Vacation

We were gone for a week and it flew by. We drove down last weekend to Carlsbad. Spent two days at Legoland.
Everything is made of Legos which is hard to tell in the photos...but really, a gazillion legos...
Seriously, there is a miniature version of NY (in photo), Washington, DC at the Inauguration, Las Vegas, Fisherman's Wharf, etc.
Legos of all sizes for all sizes....

There was also a 3-D theater, I just love the glasses with the hat, couldn't resist.

This guy was not made of Legos, although, there was a Lego version of him nearby.

A bit of time at Sealife Aquarium, Spent time on the beach. I got in three days worth, not bad. Too bad there are NO pictures of me. It stinks when I am the only one snapping the shots. I have to admit, it would be hard for me to look as excited as BZ with a sand castle.

I got to see some old friends from long ago Dinamation days, really fun.

Lots of fun adventures, even Benihana...
And then we drove the 8+ hours home. A final note, when we hit Livermore, less than an hour from Oakland, we pulled off the freeway to play miniature golf, extending the vacation by just a wee bit. That was fun too.

The big show

Max goes to OFASS, Oakland Fine Arts Summer School. Its a low-to-no cost 19-day program in the summer for 250 local kids K-5th grade. On the second-to-last day (that would be today) the kids perform some of what they learned in their classes. The walls of the school are lined with their art work, they sing, dance, hip hop, clown, model (yes, like on a runway), perform martial arts...drum...the list goes on, in fact, so did the show. And on and on and on.

There were two shows, each supposed to be about 1+ hours, each ending up at around 3 hours. Egad. BUT then there are these kids performing their hearts out. What's better than a 8 year old waving and smiling with a goofy grin in the middle of a big number? Funny, fun, beautiful.

Max is not the most daring and outgoing kid but he gave it his all. Below on the runway:
He was very excited to be pictured in the paper (picture at the top), he was pretty proud of his new dress up clothes, and he even cracked a smile while singing in a mass of kindergarteners towards the end of a ridiculously long day. He told me later, "I really liked that song the best."

I helped out in the boys dressing room and of course they all wanted to see how good they looked on my camera...

Finally, what day would be complete without a celebratory lunch between performances (read: bribe to return for second show)?

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Give me a break

I am so ready for a vacation. Yesterday, we went to a birthday party in Daly City. It was a pirate party. The kids had a great time, We had a great time given that it was really a visit to good friends. It was a painful reminder however of how much I miss seeing my friends, how much I miss having a normal life. This parallel life of mine, working 100's of miles from home is starting to wear thin.

So, next weekend we are off to Legoland in Carlsbad, CA. Perhaps we'll throw in SeaWorld as well. Maybe we will just hang out at the beach or, not get further than the hotel pool. I don't care. Vacation. Rest. Reaquaint myself with my husband and kids. Hi, my name is mommy...remember me?