California Christmas Part One

In an effort to create memories rather than fill our home with toys and trinkets that the kids don't need, last year we adopted the plan of doing a family trip for the kids for Christmas rather than giving them a bunch of presents. With California being so close, that has become the obvious place for us to go to create family memories. Last year we did a few days at Knott's Berry Farm and this year we opted for a 4-day theme park extravaganza including Knott's, Legoland, and Sea World, in any combination we wanted for those four days.

It was the perfect, Craig-planned, action-packed trip to start off the kids' winter break. Tow days after the kids' last school day, we packed up, we drove fast, and we arrived at the lovely Seapointe Resort in beautiful Carlsbad.

{He's the Jedi of trunk packing. And handsome, to boot.} 

We had pretty much planned for everything--our budget, what we were doing for meals, which parks we wanted to do on which days, which park we wanted to do for a second time on our fourth day of adventuring.

What we hadn't planned for, though, was sick kiddos. Julia had a yucky cough and bad sore throat the day that we left, and poor little Spence got so sick that first night with a terrible cough that he needed an early morning trip to urgent care on what was supposed to be theme park day #1. 

Needless to say, we were a little stumped. Should we still go forward with our theme park plans? Should we just skip the first day and still go to theme parks the other 3 days? First we decided to just skip the first theme park day, take it easy for a few hours, and then make a decision later. As time went on and Spencer's cough didn't seem to be getting a whole lot better, we opted for changing our whole week of plans in favor of smaller family activities. We returned our unactivated passes, and planned out a much more mellow week. 

It ended up being the best thing ever. Our more spontaneous family adventure was so much fun and we felt so grateful for our little blessing in disguise. 

The first day after spending much of the day hanging out at the hotel, we went down for a quick sunset visit to the beach which was just across the street from the hotel. It may have been December, but that sure didn't stop these guys from putting their feet in the water and playing in the sand. 

{When I say that we went "down" to the beach, I meant it literally.  

It was quite the hike down a LOT of stairs.}

It was an absolutely beautiful way to end what started out as a disappointing day. A gorgeous beach sunset and delicious Panda for dinner were just what we needed. 

Much more adventuring to come!