Seal Beach

As we drove up the California coast, I noticed a sign advertising a view of elephant seals.  I pulled right into the parking lot, looked down the way, and saw a couple of heads sticking out of the surf.  I haven't seen many seals in the wild, so I was impressed.

 Then we followed the crowd up the boardwalk.  On the other side of a boulder, we saw a few more.

And even more.  Apparently this beach is a favorite flopping place for elephant seals.

 Between naps, they cavort to their own vocal accompaniment.

Even though seals are important characters in many of their games, D2 and Rollo were more interested in this squirrel.  Somehow rodents beat pinnipeds.

Construction Zone

Our final big destination in Southern California was Legoland, realizing Rollo and D2's long-held wishes.  The rest of us liked it, too.  There are some rides, which I was pleased to see were geared toward active youngsters.  There was a driving test, only for those twelve and under.  (Scoot was disappointed that the cars didn't go faster.)  We pulled ourselves up a tower with ropes.  And the dragon roller coaster was, according to D2 (who hated the coaster we rode at Sea World) "awesome!"

 What I thought was really awesome was the Lego artwork.  From impressively detailed  miniatures of familiar landscapes . . .

(this one must be from our neck of the woods)

to large copies of familiar minifigures,

the creativity was amazing.  And there was room for everyone to exercise their own creativity.

 

 Scoot built this castle in a little building pavilion,

 while D2 and Rollo built this one.

 Dandelionslayer and the Caterpillar even found the right pieces

to build a favorite band.

 There was also plenty of water, on a day that never really heated up.

 We learned the construction secrets of the Pharaohs,

 and of star ship building in a galaxy far, far away.  So, it was a fun, creative, educational day.

And I can't leave you without a picture of Einstein and the buffaloes.