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Our Trip to Point Reyes

September 13, 2013 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Last weekend the weather reports were predicting 90-95 degree temps for Saturday and Sunday.  I told Mountain Man that we needed to get away, perhaps to the breezy Pacific ocean.

We batted around ideas.  San Francisco is usually a lot cooler, but most of the hotels were booked due to the Final Races of the America’s Cup starting last weekend.

We remembered going away to Point Reyes seven years ago for a getaway, and decided this would be perfect for us and our three adventurous kiddos.

So, we booked a cottage at the Cottages at Point Reyes Seashore for Saturday night and headed over to cooler lands after all three soccer games were complete Saturday morning.

Cottages at Point Reyes Seashore used to be called Inverness Valley Inn.  The new name was recently implemented when new owners took over earlier this year.  The owners are doing a Wonderful job with the Inn.  Everything was in great condition.  This a is a perfect spot for a couples getaway, family getaway or corporate retreat.  So serene and away from it all.  Yet, so close to many fun activities.

After arriving to Inverness and checking into the Inn, we drove about 5 miles to North Beach, and were mesmerized by the cool breezes and rough waves of the Pacific.  It was perfect.  The breeze made the 60 mile trip totally worth it.

Here’s a few photos from our journey….

Photos of Cottages at Point Reyes are below.  This is a beautiful 15 acre property surrounded by Redwood trees.  While walking around the trails on the property, there is a canopy of beautiful trees shading you.  You really feel like you’re getting away from it all.  There is also a pool and hot tub, and tennis courts on the property.  We ALL loved it here and will definitely return soon.

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Cottages at Point Reyes Seashore is directly across the street from Chicken Ranch Beach, a gorgeous setting on the peaceful Tomales Bay.

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On Sunday morning, we headed out to the Lighthouse at Point Reyes. Quite Amazing. The fog in the morning is dense and chilly (loved it).

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The Pacific Ocean never looked so beautiful. These are photos from North Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore stretch of beaches.

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Filed Under: Family Tagged With: travel

Legoland is Awesome

April 8, 2013 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

As I mentioned in my previous post, we just returned from our spring break trip to San Diego.

Legoland was the focus, as Bam Bam is at the prime age for visiting the park.  He is a lego fanatic and visiting Legoland is like a dream come true for a kid who spends several hours a day building with his legos.

We purchased the two day hopper pass through the Legoland site, and were very happy with this decision.  There is just too much to take in for a one day visit.

In addition to the main park, they have a full water park attached to Fun Town in the upper left section of the park.  We highly recommend doing this at the end of the day, so that you can go straight to your car after getting wet at the slides.

With the two day pass, we were able to visit the main park and the water park on Tuesday, then on Thursday, we went back to cover the rides and attractions that we were unable to visit on Tuesday.

There are many spots around the park to just play with legos, which Bam Bam relished.  He especially enjoyed the test and drive attraction where you build a car lego and race against other kid’s cars.  Really, really fun attraction where we spent at least an hour of building and testing.

My daughters, ages 11 and 9, were able to participate in a mindstorm class where you learn to program a lego robot to complete several simple tasks.  Very cool.

We also loved the miniland where there are lego replicas of many major cities. You’ll see some of these cities in the photos below.

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San Francisco in Legos.

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Hollywood Bowl in legos.

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The Luxor in legos.

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Excalibur Hotel in legos.

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The New York New York Vegas hotel in legos.

 

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MGM Grand at Legoland.

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The Mirage hotel in legos.

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San Francisco’s Pier 39 in legos.

 

Mt. Rushmore at legoland

Mt. Rushmore in legos.

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Legoland Hotel. Bummed we could not get reservations here. Opening night was on the last day of our vacation. They were booked SOLID!

Loved our visit to Legoland!!!  If you have a little one that loves legos, this is a must visit.  🙂

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: travel

My Favorite San Diego Resort

April 7, 2013 by Mom on the Make 1 Comment

Last week was Spring Break for our three little ones.  We decided to spend a few nights in San Diego to visit Legoland.

When deciding on a place to stay, I remembered staying at “Vacation Village” on Mission Bay back in the early to mid ’80s.  I always loved our visits there and wanted to share this special place with the kidlets.

Vacation Village still looks pretty much the same, but they have taken on a new name, “Paradise Point Resort and Spa”.  With the exception of the rooms all receiving major overhauls with beautiful tile flooring and luxury bedding, the beautiful pools and landscape of this very special resort have remained the same.

The whole family relished the experience of staying here for four nights.

The resort is actually on an island, so you have a tropical feeling as you’re roaming around the beautifully landscaped grounds.  There are at least five pools at the resort, fun bridges to cross over lily pad lined lakes, and a really cool tower to climb.  The resort has a beautiful miniature golf course, tennis courts, bike rentals, bocce ball, croquet, and a spa.

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Paradise Point Resort and Spa

Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, CA. View from walkway by main lobby.

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View from the tower at Paradise Point. The main pool is pictured here.

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Paradise Point Tower. The kids love climbing the tower. The view is amazing! This tower was here in the ’80s when my family stayed here. I loved it as much as my kids do now.

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The walkway to the beach by our bungalow.

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Broadway and I saw this beautiful heron hanging out by the lily pads and just had to snap a photo.

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Love the walkways throughout the resort.

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View from a waterfront bungalow at Paradise Point.

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Dusk at Paradise Point.

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Views from our walk around the beach at Paradise Point.

We all loved our stay here at Paradise Point and hope to visit again soon.  We all highly recommend this resort as a top notch place to bring your family when visiting San Diego.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: travel

Handbags Can Be So Sweet

February 25, 2013 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

As I discussed in my last post, I visited NYC last weekend and saw the sights for three full days.

While walking around the streets of NYC, there is so much to see.

A particular window display caught my attention while roaming around downtown.  The display was of cakes shaped like luxury handbags!!

Students from the International Culinary Center were displaying their creations in the window of L’ecole restaurant.  Along with myself, other passers by were blown away by the detail and beauty of these delectable cakes.

I love both handbags and cake, so these creations really spoke to me personally.  🙂

Take a peek……

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These incredible creations were displayed in the window at L’ecole restaurant in downtown New York City.  Another restaurant on my list to try very soon.  (on my next trip to NYC)

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I think I need a handbag cake for my next birthday for sure.  🙂  Love, love, love it!!

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: food, travel

Hanalei Diaries: Day 8

November 21, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Today, there was LOTS of sunshine at Hanalei.  We spent about 5 straight hours boogie boarding.  There were probably a thousand smiles all around from my group.

When you catch a wave, you cannot help but grin from ear to ear.  🙂

We met a super sweet chocolate lab today on the beach.

I think I have completely lost my marbles.  Why?  You ask.

The kids and I so fell in love with him, I was half considering bringing him home with us.

He did not appear to have an owner at first.  He was only wearing a chain, but no ID.  We asked around, and we found out he lives in one of the local beach houses and strolls along the beach every day, just sitting down with families and smiling.

Mountain Man was eating a pastrami sandwich, which we believe was the impetus for his visit to us.  He just sat there patiently and watched.  He was about the calmest dog I have ever met.

We named him Aloha Chuck.

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Aloha Chuck at Hanalei Beach

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: family activities, travel

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