California Spring Break

When we bought season passes to Universal Studios from Costco, they came with certain dates of use.  No summer or busy times.  Our spring break was the last open week before blackout season, so we took full advantage of our passes and drove to Los Angeles.  We wanted some other things to do, so Scott researched online and we agreed on passes to Six Flags Magic Mountain as well.  Throw the beach and a few museums in, and wha-lah, a complete spring break trip.

Day 1

We left at 7am on Sunday, April 3rd.  We listened to conference on the way down and played a few games and watched some shows.  We traded driving in Las Vegas.

 We arrived in Santa Clarita after 11 hours.  We were ready for a break.

 We grabbed some barbecue and called it a night.

Day2

 Hello Magic Mountain!

First ride.

Second ride.

Happy kids.

Train land.

 Kiddie roller coaster.

Big roller coaster called Goliath.  This turned out to be our favorite ride because it was the biggest roller coaster we all could go on.

 Bumper cars.

 Ready for lunch.

 Ninja was our next favorite ride we could all enjoy.

 Hung out in Bugs Bunny's den.

And the ball playplace.

 Kid roller coaster.

Twisted Collosus, the longest roller coaster in USA.

Pretty Makayla!

 Watched a duck.

Found Batman.

Ended the night with a swim.

Day 3

We headed to Universal Studios.  Thank you season passes! Hopped on a new Minion ride.

 And found more Minions!

 Went on a studio tour and the Jaws part was open.

 And Norman Bates guarded his motel.

 Bought some delicious Harry Potter food.

 And someone was way tired!

 Caught a little roller coaster.

 And found some creepy guys.

 Went on the Jurrasic boat ride several times.

 Walked around downtown Universal.

 And went to our favorite dive, Carney's.

 Yummy chocolate dipped bananas.

Perfect way to end the night.

Day 4

 We ventured back to Magic Mountain.

 Lincoln hung out in jail.

 And the teacups.

 Next was a rollercoaster.  The big kids went with Dad.

 Caught Goliath roller coaster again.

 And ended with the dizzy ride, Wonderwoman.

 Ate a delicous dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

And wrapped up the night with a dip in the pool.

Day 5

Went to Six Flags again.

Before they got wet.

Drenched after the river ride.

Superman was our favorite ride this day.

Getting along.

Bus ride back to our car.

We ventured an hour and a half east to the beach!

Hello sand!

Hello sunshine!

Beautiful place.

Sweet kids.

Found some kelp.

And a view.

Built some sandcastles.

What a great day!

Day 6

 Visited the La Brea Tar Pits.

 Loads of wooly mammoths were found encased in tar.

 Right in downtown Los Angeles.

 Many dinosaur skulls too.

 Pretty little gem.

Together.

 Many tiny little fossils were found too.

 The amazing thing was the actual pits.

 That still encase hundreds of bones.

And still gurgle tar and boil softly.

 Found a massive rock outside.

 And the largest squirrels ever.

 The kids loved feeding them.

 That was their highlight.

 We traveled an hour over to the Kidspace Museum.

Took some photos.

 And explored outside.

 Played some music.

Scaled a rockwall.

 Rode some fun bikes.

 And played with pulleys.

 Got some ice cream.

 And monkeyed around.

 We visited Universal Studios one last time and ate at Krustyburger.

Went on the Jurrasic ride several times.

 Found a minion.

And said goodbye to LA.

Day7

 We drove to Las Vegas and stopped to stretch our legs.  Looked at the Bass Pro aquarium.  Then went on to Mesquite.

 Then decided we were tired of driving.  We booked a hotel room and found dinner at an old diner.

 We then swam for the next few hours.

After a good night of relaxation, we headed home the next day in bumper to bumper traffic nearly the whole way.  We avoided a wet snowstorm by taking an extra day.  All in all, a super great spring break!

Our souvenirs. Mostly water toys.