Visiting Carlsbad

Julie has wanted to visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields for some time.  Naturally, I had never heard of it.  But she assured me we would have a great time.  So off we went!
The flower fields are broken up into two areas – the main fields in back, and a collection of gardens, a greenhouse, and other horticulture items in front.  There’s even a Roger’s Gardens on site.

It had just rained before we arrived, and rain threatened throughout the day.  We had the place virtually to ourselves.  Katie loved the freedom to run around.

You would think that the hummingbirds wouldn’t need this in a field full of flowers, but ok.

Barber’s Beauties!

You could pan for gemstones.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a little playground.  Even more surprising were the structures and mushrooms.  Each came from the old Santa’s Village theme park!

Legoland was right up the street, so it made perfect sense to have a few Lego flowers in the fields.

The had a nice display of poinsettias…

…and a maze made of Sweet Pea plants.  Katie loved this!

Off she goes!

 
Finally…the fields.

Our plan was to enjoy the Carlsbad Outlets after seeing the flowers.  We did, but only for a little bit as the rain came back hard.  We had to think of something to do indoors.  Legoland’s new Sealife Aquarium was the perfect solution.  Katie love it, and I enjoyed the spontaneous visit to a new theme park attraction.  I didn’t expect us to be at Legoland this trip, but there we were. :)

 
It’s a small aquarium, but very nicely themed inside.  There aren’t large rooms to wander through like the Aquarium of the Pacific.  Instead, you follow a walking path through two levels of approximately 20 smaller rooms.  Think IKEA meets an aquarium and you have the right idea.

 

The stop outside featured a “sandcastle” made of Legos.

Katie jumped right in there and played along with the other kids.

 
There were two touch tanks as well.  Katie was a little too short to reach, but she’ll get there soon enough.

The obligatory shark teeth.

By the time we were finished with the aquarium, the weather had completely cleared up.


Julie stayed at this hotel during family vacations as a kid.  It was great to have found it!  (BTW – Julie’s proud to say she’s lost weight since this picture). :)

I love this picture!  I thought it might turn out nice, and it looked good in the camera, but when we saw it at home we were both blown away.

Awww…

Thanks for reading!