Kickin' It In Carlsbad

After our big day at the zoo, we decided on a quieter day. We walked a very energetic Joey over to the playground at the resort, and then played for a while in the Kids Club. One Joey was worn out and ready for a nap, we brought out Yahtzee and watched Johnny's stress-levels go through the roof. He's just like his Daddy...he doesn't handle games of chance very well! :)

Then we spent some time swimming as a family. It was a little chilly, but not bad. And there was no way we were passing up this scene in December!!

We promised the kids two things on this trip...we'd do sunset at the beach (our tradition) and they could shop for souvenirs. They had dutifully been saving their money for months! So we went down to Carlsbad Village and walked around, feeling super touristy and super cool. :) But seriously, Carlsbad Village is a pretty hip place to spend an evening! We found an okay souvenir shop...we were hoping for more general California souvenirs, but it was full of Carlsbad stuff. Though Sophie found the perfect hoodie for herself, and she's been wanting a hoodie ever since Claire got her awesome one in Yellowstone. We were feeling a little bummed that we didn't find the type of store we were looking for, but then across a very busy street we saw another shop. And this one was perfect!! Both girls found the cutest California shirts and Johnny got a California hat and surfer bracelet...perfect for our Cali native. :) Danny also picked up a couple decks of souvenir California playing cards to add to our botchi collection. It was the perfect souvenir shopping trip!

Finally it was time for our most favorite part of being in Carlsbad...sunset at the beach. Carlsbad has amazing beaches, and this was a particularly beautiful evening. The girls donned their beach hats, Johnny wore his souvenir Cali hat, and Joey just loved every inch of sand! 

This sunset was made even more awesome by the dolphin pods we could see from the beach. It made for quite an exciting evening for us, even though we could only see their dorsal fins poking out of the water every so often. Even so, there were real live dolphins out there and everybody loves real live dolphins!! We stayed until the last bit of the sun was gone, and for that last few minutes we just watched the sun dip below the horizon. It was the perfect evening in every way.

On our way home, we stopped to get Chinese takeout at our favorite restaurant in Oceanside where the portions are huge and the price is low...and even better the food is delicious! Once we were back to the resort, we had to bathe Joey first thing since he brought sand home in every nook and cranny of his adorable little body. This is what happens when you leave Sophie to watch Joey in the bathtub. :)

Dinner was beyond delicious, and we all ate until we could eat no more. Then Johnny insisted that we play some Botchi with our newly acquired souvenir card decks. Danny and I are loving that we can play card games with the kids now!

Our day in Carlsbad was perfection, and made us wish we had more days to just spend there at the resort and around town. But our trip was quickly coming to an end, with just two more days of fun!