My Next VW Van

And it's only $100...

Lego Cakes!

Celeste was playing with her Legos a week or so ago and built this handy guide to different types of cake:

Let's see - she's listed angel food, vanilla (one of my old bricks, not as bright white as the angel food), yellow, pound, velvet and chocolate. Yum!

N I N E !!

Celeste is nine. Wow! Allie and I are wondering where the last nine years went.

Here are some pix from her "family" b-day party last night. Uncle Danny was a guest...

nine whole candles
there they go. well some of 'em
earrings
Florida t-shirt and a Webkinzzz (and one online-only Webkinzzz)
and of course, Legos!

Weekend Wrapup

After spending a week traveling in the upper Midwest, I was happy to return to the San Diego area late on Friday night.

Saturday's highlight was running down to North Ponto beach for a little fresh air.
Celeste also took some pix herself (not shown), with her camera for her beach birthday party invites. Sadly I had the new point-and-shoot camera in crappy lo-res mode. Must remember to reset to hi-res...
Our grrrl really comes alive at the beach, she truly needs nature in her life.
Sunday involved redeeming our free LegoLand tix that we were able to score with the tix that we used back in December. The park was a ghost town - no one is visiting Carlsbad in February on overcast days during the financipocalypse. Good for us as there was virtually no waiting at any ride.

First we took a boat trip and saw some more Miniland structures:

NYC with new Freedom Tower behind Lady Liberty

We rode this spinning thing (like the classic Teacups ride) 3x without having to get out of our seat. Once we were the only ones on the entire ride.

Who knew that being pitched around by a giant robotic arm could be fun?

LegoLand received a fair amount of press last month with the Obama inaguration at their US Capitol.
They even had a model of Aretha Franklin, complete in her goofy hat. See the grey figure at the center of the pic below.
Allie out on a Sunday safari
Celeste and a sponge
Celeste learning how to drive a small, plastic Volvo-branded "car"
And a mold that pumped out 120,000,000 Lego 2x3 plates:
We spent a few bucks on some Danish plastic to bring home. Another great weekend in Southern California.

A Productive Day

Well, I woke up this morning feeling crummy again - stupid head cold. But since I'm going out of town for a week starting tomorrow (Sunday), I felt I had better make the best of it.

Started by giving the van a thorough cleaning. Since we've had a wet spell, the thing was wearing a grey coat of drabness.

Afterwards I checked out Celeste's baked log and rainwater tea.
Yum! Celeste also discovered a hummingbird nest in the ficus tree.
She's also been having fun with the Legos that Grandma and Grandpa sent her. I love the feminine touch she gave the Lego Technic dragster (Lego #8847) I had built as a kid.

a Lego croissant in one cylinder and a green apple in the other

Speaking of food, we had planned a trip out to the Ruby's Diner at the end of the Oceanside pier. After parking and walking the 1,942' length, we found a line out the door - a 45 min wait for a table. Since Allie had hiked this morning, she was starving, so we pointed the car south to another Ruby's. Oceanside Pier pix first:

looking north (hills are part of Camp Pendelton)

So O'side Pier didn't work out, and the Carlsbad Ruby's was slammed as well, so we settled for Islands (chain similar to Red Robin, but with surf decor). The view was not as nice as what we would have had on the pier. That seems like a nice carwash and Jippy Lube though (if you're in to those sorts of things).
Late this afternoon I went for a run down to the beach. Brought my iPhone, sorry about the poor quality of the pix...

And finally I packed for my trip. Here's the extent of my winter outerwear (fleece gloves, fleece jacket, thin beanie). I'm ready for old man winter to slap me in the face. Let's see how soft I've become...