KidSpace Children's Museum in Glendale: California Vacation, Day 5

We left San Diego and loved the drive north along the 5 freeway - the ocean was so beautiful to watch as we headed home. We decided to stop halfway at the KidSpace museum in Glendale/Pasadena. The temperature was very high in the area, but fortunately the museum has several indoor, air conditioned exhibits.

In the car (about 30 minutes before we arrived at the museum), Nolan asked me to vent his tummy. He had eaten two pancakes for breakfast, so I thought perhaps he was just overly full. Nothing came out via his g-tube, however, so we unhooked him and carried on our way. He seemed OK by the time we went to the museum, so we went into the main (indoor) exhibit area.

They have fantastic climbing towers, simulated ant-hills into the floor, and many other exhibits.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of this museum. Nolan just wasn't quite "right," and a few minutes later he sat down in front of the ant tunnels.

I took a picture to show his ENT or surgeon how he gets very fatigued/tummy issues at random intervals. Approximately 3 seconds after this photo was snapped, he started to vomit. I left Dennis and Matt in the exhibit hall and took Nolan to the museum office.

Unfortunately, he didn't get better there. After three more vomits, I sent the staff in search of my husband and Matt. We packed up a lot of plastic bags, got into the car, and braved the traffic back to Oxnard. We used every. single. bag.

Nolan fell asleep once we arrived at my parent's house, and remained asleep for another two hours. When he woke up, he was a bit unsteady for half an hour or so, then he was right as rain. The entire "attack" (or whatever you might call it) lasted exactly four hours. We stayed home the rest of the evening and let him play around the house.

We were rather bummed to miss all the really cool things the museum had to offer, but what can you do? Thankfully Nolan was right as rain after this event and we didn't have any other "tummy issues" for the rest of the trip!

Sea World San Diego: California Vacation, Day 4

Sea World is a really fun park to visit. We arrived in the morning and the day was heating up - the kids were excited to see a few shows and the animals. Our first stop was the Sea Lion show. I love this funny show - it has changed a bit since I was a child (the last time I visited Sea World was about 20 years ago), but it is still really funny.

The dolphin show was due to start immediately after the sea lion show, so we walked across the road and saw that one, too. It was pretty hot and Nolan started to melt down, so lunch was the next item on the schedule. After lunch, we stopped by the sea turtle reef, which was really cool. The boys had a great time looking at the sea turtles, and it was nice to walk inside an air-conditioned building.

We exited the Turtle Reef area and Matt wanted to ride the Reef Rescue ride. The height requirement is 45", so Nolan was too short for this one. He wasn't happy about not being able to ride, but Matt was absolutely thrilled. I volunteered to ride with him - this ride was a bit wild and had swaying and spinning motions. Matt loved it, but I was a bit green around the gills afterward!

After the ride, we walked over to the sea lion feeding area. Both boys fed the sea lions fish - my mom bought a pack of fish for each boy, and they were delighted to throw them into the sea lion's pen.

We also stopped by the dolphin touch pools and a touch tank filled with sea stars. The dolphins didn't really want to be touched, and stayed well away from the throngs of people around the pool rim. We watched them for a while, then let the boys investigate the sea stars.

We stopped for dinner and had some pizza and pasta at an Italian eatery in the park. The kids desperately wanted to visit Shamu's Happy Harbor, a massive play area geared toward young children. They loved the playground, which had climbing nets, slides, tunnels, musical instruments, and a few kiddie rides.

The sun started to get lower in the sky and less intense, so we decided to see a couple of shows. Sea World has an amazing pet show, featuring animals rescued from local shelters. Everyone enjoyed that show immensely, and then we headed to the Shamu show. The Orcas are amazing.

Evening was approaching, and the boys both wanted to do the Journey to Atlantis ride. This ride, for the uninformed, features a 60' drop and a steel roller coaster. I am not a fan of extreme thrill rides, and this ride was a bit outside of my comfort level. Nolan made the height requirement, so they gave him a green paper bracelet to prove he was 42" tall.

We got on the ride, went around the corner, and were at the top of the drop. Usually, the big drop is at the end of the ride, not the beginning. I was sure this wasn't a good omen! I was terrified on the way down. Nolan and Matt loved it. LOVED it.

The boat/coaster then went into a dark tunnel, which is when I began thinking: "I should have watched the ride through on Youtube!" I had no idea what was going to happen. As it turns out, the dark tunnel was an elevator - the ride vehicle was lifted straight up - and onto a steel coaster track.

By the end of the ride, my legs were shaking. Nolan and Matt were ecstatic. Nolan wanted to ride again - he actually cried when they made him get off the ride. I couldn't take another ride, so Grandma and Daddy took the boys for a second trip. My dad and I stayed behind and took pictures.

After the ride, we took the boys to the Arctic section and saw Beluga whales. We also rode a simulator ride that the boys enjoyed. We saw the penguins last, and headed out of the park to our hotel. Everyone had had a fantastic day - especially Nolan, who discovered he has a deep love of all thrill rides!

LEGOLAND, California: California Vacation Day 3

We left Oxnard at 7:00am for a road trip down to San Diego. The freeways of Southern California always remind me of the one thing we don't miss from the Golden State: traffic! Still, our ride wasn't too terrible. The  traffic was worst through Hollywood (we took the 101 to the 134 to the 5, for those who are interested). We made it to Lego Land by 10:45am, which wasn't too shabby!

