Carlsbad 2016
We were able to spend a week on the beach in Carlsbad, California again this year. My parents rented their friend's beach house, and treated all of us to it. It was so nice of them, and we had such a great time! Here's a look back at what we did...
DAY 1
We drove halfway to SoCal the first day, stopping in St. George for the night. Here we are as we were just leaving town. Everyone was super excited...
We had to make a stop in Beaver, and use Aiden's gift card for the Cheese Factory that was given to him by the mayor. Aiden wasn't a big fan of the squeaky cheese when we were down there in April, so we got ice cream instead...
We met up with everyone in St. George and ate dinner, and then went swimming to end the day...
DAY 2
We got up early and drove the rest of the way to southern California. We had to take a picture of our favorite exit along the way...
Once we got into Carlsbad, we got settled in the house and then walked into town to get some dinner...
There was a live band playing, so there was lots of dancing and playing while we waited for our table...
Oh, and some modeling too, as Ella and Vivvie strutted their stuff on the catwalk...
My mama and I at dinner...
The boys...
Everyone that went to Los Olas that night...
DAY 3
Before we left to have fun for the day, I snuck out to take a picture of the house we stay in when we go to Carlsbad because I don't know if I've ever taken one before. Isn't it cute? They actually ended up painting the stucco while we were staying there, so it's a different color now, but this is what it looked like while we were there...
Then we headed to the beach. Vivvie was obviously tired because she fell asleep shortly after getting there. That girl can sleep anywhere...
The kiddos playing in the surf...
Greg likes to make sand sculptures. This was the one he created this day...
Tyler, Aiden, and Gavin playing in the waves...
Cohen hanging out in the shade with Baby Lila...
Selfie...
Let's try that again...
My view for the day...
Cohen and Mike playing paddle ball...
Nothing better than a game of Frisbee by the ocean...
Tyler, Connor, and Cohen...
Later that night, we played games back at the house. One of our favorite parts of going to Carlsbad is laughing our heads off during our crazy, fun game nights...
DAY 4
Back at the beach with my bestie...
The little girls playing in the water...
Beach bums...
Digging in the sand. Aiden was always digging in the sand this trip, as you'll see in many upcoming pictures...
More Frisbee...
Tata and me...
Gavin and Aiden digging holes for someone to most likely break their ankle in...
Cute Cohen playing Frisbee...
Gavin and Aiden building a sand castle...
Strike a pose...
Aiden quickly escalated from digging little holes to digging big holes...
Superman...
Aiden still digging...
China can't be too far away at this point...
It eventually got deep enough that it was taller than Vivvie...
DAY 5
We took a break from the beach for one day to go to SeaWorld. We all had such a great time! Here's Connor, Aiden, and Mike at the Explorer's Reef, petting a stingray...
Aiden and Cohen feeling a marbled bamboo shark (at least that's what we think it was, after doing a quick google search)...
Vivvie was brave enough to do it too, once she saw that her brothers had lived through the experience...
Riding some of the kiddie rides. Connor was obviously excited...
Waiting for the dolphin show to start...
It was pretty awesome! We made sure not to sit in the splash zone, like we did when we visited SeaWorld in 2006. That is a mistake you only make once...
Next we went to the sea lion show. I didn't think I'd be that impressed, but I was wrong...
Hanging out with my favorite bird, the flamingo. It's been my favorite since I had to do a report on them in 1st Grade...
Time to try to wear the kids out on this huge net playset...
More kiddie rides...
This is us being scared to go on the Elmo Flying Fish ride...
Finally, time for a fun, non-kiddie ride--Atlantis...
We got soaked, so the kids used the big dryers at the end to dry off a little bit...
Next, we spent some time with some arctic friends, like this beluga whale...
And this polar bear...
And this walrus...
Oh, and the penguins too...
Then we went on a virtual reality helicopter ride through Wild Arctic...
Waiting in line isn't so bad when the view is this pretty. Seriously, why don't I live here?
The Shark Encounter did not disappoint...
Look at that huge sea turtle...
Time for some more rides for Vivvie and Nana...
We ended the day with Shamu's show. I've heard that SeaWorld isn't going to be doing the Shamu shows for much longer, so I'm glad we all got to see it one last time...
That night, we ended the day with...what else? Ice cream...
DAY 6
Back to the beach...
More poses. These girls are so funny...
My girlie and me...
Aiden found the remnants of the hole he dug two days earlier! Haha! It was so big that the tides weren't able to completely fill it in. Hopefully no unsuspecting runner accidentally fell in it...
