One Week of Spring Break - California Mom Journal
Posted by San Luis Obispo Mom on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 Under: For Kids
My kids get a week off from school for Spring Break. It's a total of 9 days of no school if we count the weekend before it starts as well. This year, I've logged what we did each day during this break! We stayed local for the first part of the break and then went to Los Angeles for the last 2 days. Jump to our Universal Studios Hollywood Trip on Day 7. I'm putting Day 1 as the Monday that break officially started, calendar-wise. Here's the day-by-day breakdown of what we did for Spring Break this year:
We ran shopping errands at The Home Depot and Whole Foods Market in the morning. Then, we went to Sinsheimer Park in San Luis Obispo in the afternoon and brought our cardboards with us to slide down the green hill. My sons love doing this. If your kids are not used to sliding down a hill, I would pay close attention to them as they can get hurt if they roll down awkwardly. Sinsheimer Park is a large park with a lot of benches, large slides for bigger kids and a smaller area for the toddlers. Address: 900 Southwood Dr, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. To see all of my pictures and quick thoughts on all of the playgrounds that I've visited in San Luis Obispo County, go to the Family-Friendly Events page.
We lounged around the house during the day while watching re-runs of Bluey on TV. Later on, we went to the SLO Swim Center for Open Swim Hours, that is also referred as Family Recreational Swim Hours. Also located right by Sinsheimer Park, we returned to the very area the next day for a swim for 1 hour and 20 minutes. They were open during our Spring Break in the evening from 5:30PM - 6:50PM for the public to enjoy during the weekdays. The cost was $4.25 for adults and $3.75 for children. Even though it is only for 1 hour and 20 minutes, the kids were happy and my little one slept very well that night. For the Family Recreational Swim Hours session during Spring Break, you get to use the heated therapy pool that's outdoors with a shaded canopy. The shallowest end of the therapy pool is 1 feet; and the deepest is 4 feet. I love that they make it clear that it's intended for families for these particular hours. Spring Schedule Recreation Swim Hours are different than the Summer Recreation Swim Hours. We've also enjoyed Family Recreation Swim Hours during the summer break but the difference is the summer family recreational hours are longer than the spring break's family recreation hours and there are two different sessions on most days for the summer. We attended their first session for the Summer Recreation Hours between 1:45PM - 4PM (first session of the day when there were two) and the lifeguards had to take a 10 minute break in between so it was mandatory that everyone got out of the water, but you can bring snacks for kids to enjoy during that 10 minute break if you want to. The 10 minute break may seem kind of weird but they do it to make sure the life guards get a break and for safety reasons. This break only happens you're going to the session with the longer duration. Address: 900 Southwood Dr, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
During the summer, Arroyo Grande High School has open swim hours for the family, which is a another great option for the kids to learn how to swim every day during summer break. You can pay a daily free or a whole summer pass. My kids have taken swim lessons from the Summer Swim Program at this high school. Read about how long the line was to register my kids for swim lessons for AG High's Summer Swim Program.
We attempted to have a beach day but the wind was so chilly! We were in our beach gear, parked, walked down to the sand in Pismo Beach, stood for a few minutes and decided that the cold wind was too miserable and walked right back up the steps and sat back in our car. Since the beach was a no-go, we decided to play at the playground at 16th Street Park in Grover Beach instead for an hour and a half for some outdoor play.
I was a bit disappointed while we were at this park. There were half a dozen big kids (maybe Middle School or High School aged) who were blocking the entrance of the slides at the playground. My sons were intimidated by the "teenagers" (which is what my 9 year old son referred them as) so they alerted me and I had to ask the big kids if the little ones can use the slides. And then, after me asking is when my kids could enjoy going down the slides. It's a bit annoying but inevitably happens around school breaks. I want to point out that this is the third time at this specific park (16th Street Park) that my kids have had issues with older Middle School aged or older kids. One time, two of them even told one of my sons to try drugs to "feel special" and my son went straight to me to report it. It has been ridiculous. After we got home, we decided to make oobleck using arrowroot powder as a "science" experiment. See a list of all of the playgrounds that we've visited in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County and the pictures that I personally took at these playgrounds.
We had been looking forward to this Friday for a couple of days because there's a Pokemon Party at the Arroyo Grande Library! My kids have just started getting into collecting Pokemon cards earlier this year so this was their very first Pokemon related trading party. Arroyo Grande Library has been the only library in all of San Luis Obispo County that has hosted a Pokemon Party that I've seen this year so far! They always plan great events throughout the year. See all story times at San Luis Obispo County Library or see upcoming family-friendly events in San Luis Obispo County on my Events list. My kids completed a Pokemon ball craft, played bingo, went on a Pokemon Scavenger Hunt and traded cards with each other.
