Southern Cal 2017 - Day 5

Day 5 - Universal Studios Hollywood - June 5, 2017

We spent the day at Universal Studios Hollywood, which in reality was one of the biggest reasons for our trip. Back in November, on our way to Australia, we had a day to kill here in Southern Cal and we went to Universal Studios.  At that time we bought a 9 month annual pass, which was only $10 more than the single day pass.  So here we were, reaping the benefits on one of the last days that wasn't blacked out on our pass.

Of course our first stop was a visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Poor Lyla isn't tall enough, and poor Alison doesn't have the stomach constitution for this ride.

It may have looked cold and snowy, but it was actually quite warm.

Butterbeer.

Minion hugs.

We met up with some friends who had purchased front of the line passes.  They may or may not have let us use them on a ride or two.

I just love the forced perspective.

Ollivander's Wand Shop

Ada got Snape's wand for Christmas a year ago, Kate & Lyla were excited to get their own wands.  I think that Lyla got Dumbledore's wand and Kate got Hermoine's.

We left the park by 6PM.  Stopped by Menchie's for some frozen yogurt,

And picked up some doughnuts at Voodoo.

Finally dinner at Mimi's Cafe.

Tomorrow we spend the day at The Great Wolf Lodge.

Southern Cal 2017 - Day 4

Day 4 - San Diego to Anaheim - June 4, 2017

We started off our day by watching the runners of the San Diego marathon run past our hotel both on the road in front and on the sidewalk by the beach at the rear.  It's always fun to watch the crazy runners.

The girls played in the park while I watched the race and Alison slept.

We went to church near the airport and then made our way to Cabrillo National Monument and Point Loma.

Once again I had to be sneaky to catch Lyla in the photos.

We hiked down to the tidepools.

Found some little snails.

I believe that this is Aliso Beach near Laguna Niguel.  The waves were crashing really hard along the shore. 

We were taking photos at nearly the same instant.  You can see me taking the picture from the side at the same time Alison was taking photos from behind.

There was a lot of running when large sneaker waves crashed on the shore.

In Anaheim we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge a couple of miles south of Disneyland.

Lyla was especially excited that she got to wear wolf ears.

Tomorrow we head up to Universal Studios.

Southern Cal 2017 - Day 3

Day 2 - Pool Day - June 3, 2017

We spent most of the day at the pool at our hotel.  We stayed in the Mission Bay Hilton and were pretty happy with it.

Today's breakfast was brought to you by McDonald's.

Testing the waters.

At some point the sun came out.  These two girls literally spent all day in the pool and would have been happy to stay in all evening if they could have.

We went to Mission Beach to play on the sand.  It was dusk and for some reason or another Lyla did not want to be in any photos.  Mean dad alert: This is when I try to sneak her in as many photos as I can...

On the beach.

Got her.

Once we got around to playing in the sand Lyla was much happier.

Sand castles.

Belmont Park.

Tomorrow: we make our way from San Diego to Anaheim, visiting beaches on the way.

Southern Cal 2017 - Days 1 & 2

Time to resurrect this sad little blog.  My goal has always been to not be more than 1 year behind, but here we are, August 2018 and blogging about June 2017.  I would give up, but I'm terrible at keeping a consistent journal, so this blog is an important spot to document the fun and important goings-on of this family.  I like to imagine that someday my kids will read about these trips from when they were younger and have fun reminiscing about all of the fun that we had.

Now, back to our irregularly scheduled content:

Day 1 - SLC-SAN - June 1, 2017:

We found a good deal on flights from SLC to Long Beach so we pulled the trigger.

Isn't Long Beach the best airport to fly into?

Our first stop was at Mama D's Italian Restaurant in Newport Beach.  We were looking for a restaurant between Long Beach and San Diego with good reviews and this one fit the bill.

Ada loved her pizza and I remember that Alison and I were pretty happy with our food as well.

Day 2 - San Diego Zoo & Baseball - June 2, 2017

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but we found a truck stop style breakfast diner right near old town for breakfast. It was a greasy spoon, but the girls were happy with their big cinnamon rolls.

After breakfast we made our way to the San Diego Zoo.  We have been here before, I think when Ada was little.

First stop was the skyfari to take us to the far side of the zoo.

Polar bears in the Northern Frontier.

Tigers in the Lost Forest.

Giant pandas in Panda Canyon.

After the zoo we made our way to Old Town where we stopped at the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center.  For all of the times that we have been to San Diego, we have never stopped here.  We were really surprised.  The visitor center tour and exhibits were great.

And the girls loved panning for gold.

The real reason that were were visiting old town was to eat at Miguel's.  This is our favorite Mexican joint in San Diego.  You know how most Mexican restaurants bring out chips and salsa?  Miguel's ups the ante by bringing out queso as well.  And we love it.

We have usually visited San Diego during the winter months, when it is cold and snowy in Utah.  Sadly, this is also when baseball is not in season, so this was our first time visiting Petco Park and cheering on the Padres.

MLB ballpark #24!

Tomorrow we spend a lazy day at the pool and beach.