we just got back from our first official vacation and boy was it FUN! we decided to do a quick trip to the san diego area and hit the beach and LegoLand (carlsbad). Although Dylan (1y/o) wasn’t able to ride many rides, Jalen (3 y/o) was able to ride plenty of stuff the park had to offer. both boys enjoyed the shows (we went to the fire academy safety show multiple times), and all the lego displays as well. although the legos and ride offerings were quite impressive, what impressed this mama the most was how CLEAN the entire park and facilities were - and remained throughout the day! the eateries were clean, and the restrooms were spotless - something you rarely find at amusement parks! plus, LegoLand had a ‘Mom’s Clubhouse’ that was centrally located in the park and had a private bathroom, diaper changing area, refrigerator, and private nursing rooms complete with rocking chairs for mom’s and kids.

now, enough about the pristine LegoLand, and more on our vacation…when travelling with young children, then only way to really enjoy yourself is to go in with the expectation that anything you will pay (a lot) for, your kids will NOT enjoy. for example, i came to the realization before the trip that i would be paying $50.00 a person for the kids to PLAY with legos all day. the same legos they have in their rooms that hardly get played with suddenly morph into the coolest/must have toy at the thempark and even worse - in the themepark’s giftshop! so, after repeating this mantra over and over throughout the day, i was able to not lose my cool when all the boys mostly wanted to do was play with legos, splash in the fountain, and play on the playground the entire time at the park. Yes, Jalen went on several of the low-key, car-themed rides, but mostly he wanted to just play in the water and the playground with his little brother. of course, they also had more fun eating at the local mcdonalds than the $30.00 a person sushi bar, and had a blast at the oceanside pier and beach.

oh, and did I mention we drove?! one other discovery I made on this trip is that the ‘optional dvd player’ installed in your car’s backseat is worth EVERY penny - even more! The 6 hour car ride went suprisingly well (except for the 5 emergency pee-pee stops we had to make for jalen) thanks to the dvd player. so instead of hearing ‘are we there YET?!’ every 15 minutes, the only repeated question we kept hearing was - ‘can we go back again?!’ and my answer was SURE~~! …ps: did I mention there is a JUICY COUTURE outlet store at the carlsbad premium outlets there?! - even better!!!

Have you been to any family friendly and fun places with your kids?! do share please!