In the spirit of the rainy weekend, we planned to take the kids to the SEA LIFE Carlsbad Aquarium at LEGOLAND. My wife took the kids to the aquarium about 6 months ago and since I hadn’t been there yet, we decided to go again. The Aquarium is a sort of an add-on park to LEGOLAND in the same way that California Adventure Land is an add-on to Disneyland. The first time we visited LEGOLAND was for my daughter’s 5th birthday and I wasn’t very impressed with the park on any level. Since an aquarium is more of a museum, rather than an amusement park, I was interested in seeing it for myself.

The first stop of the day was to the base Information, Tickets and Travel (ITT) booth in order to get some discounted tickets to the Aquarium. Typical admission is about $20 for adults and $13 for children aged 3-13. When you buy the discounted tickets, everyone gets in for $9.75, which is significantly better. From there we made our way to Carlsbad for our trip. We didn’t tell our daughter where we were going because she has this nasty habit of over-exciting herself before we get to our destination and gets a little loopy. It wasn’t until we made the turn onto Legoland Drive that my daughter realized where we were going. Once at the entrance to the parking lot, my wife opted for the Preferred Parking which costs $8 more than the standard $12 for parking but places you about 200 feet from the entrance to either park. This, according to my wife, is more than worth the additional cost.

Before entering there is a sign that indicates there are no restrooms available once you enter the Aquarium, which is a bit odd to me, but hey, at least they warn you. There are bathrooms that are centrally located between LEGOLAND and the Aquarium. Upon entry to the Aquarium the ticket taker asked if we had paid for parking, because as we were only going to the Aquarium they would refund our parking fee. We didn’t bother with the refund as we were pretty sure it didn’t apply to the folks who sprang for the extra special parking. Once inside, the fun began. Right inside the door leads to an anteroom with a monitor where they queue groups of people prior to entry to the Aquarium. After a short introductory video, the doors open up and you enter the first exhibit.

The length of your stay is up to you, as the layout of the aquarium allows you to go through as fast or loiter as long as you would like through each portion. There are 6 main areas, each with a different featured animal. My personal favorites were the octopii and the largest tank with all various sharks. About half-way through there’s the obligatory photo-op with an employee and at the end of your day you can purchase copies. We bought a 5×7 copy for $10. Prior to the gift shop there’s the Cafe where, as in any park or attraction, over-priced food can be purchased.

The aquarium is a fairly good stop, likely better to be paired with a ticket to LEGOLAND if you’ve never been, or alone if you’re looking to do something for about an hour. Given the fact that the military tickets are half the cost of the regular admission, we’ll probably go back in another 6 months. Even at full price, it’s a good aquarium. My opinion may change based on the fact that I haven’t been to Birch Aquarium yet, but I think my original opinion of the SEA LIFE Aquarium will stand.

Since this weekend was going to be a three-day weekend due to Veteran’s Day, my wife wanted to make plans to do something other than sit around the house while the kids go crazy and everyone gets pissed at each other. We considered going to Knott’s Berry Farm (free admission) but when I looked at the forecast for Orange County, it called for rain all weekend. For fun, I looked at the forecast for Phoenix and Vegas and both of those called for rain as well. Of course the first time I have 3 days off in a row this year, it has to rain. I guess that’s one of the trade-offs we have, living in a place that has fantastic weather most of the time. But bad weather this weekend meant it was not going to be a very happy weekend for anyone.

Right around lunch time today, the kids were at each other’s throats already and the parents were on their last nerves. This is where the Discovery Kids Color Me Playhouse comes into play. Coming as one piece of very carefully cut and designed cardboard, claiming to be eco friendly, the house is somewhat easy to assemble. Everything pretty much folds and connects to the other sides without much hassle, except for the floor. The floor only has tabs folded over to make a flat surface, but there isn’t much stability as-is. Making use of some masking tape, I secured the corners that came together and the sides where the cardboard was already beginning to split. If they had used an extra piece of cardboard to attach to the bottom, it would give a little bit more stability.

Then it’s time for creativity to take over. As a pre-printed house, it’s up to you to get some markers and color in the sides to your preference. My wife only bought one package of markers and after an hour or so, realized that we’d need at least another package if we really wanted to color everything in. Though our house is only 30% colored in on the outside, my daughter decided it needed a TV drawn on the blank interior, detailing a nature show. Now if the thing only didn’t block the view of my TV in the living room.

Overall, I would say this is a pretty good deal, $20 for something that could hold the attention of children and adults alike. I say this because my wife did a good portion of the coloring in on one side, while my daughter was busy writing cursive on the doors indicating ownership of the house.

Monday was different. For some reason I got it into my head to learn about Cowles Mountain and the trail associated with it. Since we moved to El Cajon, I’ve always heard about it or read the occasional blurb about it, but having never been before, I wanted to see what it was all about for myself. Typing Cowles Mountain into Google yields, among several stories, the link to the Yelp page. I’m a huge fan of Yelp because of the opinions you get from the average person. The trail was listed at a relatively easy climb, and people had marked it Good for Kids, so I decided that’s what we would do with our morning.

Getting started early was key, after a quick stop for some Red Bull and bottled water. Parking was minimally available, as usual it seems, so we parked on the street down the hill. We made our way to the start of the trail and started climbing. After a few minutes, I realized we were slightly overdressed for the trip (we both had long sleeves).  It’s not too difficult and it’s definitely good for kids, provided you don’t have a daughter that’s easily tired out (read: bored) We wound our way among the switchbacks, making our way up the mountain. We got close to the mid way point and I gave Emily the option to quit and turn back. She said she wanted to go on to the top, and so we did. After an hour of climbing, with periodic stops for rest, we finally made it up to the summit. We sat down to take a rest for a bit. We looked around and I grabbed a few shots of Emily at the top. Then it was time to proceed on our way back down the mountain.

As easy as it was to go up, it was a little easier when you’re going downhill. So much so, that my daughter insisted on half jogging down the trail in some spots. That is, until she skidded a bit and tumbled to the ground. Seeing how much she rolled, I didn’t expect more than a scrape, but if you know my daughter then you’ll guess that she freaked out and was crying like she had broken her leg. I spent a few minutes sitting there with her, trying to convince her that it was only a scrape and the best thing to do would be to continue on down the hill. A passerby had seen it happen and offered an ice pack that she had with her. Emily refused it, saying that she’d be alright (that’s my girl!). Then I got her to her feet and we made it down the mountain, in a shorter time that climbing, even with the chaotic spill.

After returning to the car, we made our way to Beef ‘N Bun Whistle Stop and had lunch. I always enjoy stopping here for two reasons, they made great food and they’re local. We made a quick stop at home to clean up her war wound and to change her clothes, since she rolled around in the dirt earlier. That was a whole other ordeal. After a significant amount of tears, some hydrogen peroxide, a dab of Neosporin and a bandage, she was as good as new and ready to get on with the rest of the day.

We rounded out the day with a few rounds of mini-golf at Boomers and a stop at Crave Yogurt for dessert to cap of an awesome day with my daughter!