Summer Phone Pics

I think this is the last of the summer photos that I am now posting in October.  We'll get to Halloween, eventually.

We spent a week in Carlsbad hitting the beach and Legoland.  We are really starting to fall in love with that city.  So much is within walking distance of where we stay.  And our Lego-crazy kids love the proximity of their current favorite amusement park.

The littlest kid always gets to ride on Evan's shoulders at some point at the beach.  

Here's Liam's turn.

Dylan is by far the bravest child when it comes to time in the ocean. The wet suit definitely helps him stay in longer and he comes home with some serious tan lines every year.

Here is a rare occasion when he's out of the ocean.

Legoland!  The kids have wanted to ride this ridiculous thing for years, but the wait is always way too long.  Amelia and Simon were determined to ride this year, so they waited for 45 minutes.  Then it broke down and they waited a bit more.  

FINALLY, they pedaled around the track and admitted thereafter that they were completely underwhelmed.

Simon getting cozy with a sleeping Lego man.

We actually spent some time building stuff this year.  We were tired of the sun, so we spent a good hour inside while the kids fashioned race cars and ran them down the tracks. 

Liam was ecstatic to be able to scoot around on the floor.

Setting up the cars on the race tracks and having a physics lesson about weight and velocity and friction from Dad the Engineer.

 Amelia hates roller coasters, apparently, so she stayed with Liam and whatever adult (often me) was taking care of him.  She seems to have no trouble amusing herself with whatever silliness surrounds us at Legoland and so she attempted to make a rolling bench while Liam played with soft giant Legos.  It didn't work particularly well, but we couldn't stop laughing, so it served a purpose.

Baby at the beach = sand in every crevice. 

Actually, Liam was surprisingly clean after an afternoon in the sand and sun.  He tried to eat the sand once and decided it was not to his liking.  He didn't actually throw it in the air or rub his eyes with sandy little fists, so I'd say that's actually quite remarkable.  He's probably saving the antics for next time.

Simon earned his wet suit by not being afraid of boogie boarding.

The conversation went something like this:

Evan:  "Simon, I'll get you your very own wet suit if you try boogie boarding."

Simon: "No! No way!  I hate that!" 

Evan: "Ok, Ok.  Never mind."

Simon: "Fine!  I'll go booger boarding." 

He stomped over to the "booger" board, strapped it to his wrist and stomped out to the ocean, dragging the board behind him, and proceeded to catch a few waves.  He smiled instantly and kept that smile plastered to his face the rest of the day.

In fact, he loved it so much he didn't want to get out of the ocean when it was time to leave.