They had a wonderful time and didn't want to leave, even when the event was officially over. They connected with other boys on the same hobby and it was so amazing for me to see how kind everyone was to each other.
We decided to travel a bit south to Los Angeles and watched the Dodgers play against the Cubs on Jackie Robinson Day! It was about a 3.5 hour drive from SLO County, which is not too bad. I love that every one on both teams wore the number 42 that day in honor of Jackie Robinson. We sat on Reserve Level behind home plate. I thought it was a good view. See my picture above to see my view from my seat. We kept the kids happy with popcorn and chips. We left before the 7th inning to avoid getting stuck in bad traffic as we parked our car instead of using the Stadium Express Bus. It was a fun time and the kids were ready to get back to the hotel room to relax for the rest of the night. The walk from the car in the parking lot to the stadium and up to the Reserve Level and then back was quite a walk!
We stayed overnight in Los Angeles for this trip. My family liked the hotel that we were staying at. It's a Hyatt Place and I used my free award night at the Hyatt Place in Glendale in Los Angeles for the one night stay. I've been a member of the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program for over a dozen years now and I feel that it's worth it. It's one of the ways that I've been able to save for a free night here and there. When we travel, we try to stay at a Hyatt if we can help it so that we can earn points towards a free night stay a couple of times a year. Hyatts are usually comparable to other hotel chains in the area when it comes to price and amenities.
This particular Hyatt Place location used the Metropolis web app for valet parking, which is convenient because they use a digital ticket and did away with paper tickets. If I needed my car, all I had to do was go on the Metropolis link from my phone to request it. No need to call ahead of time. It was very efficient. I would stay here again as it was so close to the big mall down the street called The Americana at Brand. Regrettably, we didn't get a chance to check it out but it has dozens of restaurants and stores, and I hope to check it out in the future when I come back to this area again.
Since we had planned to go to the Dodger game in Los Angeles, we decided to make the best of it and went to Universal Studios Hollywood the next day and for the last day of Spring Break to check out the new Mario Kart ride in their amazing Super Nintendo World. It had been a long time since my husband and I had been to Universal Studios Hollywood and this was my sons' first time. It was an amazing day there! We spent the extra money and got Super Nintendo World Early Access Ticket for an extra $30 each person (might have increased if you're reading this months or years later) so that we can ensure that we get to ride the new ride and enjoy the area before it got too crowded. We also took advantage of the early access to book a reservation for lunch there by scanning the QR code in front of Toadstool Cafe. Toadstool Cafe is a Mario Bros. themed restaurant with Chef Toad as the chef. See my pictures below of the cool things we ordered.
We're so glad that we made a reservation through the QR link right when we got there because by 10AM, all reservations for Toadstool Cafe were booked for the day! Rides that we went on included the new Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge ride, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic World - The Ride, The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, The Simpsons Ride, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Transformers: The Ride-3D (not in this order).
The whole family really enjoyed what Universal Studios Hollywood has done with Super Nintendo World! I can't wait to come back again.
Even though we live 3.5 hours drive away and 3 rides broke down while we were in line or on the ride, I still enjoyed the trip. Like many machines, rides can have issues. The Mario Kart had technical difficulties right when it opened so we had to wait about 20 minutes after already getting in line around 7:15AM (we bought the early access pass). Thankfully, it was fixed before the kids got too antsy and we were able to ride it before the rest of the whole park opened for the general admission goers. The second ride that had issues broke down after 5 or 10 seconds after we were already sitting on The Simpsons Ride. It's a simulator ride so it moved but didn't travel. They had to ask us to get off the ride and then restart the intro video before climbing back on again. The third ride that had an issue while we were there was the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We were almost at the tail end of the ride when it stopped and my son and I couldn't see each other's faces (only our legs) so I was worried for him, but after about 15 long seconds, it continued again. You'll have to be mentally ready for these technical difficulties on rides if you're planning on going to Universal Studios Hollywood. Read about a previous trip in Los Angeles when I stayed in Little Tokyo.
At the end of it all, I was really happy with all of the plans and the activities that we did for my kids' Spring Break. Overall, the kids' week long Spring Break was a perfect mix of down time and new fun adventures!
Suggested Reads:
Day 1 - Played at Sinsheimer Park in San Luis Obispo
We ran shopping errands at The Home Depot and Whole Foods Market in the morning. Then, we went to Sinsheimer Park in San Luis Obispo in the afternoon and brought our cardboards with us to slide down the green hill. My sons love doing this. If your kids are not used to sliding down a hill, I would pay close attention to them as they can get hurt if they roll down awkwardly. Sinsheimer Park is a large park with a lot of benches, large slides for bigger kids and a smaller area for the toddlers. Address: 900 Southwood Dr, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. To see all of my pictures and quick thoughts on all of the playgrounds that I've visited in San Luis Obispo County, go to the Family-Friendly Events page.