The kids were really excited. My parents were just behind us, having stopped at Denny's for breakfast. They had paid for our admission,and the kids got in free (thanks to a Burger King promotion - the coupons were on the inside of the paper crowns they give out).

We walked into the park and enjoyed a little dinosaur fountain. Matt told Nolan, "Look, Nolan.EVERYTHING here is made out of Legos. EVERYTHING! Even the water park!" Nolan looked at Matt and said, "But wouldn't that hurt your feet?"

We didn't have long before the kids would need to eat lunch, so we headed over to the Duplo playground. The kids both loved the houses, slides, mock jail, and Duplos in bins. Matt, especially, is a Lego nut. He spent most of the time on the playground building, and Nolan ran around and played.

The boys wanted to ride the sky cruiser after this (a pedal-car on an aerial track), but the line was over two hours long. Instead, we settled for the Kid Power Tower, a ride where you pull yourself up and the chair (slowly) falls back down to the ground. Nolan and Dennis rode first. I rode with Matt after they were through - the wait for this ride was 45 minutes, as they only had one tower operating out of three. The boys loved the ride, though, so the wait was worth it.

We went to get lunch after playing on the playground. My parents found us while we were waiting in line - thank goodness I was wearing a polka-dot shirt! Nolan loved sneaking up on Grandma and pretending to scare her.

After lunch, the boys wanted to head to get their driver's licenses. Lego Land has two driving courses for children - a "Jr." course for those who are 3-5 years old, and a regular driver course for those in the 6-12 age range. There is no track, and the kids really like driving the cars independently.

After riding the cars, the kids wanted to ride the helicopters. These ride vehicles went up high into the air and the kids could turn the helicopter in circles or make them go up and down. Both kids really enjoyed this ride - Grandma rode with Nolan and Dennis rode with Matt.

After the helicopter ride, the kids saw a fire truck ride they wanted to do. This one was really cool, and you had to work together to make the fire truck (or police car) move forward. There are four cars on each side of the ride, and everyone races to see who can put out the fire (or catch the bank robbers) first. My mom and I rode with the boys - Matt and Grandma worked the pumper to move the fire truck, I pushed the joystick forward, and Nolan pretended to drive.

The kids were loving Lego Land. This park is really designed for those under 12, however, and is NOT Disneyland. This is just a reminder (or a heads-up) for those who are used to Disney quality. The mini-land area is faded and needs a renovation. Some of the rides at Lego Land do accommodate the entire family, but many of the rides are truly meant for little ones only - so the adults will be sitting on the sidelines. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (particularly for the kids, who LOVE the rides and playgrounds), but adults will pay a hefty entrance fee (around $70 each) and will be sitting on the sidelines for a decent period of time.

We headed to the motor boats next. Matt was tall enough (48") to ride by himself, so Dennis waited in line with us, then exited to take pictures. I rode with Nolan, who was intent on racing the child behind us. It was a lot of fun for the kids, and they really loved the ride.

It was decently hot, so we headed over to the Pirate Shores area of the park. We took off Nolan's hearing aids and glasses, dressed both boys in their bathing suits, and let them go nuts on the water playground. This is when we realized we had no towels, so Grandma went to buy two Lego Land towels.

Once dry, we took a look at Mini Land, the area of the park with replicas of several famous cities. Nolan liked the hills of San Francisco, and both boys loved the Star Wars mini-land area.

Following Mini Land, we walked past the Hideaways play area. This is a massive, castle themed playground with a giant slide. The kids were in love. The adults, of course, sat out and waited while they ran around inside the play structure.

The boys really wanted to do the roller coaster next, and we could all (thankfully) ride the Dragon coaster. Nolan made the height requirement,and  the coaster was perfect for the younger age-set. Not too wild, and really fun. I didn't get any pictures of the coaster, but I did get a picture of an excited Matt as we waited inside the castle.

The boys rode the jousting horses next, and Matt really enjoyed the horses. Nolan wasn't quite as impressed - he is really a fan of the thrill rides and the horses were fairly slow. Most kids would love these, however (we found out later in the vacation that Nolan likes rather extreme thrill rides - not sure where the child got his DNA from)!

The day was winding down, and we decided to check out the Egyptian themed area of the park. There was another neat playground here (with foam balls that could be shot out of cannons), and several kiddie rides. There was also a nice family ride in this area, with jeeps and laser guns that could be shot at targets for points.

One clever thing at Lego Land is the use of play centers in the queues. As the line wraps around the waiting area, a Lego play station will be stationed in the center of the lines. This allows kids to play while the adults wait in line - the kids enter the gate on one side and you just pick them up once you are on the other side of the square play area.

We headed toward the park exit, and my mom and I took the kids on the Bionicle Blasters (spinning "teacup" style of ride). Dennis gets sick from spinning rides, so he sat this one out!

It was getting close to dinner time, so we walked toward the park exit and let the boys play in the build-and-race area of the park. Each child signs in and receives a set of four wheels, then builds and races different car designs on a track.

The boys loved it,and had such a fantastic time. We left the park, getting a few snaps of our family at the exit. I was glad to get a picture of the boys with their grandparents.

We went to Islands Grill for dinner (outside the park) and headed to our hotel. The boys were fast asleep when we got to the hotel room, so we just put them into the bed and we all settled in for the night. The Residence Inn was wonderful - quiet and very homey. We were all excited for Sea World the next day!