I do love vacation. A person can really get used to the idea of lounging on beaches and eating all day. We are in the last half of our week in Oceanside visiting family, and enjoying sunny southern California. I have been very impressed with how much the town of Oceanside has cleaned itself up since I lived in the area fifteen years ago. It used to be quite the gang banger scary town with graffiti and garbage galore. But, as happens to coastal property, rich developers stepped in and bought all the land, mowed down the cute old houses, and put in expensive condos. It's too bad there isn't some regulation protecting the historic houses (although I guess the 1950's era is not really considered historic) as they had character the new condominiums certainly lack. But, the clean beaches, and ability to walk down the street and actually make eye contact with people who aren't going to beat you up and take your money is an OK trade off for cute old houses I suppose.
Yesterday, my kids had surfing lessons with my younger brother Luke, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. They tried a bit the day before, but even though the air temperature was almost 80 degrees, the water was frigid. So, yesterday we rented them little wetsuits, which only added to the coolness factor of the experience in their eyes. They were so cute out there, and so much more comfortable that they could stay out for a really long time. Luke was a great sport, and I'm glad he made time to get in the ocean and play.
Today, we hit LegoLand. Just before I moved away from Carlsbad years ago, they put a measure on the ballot regarding rezoning to bring in LegoLand. I was so animately opposed, I mailed in my ballot against it. I recall thinking that it would ruin Carlsbad, lead to crowded overpopulation and misery. Maybe Anaheim was a nice place to live before Disneyland came too? But, the measure passed, they built it, and it didn't really ruin everything. The crowds would have come anyway. This is California after all. Now, I have kids who really want to go, and I actually think it looks pretty fun too. When Henry found out that there were people who worked there whose sole job was designing things with Legos all day- it was like he was having an epiphany. His face lit up and he said “You mean they do that for their job!?!” I think this may really open up his choice of career fields.