Day 2 - Pool Day at SLO Swim Center
We lounged around the house during the day while watching re-runs of Bluey on TV. Later on, we went to the SLO Swim Center for Open Swim Hours, that is also referred as Family Recreational Swim Hours. Also located right by Sinsheimer Park, we returned to the very area the next day for a swim for 1 hour and 20 minutes. They were open during our Spring Break in the evening from 5:30PM - 6:50PM for the public to enjoy during the weekdays. The cost was $4.25 for adults and $3.75 for children. Even though it is only for 1 hour and 20 minutes, the kids were happy and my little one slept very well that night. For the Family Recreational Swim Hours session during Spring Break, you get to use the heated therapy pool that's outdoors with a shaded canopy. The shallowest end of the therapy pool is 1 feet; and the deepest is 4 feet. I love that they make it clear that it's intended for families for these particular hours. Spring Schedule Recreation Swim Hours are different than the Summer Recreation Swim Hours. We've also enjoyed Family Recreation Swim Hours during the summer break but the difference is the summer family recreational hours are longer than the spring break's family recreation hours and there are two different sessions on most days for the summer. We attended their first session for the Summer Recreation Hours between 1:45PM - 4PM (first session of the day when there were two) and the lifeguards had to take a 10 minute break in between so it was mandatory that everyone got out of the water, but you can bring snacks for kids to enjoy during that 10 minute break if you want to. The 10 minute break may seem kind of weird but they do it to make sure the life guards get a break and for safety reasons. This break only happens you're going to the session with the longer duration. Address: 900 Southwood Dr, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
During the summer, Arroyo Grande High School has open swim hours for the family, which is a another great option for the kids to learn how to swim every day during summer break. You can pay a daily free or a whole summer pass. My kids have taken swim lessons from the Summer Swim Program at this high school. Read about how long the line was to register my kids for swim lessons for AG High's Summer Swim Program.
Day 3 - Chill and Packing Day
On Wednesday, we decided to do some more shopping in the morning to get some new clothes first and then, a bag of Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream chips as my sons have really been into them lately. We decided to have a more mellow day and didn't go anywhere else after that. My kids were really bored later in the evening as they were used to doing something active yesterday and the day before. Later in the evening, the kids started packing their own clothes to get ready for our LA trip this weekend. It's nice that they are old enough to be responsible for that. I just give them a verbal list of items to pack and then, they put the clothing items in their light-weight small suitcase that they share. It was like a scavenger hunt for them.Day 4 - Played at 16th Street Park in Grover Beach
We attempted to have a beach day but the wind was so chilly! We were in our beach gear, parked, walked down to the sand in Pismo Beach, stood for a few minutes and decided that the cold wind was too miserable and walked right back up the steps and sat back in our car. Since the beach was a no-go, we decided to play at the playground at 16th Street Park in Grover Beach instead for an hour and a half for some outdoor play.
I was a bit disappointed while we were at this park. There were half a dozen big kids (maybe Middle School or High School aged) who were blocking the entrance of the slides at the playground. My sons were intimidated by the "teenagers" (which is what my 9 year old son referred them as) so they alerted me and I had to ask the big kids if the little ones can use the slides. And then, after me asking is when my kids could enjoy going down the slides. It's a bit annoying but inevitably happens around school breaks. I want to point out that this is the third time at this specific park (16th Street Park) that my kids have had issues with older Middle School aged or older kids. One time, two of them even told one of my sons to try drugs to "feel special" and my son went straight to me to report it. It has been ridiculous. After we got home, we decided to make oobleck using arrowroot powder as a "science" experiment. See a list of all of the playgrounds that we've visited in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County and the pictures that I personally took at these playgrounds.
Day 5 - Pokemon Party at Arroyo Grande Library
We had been looking forward to this Friday for a couple of days because there's a Pokemon Party at the Arroyo Grande Library! My kids have just started getting into collecting Pokemon cards earlier this year so this was their very first Pokemon related trading party. Arroyo Grande Library has been the only library in all of San Luis Obispo County that has hosted a Pokemon Party that I've seen this year so far! They always plan great events throughout the year. See all story times at San Luis Obispo County Library or see upcoming family-friendly events in San Luis Obispo County on my Events list. My kids completed a Pokemon ball craft, played bingo, went on a Pokemon Scavenger Hunt and traded cards with each other.
They had a wonderful time and didn't want to leave, even when the event was officially over. They connected with other boys on the same hobby and it was so amazing for me to see how kind everyone was to each other.
