Ladd Photos

Just wandering around our beautiful city.

I’m not so sure it is ice skating when you are just sliding on very hard plastic, but it was just as tough to do as I imagine ice would be. The skates were real, and it certainly didn’t seem like the easiest form of locomotion.

My niece turned 14 and we celebrated with lots of food and piñatas. The party was 80’s themed, but I’m too young to remember the 80’s.

Supposedly, the Whaley House is the most haunted home in America. I didn’t see any ghosts, but the boys swear they felt the little girl who haunts the place grab at their legs.

We rung in the New Year freezing in the rain at Knott’s Berry Farm. It didn’t rain too much while the sun was up, and the park was very empty, so we got to ride on lots of rides. Our friends Jeanette and Niko joined us for part of the day.

Luckily, it was warm and dry inside where we watched two shows, first Snoppy On Ice and later a funny comedian magician named Chipper Lowell.

The rain was coming down hard for the last few hours before midnight, but the awesome fireworks show made it worth it.

The Twisted Colossus was an insane rush!

The boys got annual passes from their Tia Kristel, so they got to experience Six Flags for the first time. Ali and I hadn’t been since we were teenagers. The park was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

If you are ever near Old Town, make sure to check out the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. The interactive tour is very well done and it is an interesting bit of San Diego history.

We spent the morning opening presents, and the rest of the day with the Loera clan, eating and opening more presents.

With no big trip this winter break, we instead did a few little ones. We spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge up in Garden Grove. That gave us 2 days to enjoy the indoor water park. The boys even gave boogie boarding a try.

The park was decorated beautifully for the holiday season with all sorts of lights. There was a light tunnel where the lights synced up with music. We also visited the babirusas and the platypus, before finishing the night with the lantern light show in the lagoon.

In addition to all the rides, we saw “The Gift of the Magi, 1885” at the Bird Cage theater. But the highlight of the night was Snoopy’s Night Before Christmas, the new ice skating show.

Out enjoying a nice day at the Safari Park, when it was all decorated for the holidays.

After the last 3 days of running between different attractions, we were exhausted, so we spent the morning swimming and relaxing. Then we spent the rest of the day wandering the strip, visiting the Venetian shops, the Forum shops, and watching the Bellagio water show.

We ate a delicious deep dish pizza at Gordiano’s, which was our favorite when we visited Chicago. Then we explored some more, visiting the Cosmopolitan and the holiday decorations inside the Bellagio. At that point, it was time to say goodbye to Las Vegas, and drive back to San Diego.

We packed a lot of stops into the last day of our All-Inclusive Go City passes.

The first stop was National Nuclear Testing Museum, where we learned about the development of the nuclear bomb and how they tested it in the Nevada Desert. The information wove in nicely with all we learned at Los Alamos about the development of the first nuclear bombs. We also got to experience a simulated nuclear explosion.

Next we explored the Discovering King Tut museum at the Luxor. The history was told well and Connor especially loved all the artifacts, because he is studying Egyptian history in school.

We moved up the strip and took in the view from the High Roller Observation Wheel, which is the tallest in the Americas. Only the one in Dubai is larger.

Our passes came with $80 to spend at Sweet Sin LV, with the stipulation that you were required to use the complete amount. So we had quite a sugar rush with mountains of gelato and tons of macaroons to bring home.

We headed to Bally’s next for the National Geographic “Rarely Seen” photography exhibit. I loved it. They had so many beautiful photos blown up to cover entire walls, which made you felt like you were inside of them.

The sun went down as we headed to Paris to take in the view from the observation deck in their half-sized replica of the Eiffel Tower. We caught part of the Bellagio water show while up there.

We finished off the night with another show at the Illuminarium, this one immersing us in space. Then we visited a trampoline park down from the strip, which was pretty run down, but since it was free on our pass, it was still worth it.