labor day getaway.

i've been feeling a bit blue lately.  a bit discouraged and out of sorts.  a good bit nauseous.  a lot bit tired.  all of which i poured out to phil with tears of frustration last thursday night.

so phil, finding himself with the whole labor day weekend off, decided to whisk us all away for a short getaway.  to refresh and recharge the old batteries, if you will.  to renew the old outlook on life.  to get me out of my funk.  and you know what?  it worked!

hooray!  Vacation Phil is back!  :)

 phil booked us last-minute reservations for a double-room in carlsbad.  the kids love going on vacation and especially love staying in hotel rooms.  cuz jumping on the bed is completely allowed...

not to mention the luxury of drinking milk in bed while daddy goes back and forth multiple time to bring us all breakfast.

and getting to watch morning cartoons while drinking milk in bed doesn't hurt, either.

after we all finally got dressed and ready for the day (never before 10am it seems), we made our way to legoland.

it was pretty crowded that day, but not so crowded that mikey didn't get to ride his favorite ride there.

she was kinda disgruntled about not getting to drive a car again.

this time around, we thought it'd be fun to get caricatures drawn of the kids.  it took some convincing to get mikey to do it and he only agreed to sit there if i sat next to him the whole time.

i think it was worth it!  :)

and allie couldn't be convinced at all to do it.  until we found another booth with PINK PRINCESS drawings and a GIRL sketch artist.  then she was completely sold on the idea and was only too happy to sit still and smile her best princess smile while being drawn.

she kissed her picture immediately upon seeing it and thinks it's the best thing ever.

we decided to wait a couple years before getting one for lauren since it's pretty doubtful that she'd be willing to sit still long enough right now.

at lunchtime, allie immediately set to work drawing caricatures of her whole family.

not bad, eh?

and here's me, trying not to be sick.  and there's lauren, really enjoying her all-you-can-eat mac n cheese.

mikey's favorite activity of the day turned out to be racing lego cars.  daddy took him inside to help him build one and race it, while i (still feeling nauseous) sat outside with the girls.

allie kept me company while practicing her letters.  her next favorite activity besides drawing.

pretty low-key, but pretty fun legoland memories!

the next morning, i found my little monkey off in a corner by herself.  with these on.

trying on mommy's new flip-flops.  don't tell her they're a bit big on her though as she thinks they look great on her.  and i kinda have to agree.

we stopped to do a little outlet shopping before finally heading home.  which only resulted in...  pillow pets for one and all!  that darn commercial!  oh well, they are awfully soft and cuddly...  but see that little one on the end?  the one holding the ALL-WHITE polar bear?  the one i insisted on her NOT getting?  cuz it was ALL WHITE?  well, guess who won that particular battle?  the little stinker.

so now we're back refreshed from our little getaway and only wishing Vacation Phil could've stuck around a bit longer!