McClarty Family Vacation - Carlsbad, CA (the last half)

On our third day in Carlsbad the forecast was for rain to start around 11:00 am and get steadily stronger as the day went on. We decided to head to Escondito to visit San Diego Zoo's Wildlife Park. This originated as a breeding area for the zoo but has developed into an amazing park all on it's own. It opened at 9:00 so we figured we could get at least a couple of dry hours in to start, unfortunately it started raining on our way there, but it wasn't too heavy of a rain, and we had a fairly clear morning. The boys were obsessed with all of the different kinds of birds and both loved the tram that took us through the entire Africa area. We went out to the car for lunch and it started to really rain. I decided I still wanted to try to see the baby tiger, other tigers, and the gorillas so we rented a stroller with a small cover and headed, at a quick pace, to see a few more of the habitats. The drive home was pretty bad, there were multiple emergency vehicles that went passed with sirens on, the roads seemed to be beginning to flood, and we were getting emergency alerts on our phones including flash flood and tornado warnings (yes tornado), so we decided to stop at a grocery store and pick up some things to make dinner instead of heading out into the elements again.

It's difficult to get McClartys to smile!

Lemur experience - Reed and I actually got to go in the habitat with them

On the Tram

Hillside of Rhinos

California Condor

After another night of heavy rain, it was fairly clear on Thursday morning. The rain was supposed to start again later in the morning but we decided to head to the beach and let the boys build the sand castle they had been begging to build. After walking the two blocks to the beach we discovered the staircase leading to the beach was completely submerged due to the high surf and the waves were crashing up against the cliff, leaving not a single patch of beach that we could access. To say Reed was disappointed is an understatement but both boys seemed okay with the idea of digging in the mud that was in the empty campground above the beach. I actually went running for the 30 minutes that it took them to fill up their bucket and got back in time for the big "mud castle" reveal. I think Reed had expected it to magically turn into something amazing and was so sad when Jon revealed the pile of dirt. Jon had to take him aside and have a talk about life/disappointment/etc. - it was heartbreaking, but also so endearing to watch the two of them talk it out together.

 

 

After the beach was a bust, Jon suggested we check out the Museum of Making Music that was just a few miles away. Jon said that he couldn't tell how kid friendly it was so I figured we would be there for a max of 30 minutes and I would spend the whole time keeping the boys away from things they shouldn't be touching. When we got there we saw other toddlers playing with different instruments in the gift shop and a group of kids gathering for a tour - both good signs!!! The museum was awesome, each era had a bunch of buttons you could push that would play tunes from the era as well as at least one instrument you were allowed to touch and play. I was pretty impressed that we were able to take our time and walk through the entire museum and even had to encourage the boys to move along a couple of times. The gift shop was at the end and had a bunch of books and instruments for purchase and a whole table set up for kids to color at. It was a really great, unexpected find and something I would suggest anyone in the area do (especially on a rainy day).

 

Dancing to some tunes

 

Reed loves to eat out and he also loves pizza - both things you would think a kid with food allergies would avoid. He was so excited about the idea of going to a new restaurant and I found a place in Oceanside, called the Bagby Beer Company, that could accommodate us and had pizza and quite the beer selection to boot. They were great about Reed's allergies and we had a wonderful last night together before it was time to head home.

 

 

McClarty Family Vacation - Carlsbad, CA (the first half)

It's kind of surprising to me, but we haven't been on a solo family vacation with the kids until now. We're very lucky in that we've traveled to some neat spots with other family members and have friends and family that we have visited and stayed with. We however have never, as our four person family, gone by ourselves anywhere on a vacation, that all changed last week!!! We spent five days together, fighting bad weather, but also enjoying each others company and having some memorable adventures. Reed actually had pretty good behavior for most of the trip and seemed really appreciative of all of our little outings. Kieran was battling two molars coming in and didn't sleep very well at night, couple that with messing with his nap most days, and we definitely had some major meltdowns (on a daily basis). To his credit Kieran did rock his potty training and was in underwear all day everyday and only had a few accidents at the house and absolutely no accidents while out, so a huge win there!!!

We rented a house in Carlsbad, CA for the week. As we got closer to leaving, the forecast did not look promising - 80% chance of rain Monday, 100% chance Tuesday through Thursday, and 20% chance on Friday. Santa had given the boys a trip to LEGOLAND as part of their gift so we knew if nothing else we had to at least make it there, so we left as early as we could Monday morning and arrived to LEGOLAND in time to eat an early picnic lunch and head into the park. This is a great place for younger kids because they can go on so many rides, plus there are Lego building stations and Lego playgrounds scattered throughout the park. The first hour and a half was great, we went on a couple of rides, and then the dark clouds started to move in. Kieran and I played in the Star Wars miniland and a Lego playground while Jon and Reed waited to go on his first official roller coaster. Sadly they were next in line when is started pouring and the ride had to be shut down. After walking in the rain for a bit we found an indoor ride that we did twice and then a theatre that was showing a short length movie. It worked out perfectly and by the time it was over the rain had stopped. The rest of the afternoon it showered on and off but we were able to fit in a few more rides and find a little market that had some Reed friendly snacks.

Literally falling asleep on an airplane themed ride

He was so excited when he spotted Yoda

Reed's first roller coaster ride

Monday night we got to our rental after a stop at Trader Joes and settled in. I had made meatballs and frozen them the week before and brought them with us so I just had to make some pasta and vegetables and dinner was ready. It rained quite a bit overnight and the next morning it was still raining. We found an indoor trampoline place in San Marcos and went there to burn off some energy, then headed to Blingy's house to pick her up. We went back to the rental, had lunch, she gave the boys some Christmas gifts, read books, and played some games. We were planning on her staying for another hour or so when it started to rain harder than I think I've ever seen. Kieran had been napping for less than an hour and the downpour scared him so badly I couldn't get him back to sleep (keep in mind he had a rain soundmachine going in his room at the time). The rain let up a little and we decided it was best to get Blingy home before the next wave hit. After saying our goodbyes we stopped at a Jamba Juice for a snack and picked up Chipotle to take home for dinner (it is nice knowing of a few chain restaurants that Reed can eat at so I can relax a bit and not spend an entire vacation cooking and researching).

Reed loved the Dodge Ball area at the trampoline place

Reed said playing with Blingy was his favorite thing on the whole trip!