abby's Sea Star Spin.

At the end of the day I let them pick a souvenir.  I don't think Brodie was too excited about spending more money or buying more toys, but I'm a big memory person.  I still have the stuffed dolphin I got as a souvenir at Sea World twenty years ago.  For their souvenirs this time Spencer chose a stuffed Orca toy which he named "Orca" but nicknamed "Killer".  Tessa chose a cute, cuddly turtle with huge eyes that she named "Nemo big eyes".  I initially decided Clara didn't need one but she kept stealing Tessa's on our Sky Tower ride (we did this just as the park was closing) so we went back to the shop and bought her a stuffed polar bear.  It didn't work as we've since discovered Clara didn't want a toy, she wanted Tessa's toy.

At the end of the day we were exhausted but had a great time.  The stroller my sister lent me was amazing, but I wished I had brought the Baby Bjorn she also lent me.  We had to park the stroller for most exhibits and all the shows so I carried her a lot.  One time I'm thankful for such little ones.  On the way back to the hotel the kids loved driving past the San Diego temple all lit up off the freeway like a fairy tale princess castle.  I also realized at this point of the trip that I had never left instructions with my parents for Daphne the hamster, so I called them while the kids fell asleep in the car.  If we ever make it out to San Diego again, I'm sure we'll squeeze in another Sea World trip.

California trip--Legoland!

Okay so I'm going to split our trip into pieces rather than one extra long blog.  And I promise not to post all 100 pictures I took, just most of them.  We haven't taken a family vacation for a couple of years and with Brodie about to start a new job, we know it will be a while before we get another chance.  As we were trying to decide where to go and what to do, my first thought was "California" which I then realized I have not been to for over 10 years.  That makes me wonder how long until we go again so I ruled out Disneyland--we'll wait until Clara's old enough to also enjoy it.  My next thought was Sea World, but that's a one day thing.  Then I thought about Legoland and our trip was decided.

I booked a hotel though hotels.com which I really like because I can read reviews, see pictures, and compare prices so easily.  We ended up booking a room at the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort.  The staff was friendly and helpful with directions and recommendations.  The hotel and our room were bright and clean and comfortable.  We got a room with a King sized bed and they brought a couple rollaways for the kids.  However, we couldn't fit both in the room and still get around so we had the kids share one rollaway with a head on each end.  We brought Clara's little foam folding Dora couch for her to sleep on.  Our room had a mini-kitchen (stocked with dishes, a microwave, mini-fridge, and sink) and a little deck as well.  The best part of the hotel was that it was less than 1,000 steps to the entrance of Legoland (to be exact we counted 987 steps from the front door of our hotel to the ticket scanning of Legoland).  That may sound like a lot, but half of those steps were through the Legoland parking lot to the gate.  So it also saved parking.

Legoland itself was fun, but it's definitely not Disney.  I actually think it's closer to Lagoon than Disney.  That being said it is much nicer and funner than Lagoon, but along those lines.  The kids had fun, but just as much fun as they would have had at Lagoon.  It lacks the "magic" factor and the staff could use a little more training.  With the exception of a handful, the rides were definitely geared towards kids younger than 10 years old, which makes me wonder why they charge $80 for an adult?  Of course I searched online for Legoland discounts and found "Buy an adult get a child ticket free" through KFC.  I went to www.legoland.com/kfc and bought my tickets.  The offer expires June 30, 2011 but I think the tickets said they didn't expire for a year.  It saved us over $140 for Legoland/waterpark tickets as well as allowing us to skip the ticket lines and go straight to the gate.  Then when we were there we went to the guest services counter and paid $10 per ticket for a second day.

It was cool to see all the things they built out of Legos.  There were life-sized dinosaurs and animals along with all sorts of mini replicas of different cities and buildings (including the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, New York City including the subway system, New Orleans, etc.).  And this summer they have Star Wars including life-sized Darth Vader, Chewbaca, and R2D2 as well as quite a few mini-land replicas.

Then there were the rides.  Tessa was luckily able to go on most of the rides (barely at 36 inches) and we only rode on 2 that she was too small for.  However, even Spencer was required to have an adult ride with him on every single ride other than the driving school and jousting horse because he's 2 inches short of 48.  And none of the rides were any more exciting or "dangerous" than the Lagoon kiddie land rides that Tessa could ride alone last year.  Didn't make a lot of sense to me.  Thankfully it wasn't too busy and most rides had a fairly short wait time (less than 20 minutes).  The rides with a long wait time were our least favorite rides.  We started the day off with the Sky Cruiser which is touted as one of the most popular rides.  The sign in front said the wait time was 15 minutes.  It was over an hour wait and the ride was boring as all can be.  So not worth it.  And it put Spencer in a mood refusing to go on any ride with a line of more than 10 people.  He's definitely my child.  At least this ride, along with quite a few others, had a lego play area for the kids while Brodie waited in the line.  By the end of the day I envied Brodie's waiting in line by himself, but the lego play areas did make it easier for the kids.

Their favorite ride of the day was the Fairy Tale Brook.  It was a slow ride in a leaf boat along a little stream where you saw lego versions of story book characters like the 3 Little Pigs, The Billy Goat's Gruff, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin, and Sleeping Beauty.  In my opinion this wasn't the funnest ride, but both times we went on there was no wait--we walked right on, and it allowed babies so we went as a family (one of only 2 rides we were able to), and my kids knew and loved all these stories so they were excited to see the characters.

