Under the Boardwalk

Your momma had a brilliant idea for a quick getaway... The Santa Cruz Boardwalk! It is just 40 miles away, after all, and you do love the beach. So we packed up the car on Friday night, and got ready for a day of fun and excitement in the sun.






The food at the boardwalk is something that must be seen to be fully appreciated. Unfortunately, we got there too early to throw back a few deep fried twinkies, but you and I were hopeful your mom would let her guard down later in the morning.


Rides weren't even open yet, and the beach was still deserted, so we figured we should take advantage of that for a while. Lots of seals and sea lions out and about, but too far out to really play with.


Finally! Time for the rides! To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time your parents or guardian dropped you into an enclosure of some sort, strapped you in, and left you to fend for yourself. You looked confused and a little concerned, at first, but at the end you cried when the ride stopped and you had to get off. You were hooked.

Next up, the planes. You didn't really figure out that you could move the lever and make the plane go up and down, but no matter. It was a good time, and again you were pretty distressed when it was time to get off.


Finally, a ride one of us can go on with you! Momma took you on the flying dragon, this one you didn't seem so enthused about, even though mom was there to help you make the dragon go up and down.

We figured you'd dig the boats, and yeah you dug the boats. Liked to ring the bell, too. At this point, I'm thinking we're 4 rides in and you haven't decided to bypass the weak safety rope (you can get out of pretty much any harness in 12 seconds if you decide it is time to go) and explore the ride further. We're doing pretty well.

Buttons, push the buttons! This ride was the lamest one there, for sure, but you didn't really notice since there were buttons to push. Whew. That was a close one.



The buggies, finally we get to drive a car! You were pretty excited about this one, you had a steering wheel in each hand and didn't even get distracted by the button you could push to honk the horn. But you did a really nice job of steering, double fisted. Awesome.

Time for a break. FINALLY, some deep fried cheesecake. No, really, fried cheesecake! Once again, your momma was the voice of reason and we headed to the beach instead.








Sand is awesome. You totally dig sand, quite literally. I was starting to think this was the most exciting thing you'd done all day. But then you noticed the waves... As your mom says, you are a water baby. You LOVE swimming lessons. And splashing and kicking in the tub. And, as I quickly learned, you are a big fan of running head on towards any waves you happen upon, even if they are several feet tall and would easily sweep you out to sea. So you played in the water for a little while, as I tried to keep you land-bound.

As you can see from my jeans, you are an enthusiastic wave-attacker. This is the longest and deepest I've been in the ocean this far north... It is cold as heck and there are far too many Great White sharks. But this does not seem to slow you down at all...

Wow, that was really fun! We can't wait to go back and use the rest of those ride tickets, this time you can sit in the whale (which you call 'shark') as long as you want!