Day 6 - Baseball Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
We decided to travel a bit south to Los Angeles and watched the Dodgers play against the Cubs on Jackie Robinson Day! It was about a 3.5 hour drive from SLO County, which is not too bad. I love that every one on both teams wore the number 42 that day in honor of Jackie Robinson. We sat on Reserve Level behind home plate. I thought it was a good view. See my picture above to see my view from my seat. We kept the kids happy with popcorn and chips. We left before the 7th inning to avoid getting stuck in bad traffic as we parked our car instead of using the Stadium Express Bus. It was a fun time and the kids were ready to get back to the hotel room to relax for the rest of the night. The walk from the car in the parking lot to the stadium and up to the Reserve Level and then back was quite a walk!
We stayed overnight in Los Angeles for this trip. My family liked the hotel that we were staying at. It's a Hyatt Place and I used my free award night at the Hyatt Place in Glendale in Los Angeles for the one night stay. I've been a member of the World of Hyatt Loyalty Program for over a dozen years now and I feel that it's worth it. It's one of the ways that I've been able to save for a free night here and there. When we travel, we try to stay at a Hyatt if we can help it so that we can earn points towards a free night stay a couple of times a year. Hyatts are usually comparable to other hotel chains in the area when it comes to price and amenities.
This particular Hyatt Place location used the Metropolis web app for valet parking, which is convenient because they use a digital ticket and did away with paper tickets. If I needed my car, all I had to do was go on the Metropolis link from my phone to request it. No need to call ahead of time. It was very efficient. I would stay here again as it was so close to the big mall down the street called The Americana at Brand. Regrettably, we didn't get a chance to check it out but it has dozens of restaurants and stores, and I hope to check it out in the future when I come back to this area again.
Day 7 - Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles
Since we had planned to go to the Dodger game in Los Angeles, we decided to make the best of it and went to Universal Studios Hollywood the next day and for the last day of Spring Break to check out the new Mario Kart ride in their amazing Super Nintendo World. It had been a long time since my husband and I had been to Universal Studios Hollywood and this was my sons' first time. It was an amazing day there! We spent the extra money and got Super Nintendo World Early Access Ticket for an extra $30 each person (might have increased if you're reading this months or years later) so that we can ensure that we get to ride the new ride and enjoy the area before it got too crowded. We also took advantage of the early access to book a reservation for lunch there by scanning the QR code in front of Toadstool Cafe. Toadstool Cafe is a Mario Bros. themed restaurant with Chef Toad as the chef. See my pictures below of the cool things we ordered.
We're so glad that we made a reservation through the QR link right when we got there because by 10AM, all reservations for Toadstool Cafe were booked for the day! Rides that we went on included the new Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge ride, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic World - The Ride, The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, The Simpsons Ride, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Transformers: The Ride-3D (not in this order).
The whole family really enjoyed what Universal Studios Hollywood has done with Super Nintendo World! I can't wait to come back again.
Even though we live 3.5 hours drive away and 3 rides broke down while we were in line or on the ride, I still enjoyed the trip. Like many machines, rides can have issues. The Mario Kart had technical difficulties right when it opened so we had to wait about 20 minutes after already getting in line around 7:15AM (we bought the early access pass). Thankfully, it was fixed before the kids got too antsy and we were able to ride it before the rest of the whole park opened for the general admission goers. The second ride that had issues broke down after 5 or 10 seconds after we were already sitting on The Simpsons Ride. It's a simulator ride so it moved but didn't travel. They had to ask us to get off the ride and then restart the intro video before climbing back on again. The third ride that had an issue while we were there was the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We were almost at the tail end of the ride when it stopped and my son and I couldn't see each other's faces (only our legs) so I was worried for him, but after about 15 long seconds, it continued again. You'll have to be mentally ready for these technical difficulties on rides if you're planning on going to Universal Studios Hollywood. Read about a previous trip in Los Angeles when I stayed in Little Tokyo.
At the end of it all, I was really happy with all of the plans and the activities that we did for my kids' Spring Break. Overall, the kids' week long Spring Break was a perfect mix of down time and new fun adventures!
Universal Studios Hollywood Discount Tickets
For a limited time, you can get discount online tickets for Universal Studios Hollywood through arestravel.com.
Universal Studios Hollywood Address: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
Suggested Reads:
In : For Kids
Tags: slo swim center review public pools in san luis obispo spring break things to do in san luis obispo central coast activities for kids
Originally from San Diego, California, I'm a San Diego State University alumna, veteran's wife and mom of two kids who were born two years apart. After living on the East Coast for 6 years, we now reside in San Luis Obispo County and here, the exploration continues.
@sanluisobispomom