 














The other ride both kids really loved enough to go on twice was the driving school.  There is one for kids ages 3-5 and one for kids ages 6-14.  The younger version is just an oval track but the older version is a whole series of roads with road signs and lines painted on the roads and everything.  Both schools have the kids drive themselves--pedals and steering.  The kids thought it was so cool to actually control the car themselves rather than sit in a car that drove itself.  Spencer was cautious, of course, and stopped for every single car that came near him.  Tessa kept turning the wheel left and right causing herself to zig-zag a lot.  Both kids had a blast here.

 













There were helicopter, airplane, jeep safari, dinosaur roller coaster, skipper school, mini-train, jousting horse, laser shooting, Bionicle, pirate ship/water shooting, and many other rides.  But my kids' very favorite parts of Legoland weren't the rides, they were the play areas.  There was a cute Duplo Village play area with tons of little houses, slides, and climbing things that the kids had a blast in.  There was also a Castle themed playground to climb, slide, and everything else on.  Along with a dinosaur dig area and a pirate boat mini-waterpark.  And the very coolest part of Legoland was the WaterWorks musical fountain.  If you stepped on one of the circles on either side of the fountain the corresponding instrument would play.  The kids had a blast jumping from one circle to another and making a symphony.  I even let Clara participate in this and she loved it too!

Something else I don't understand are the hours.  Legoland is only open from 10 am to 6 pm.  We could have done the whole park in a day if they were open a couple more hours of the day.  Or if we hadn't waited for over an hour for that first ride.  Or if they could figure out how to put together a hot dog, bag of chips, and a drink in under 5 minutes so we didn't wait in line for over 20 minutes to get an over-priced lunch.  At least we had planned on the 2nd day and only paid $10 per ticket for it.  So we came back the next day and hit Pirate Shores (where we got stuck in another over an hour long line for a log ride that was so ridiculously lame) along with repeating their favorite rides from the 1st day--Fairy Tale Brook and the Driving Schools--before going to the waterpark.

It's been crazy weather here in Utah but I really thought it would be warm enough for a waterpark in Carlsbad.  But it never got above 65 degrees while we were there.  So it was chilly and overcast at the waterpark.  Spencer didn't care even though his lips were blue.  His favorite was building legos on his raft along the lazy river.  Either the cold or lack of sleep or lack of attention was affecting Tessa and she cried and wanted to be held most of the time we were at the waterpark.  Clara wasn't a big fan of the water either, or at least not of the life jacket.  And really, the waterpark wasn't all that cool.  The splashpad and pirate boat waterplay area in Pirate Shores was much cooler.  Actually, unless I lived by Legoland and had a season pass, I don't think it would be worth going to the waterpark at all.  We didn't stay too long at the waterpark before giving up and letting them choose a souvenir.  With all the options, Spencer chose a Lego Ninjago set that he could get here.  Tessa isn't too big into Legos and she fell in love with a stuffed purple unicorn in the Lego Kingdoms area.  She named it Lego-Roni.  Clara LOVES playing with headbands--putting them on and then taking them off and so on.  By Tessa's unicorn there were pink headbands with a cloth crown on the top that I couldn't resist getting for her.

 

Overall the kids really enjoyed Legoland.  It was worth the price that we paid (kids getting in free plus $10 for the second day) but in my opinion it would not have been worth the full price.  And, although it was fun, I don't see us making a trip out specifically for Legoland again.  Maybe if we happen to be in the area for some other reason and have an extra day or two and find another good deal...maybe.

Revved up for Cars 2

So Spencer has had the date "June 24" memorized for quite a while now.  He has been literally counting down the days for Cars 2 to come out.  I'm not sure I've ever gone to a movie on opening day, but I do all sorts of things for my kids I wouldn't do otherwise.  Plus I had bought a Fandango deal for $9 for 2 tickets and Brodie and I only go to a movie alone once every two years so off we went.  The fandango deal turned out to be more expensive than I originally thought as you have to purchase online and therefore pay a $1.50 fee per ticket.  And since we went as a family I had to buy 4 tickets, each with the convenience fee.  I think the "convenience fee" should be per order, not per ticket.  Anyhow, we saved a few bucks and went to Cars 2 today.  I now remember back when we saw Tangled that I said I wouldn't take Clara to another movie for a few years.  She was difficult at the theater.  She kept wiggling and screaming (which neither of my other children ever did as babies).  Tessa was also uninterested and eager to go home.  Sweet husband, Brodie, took Clara down to the handicap area and let her play around for a while.  Then he magically got her to go to sleep for the last 20 minutes or so of the movie.  Tessa climbed onto me and was very happy when it was time to go home. 

Spencer was in heaven!  Cars 2 is a great show for a 6 year old boy.  The first Cars came out when Spencer was a baby and it was the first movie we ever took him to.  He has loved it forever!  He has basically every car from the original movie as well as a few playsets.  These were the only toys he played with for about a year and he has continued to play with them ever since.  Now that he's older he's getting more into super heroes and spies and stuff, less of the cars.  So Cars 2 is about cars who are spies.  How cool is that!  The graphics were right in line with Disney & Pixar, but the story surprised me.  Not the traditional cutsie Disney type movie.  This movie requires a much older and more mature audience than most Disney movies, in my opinion.  It didn't have as many humorous little parts or any fun songs to really grab young attentions.  And it didn't have many really good one liners adults usually find to enjoy in Disney movies.  But it was fun and entertaining in a Disney meets Bond type way.  If your child is more of a "Lightning McQueen" fan, I'll warn you this is more Mater's movie.  Of course I enjoyed watching an oval track racer beat some open wheels!

I'm hoping this weekend to get around to uploading pictures and blogging about our recent California trip...