MCM & Lego Castles

There is a conveniently placed McDonald's in the skyway right before the Children's Museum. We pass by it and of course James wants to go back for lunch. It usually happens.

I think this thing is creepy.

We went back to the Lego Castle exhibit because the last time James threw a fit and he didn't really see any of the other parts. We only got as far as the Lego building area. This time I prepped James by telling him that we would build but that there were lots of things to see and do. I really stressed that we wouldn't build the whole time.

I had James go to the top of the castle and yell down, "I'm King of the World!" It was really funny.

There was a computer screen where you select different options to build a castle wall and then you send a computerized catapult to see if your wall withstands the throw. James really loved the SPLAT. Over and over and over and over.

He is very good with a computer mouse. He built a pretty impressive castle using a bunch of castle shape options.

Awesome.

The toddler area had these huge foam Lego bricks. We had the whole place to ourselves since we got there right at the opening of the museum. James used every last one of the bricks to build a sturdy castle.

And then he had a ball BUSTING IT DOWN!

Castle building, this time with Duplos. So much more manageable. Age appropriate.

We went to a few other parts of the museum too. There are the ant tunnels that allow kids the chance to run, explore, and hide.

I needed to go into the tunnel a few times when James got slightly lost or afraid (more kids at this point). I got a little claustrophobic and so I encouraged James to move along to the other parts of the museum. Darn enclosed spaces.

That giant ant is creepy too.

We'd never been to the rooftop garden. It's an area with mostly arts and crafts, like sand sculpting, water painting, leaf coloring, etc. There was this rustic looking climbing fort and James went up confidently at first but then got a little disoriented. I love the expression here. Haha. It was a jumble of kids for a bit- a staff member had to help James down to the bottom.

Snack time. A bee startled him.

It got pretty hot.

So more and more kids (two big daycare groups- mental note: call ahead next time and ask about scheduled groups) arrived at the museum. It started to be not so pleasant for me. James got a little frustrated because kids were grabbing at the play foods, the dishes, just everything. He found a broom and happily swept. I wish he would do this at home!

We finally managed to get some foods and a space to sit. I told James this was the Japanese style of eating- on the floor cushions. He smiled for the picture that we sent to his Tia Kiki :)

James pretended to be a doctor. He had me sit on the patient bench while he told me about the medicine I should take. Doctor Tauer one day?

More building.

It was a fun morning! We went to McDonald's, James fell asleep in the car, and we got home for dinner.

I took this picture at the end of the day. I brightened it up a bit but it was already a spectacular sunset. My iPhone camera doesn't have a flash so that's why I needed to brighten it up. Wow.

SD Air & Space Museum & Chillaxin'

Our trip to San Diego would not be complete without a trip to The Hash House. The pancake was as monstrous as I remembered and yet I still ordered it. Jim and I went in there with a plan to share a breakfast and then we were dazzled by the menu and all plans went out the window. Oh well. We were in pancake overload but happy!

I loved the Gay Pride flags all over the 'hood we stayed in.

I wasn't too proud of this grocery store run. Junk and alcohol. Hey, whatever gets you through vacation, right?

Jim found a cool museum that we thought James would enjoy too because he loves astronauts and has taken an interest in planets, comets, stars, etc. (We hope to get a telescope one day. I think both of us have ALWAYS wanted one but we want the RIGHT one. Someday.)

Anyway, the SD Air & Space Museum was very cool. It was jam packed with cool old airplanes and space items. We could spent all day (and more) there reading all the information, but James walks through pretty quickly and leapt from one cool thing to another.

Trying out an astronaut bed.

Pretending to eat astronaut food.

The Red Baron!

A history of flight attendant uniforms. I bet the miniskirts were popular!

James really enjoyed the children's area. He LOVED this space ship house.

He really had so much fun manipulating the "floating" balls.

We saw a very cool 4D short film. The seats moved, water droplets were blasted at us, the wind blew, and the movie was in 3D. I think James was a little stunned but he did well. It was like an amusement park ride.

James and I posed in a helicopter. For James this fulfilled a lifelong dream. He had JUST told me, "I always wanted to ride in a helicopter". And there it was!

James and his Daddy in the air tower. The tower overlooked the entire museum space.

It was a great museum!

The day flew by and soon enough it was dinner. We relaxed at the hotel for a bit and then headed downstairs for the hotel's complimentary BBQ. It was so nice not to worry about finding food and everything was good. We sat poolside and enjoyed each other.