san diego-day 6

After breakfast, the cousins all disappeared and were playing so nicely together. The adults started playing a game since we weren't in a rush to get out of the house.  A short while later, the kids announced that they were practicing a play to perform for the grown-ups :) It was a solid 12 minutes with a decent plot and a few special musical numbers and dances mixed in. 

We then headed back to Coronado Island to tour the iconic hotel and grounds.  I honestly felt like I stepped back in while while in the lobby with all the woodwork, vintage elevator, old room keys hanging on the wall, and velvet covered furniture.  

Poor Dad didn't think he could do all the walking, so he ended up going back to the car to sit on a softer seat while he waited. 

I fell in love with this dragon tree, which apparently is native to the Canary Islands. 

Brooke was in heaven with Claire and Grace at each hand :)

We even saw one of the statues by the famous "Sandcastle Man"...

After the tour, we walked a few blocks away to rent surreys and head back to "The Del" to cruise along the beachfront.  All I can say, is that it was a lot more work than I thought it would be.  But totally fun and so hilarious when we first got started. 

Along the way, we saw a few more of the Sandcastle Man's creations, then actually met the legend! The hotel commissioned him $1.200 for this replica of The Del!  (Not pictured was the 5 ft tall creation he made for a wedding on the beach.  The guests were already being seated, so I didn't want to walk over and get a picture!)

He was the friendliest guy and told us all about his process. He even showed the kids some pictures of other sand creations he has done over the years. 

And since we were all together, I asked him to take our group picture, haha :) We wanted the beach behind us, but when he commented about the backlighting, we switched to the opposite side and got an even better group shot. 

The Surrey and Deuce Coup crew :) We couldn't have asked for better weather on this fun adventure!

We earned ourselves some ice cream after all that pedaling...

The Moo Time Creamery didn't knock our socks off, but it was a yummy treat on a warm afternoon. 

I think we made pasta for dinner that night and ate together as a family, then ended the evening with games!  Jeffrey and Kimberly put their kids to bed earlier than we do, but Brooke and Colby were happy to stay up and play for a bit before being tucked into bed.