Up until the Monday of Spring Break, we had planned to take the kids to Tahoe for one last ski trip. They had received some of the best snow of the season a couple weeks prior, so I was hopeful. I watched the conditions closely, as the base eroded by 3-5″ daily. I had a very frank conversation with the ski school, who told me it was “mashed potatoes” by 11am, and that if we wanted the kids to improve, to wait until next year. I appreciated their honesty.
There were options to fly somewhere, but we just wanted to go somewhere warm enough for the kids to swim and be outside. We’ve been meaning to stay in Manhattan Beach for a week (or a month) and see what it’s like to be there, so this was our opportunity. We looked into a house, but staying at Shade right downtown was just as good and allowed us to break up our trip.
On Wednesday morning, we packed and were on the road by about 9:30am. After a couple short stops, we were in Manhattan Beach by mid afternoon, with time to head to the beach before dinner at our usual spot, Rock’n Fish. We had dessert at Manahttan Beach Creamery, and got a call from Theresa and Matt that they were at Shade to meet us. It had been too long since we saw them, and they just happened to be on the way back from LAX so the timing was perfect. Bear was also along for the ride, so we sat outside where only about 10-15 people asked to pet him (Olivia and Lucas were not among them). That dog is a celebrity wherever he goes.
On Thursday, we lazily made our way down to LEGOLAND in Carlsbad. It was a efficient trip and now the kids are old enough to go on many rides by themselves. Olivia has ridden Coastersaurus a couple of times, but for some reason was freaked out by it this time. I somehow convinced her to give the Dragon coaster a try, but by the time we were creeping up the first hill, she was more scared than thrilled. The rest of the visit was less traumatic and we stayed almost until close. We ended up at a nice restaurant in Carlsbad, but Lucas fell asleep at the table before his food arrived. They were both wiped out from a fun day.
On Friday morning, they tried out the hot tub time machine in the room and we headed to the beach while Grace slept in. There’s a particular shot I’m trying to get of the kids, but our timing and the sun weren’t optimal during our times at the beach. We’ll have to wait until next time. We all met up before lunch at Pitfire Pizza. Afterwards, we loaded up the car for the next part of our mini spring break.