Ty and Cohen lounging in the sun...
Ella turning Vivvie into a mermaid...
Someone (I can't remember who now) buried my feet, and turned them into a turtle...
Connor waiting for the waves to come destroy what was left of an earlier sand castle...
More digging. Are you surprised?
Connor and Cohen trying to see how many times they can bounce a ball on a paddle board...
That evening, we drove down to Oceanside and walked down the pier to eat dinner at Ruby's Diner. This is a funny picture of Connor I took while we were waiting to be seated. He is clearly thrilled (or maybe cold because it was chilly out on the water), but I thought he looked so handsome in the picture, so I had to post it...
Tyler, Cohen, and Aiden looking back toward Oceanside from the end of the pier, over 1/3rd mile away from shore...
Mike, Cohen, Connor, Nana, and Tata waiting to be seated...
Another selfie...
More poses from the girls...
More craziness from the boys...
Finally got seated...
Nothing like greasy hamburgers, fries, onion rings, and shakes. Seriously, I love them...
DAY 7
This was Kristin's birthday, so we decided we needed to celebrate with some "cake by the ocean" (a reference to the song by DNCE that was so popular this summer)...
Nap time. I guess he finally got tired from a week of digging in the sand...
Cute beach babies...
Mike and Dan playing ladder toss...
Ella, Poppy, and Vivvie showing off their sand castle...
Snack time for Cohen and Tyler...
My little book worm. He got to a really exciting part in his book, and couldn't put it down, so he brought it down to the beach to finish. I love that Connor loves to read now. He really didn't like it as a kid, so I'm so glad he's found some series he really enjoys. It has made all the difference for him. He was reading the newest book in the Five Kingdoms series here...
Dan and Mike going boogie boarding...
He's kinda hot. Okay, he's really hot...
Viv, Ella, Landon, and Tata waiting for the next wave to roll in...
Mike riding a wave into shore...
I wish I could get beachy waves like this in my hair...
Landy and Vivvie...
Poses for another picture...
We took a picture like this a couple years ago when we were here, so we had to recreate it...
Sand for days. I'm pretty sure we brought home at least 32 pounds of it in our suitcases...
That evening, we drove back to Oceanside for dinner at a steak and seafood place to celebrate Tata's birthday. Not a bad dinner view, eh?
Then we went back to the house to eat cake and open presents...
Kristin's cake came with a sparkler for a candle, so we lit it while we sung her happy birthday. Sparklers clearly make this family go a little crazy, as you can see by the faces in this picture! Haha...
DAY 8
Ashlee and Greg's family left this day, but the rest of us stayed for another day of sun, sand, and surf. While we were at the beach, we spotted a bunch of dolphins swimming by. I was able to get a picture of one of them. It's really hard to see, but it's there. It was really cool to see them jump in and out of the water...
Connor did a little boogie boarding...
Here he is riding a wave in...
Vivvie had fun playing in the sand, but missed her posing buddy, Ella...
I soaked in every last second of this view...
Playing on the water's edge...
Oh no! Here comes a wave, we better run away or it might kill us...
Mike and Connor went out pretty far into the water. At this point, they were just waist deep, but eventually only their heads were popping out of the water...
Seriously! Is this the cutest beach babe you've ever seen? I love that beachy wave her hair does...
Viv had been petrified to go out in the water any deeper than her ankles. Mike was bound and determined to change that before we went home, so he carried her out into deeper water--much to her dismay...
Then he took Cohen next...
Cohen actually ended up loving it, and spent quite a bit of time with Mike out in the water. I think it wore him out though because he came back up on shore and took the longest nap...
Mike and Vivvie created this track in the sand that Viv could roll balls down. Entertainment for hours...
Aiden spent more time digging this day. It wasn't a pit this time though...
Carlsbad gave us the prettiest sunset to end our last day there...
That evening, the girls did a little shopping trip to the outlet mall. We all got Kate Spade purses and wallets that were great deals...
Then we went to dinner all by ourselves. It was a fun end to the vacation...
DAY 9
Time to head home to real life. Here's our last view of the ocean as we drove away...
Thanks for the memories, Carlsbad...
We all agreed that this was our favorite Carlsbad trip ever! We couldn't put a finger on exactly why it was so great, but we all loved every second of it! It was just relaxing and so much fun!! Hopefully, we'll be back there for more memories soon because everyone needs a little more Carlsbad in their life! --Lindsay
