Spring Break - part 3

The boys were so looking forward to this day...the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. So much to do, so many rides to ride and so much to see...always good people watching on the Boardwalk, too.

While standing in line to purchase wrist bands, I ran into my sweet friend Marisa. She lives in Roseville, too. We have been meaning to get together for lunch(it hasn't happened yet) and we joked that we had to go all the way to Santa Cruz just to see each other.

Amber and her boys met us in the afternoon! It was so much fun to hang out and visit with them.

 This was one of my favorite moments of our day! Brody had agreed to ride the Double Shot with the big boys. This ride shoots you straight to the top(25 ft. up) and drops you like a bouncy ball until you get back to the bottom. Once Brody sat down to be strapped into the ride, he got scared. I could even see the tears welling up in his baby blues. I asked him if he wanted to get off and he said no. He looked terrified and other by standers were catching on. They began to cheer him on and give him words of encouragement. When the ride was over, everyone was clapping and telling him that he did great. Lets just say that this one the only ride that he did not ask to ride again!

The boys are making plans to head back to the Boardwalk this Summer...hopefully with their cousins in tow!

Spring Break - part 2

Our Spring Break vacation has officially begun. We headed out bright and early and made our to Monterey. Our first stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We were all super excited but Brody was over the top excited. This would be his very visit to the aquarium.

There were lots of fun amazing things to see and experience. I think we all agreed that the octopus was the coolest thing we saw all day. It was awake and moving all over the tank. We got to see it up close and personal. Our 2nd favorite event of the day was sitting in front of the big tank with all sorts of sea life swimming right in front of us. We had just enjoyed a presentation about the ocean and sea life. They mentioned how fast the tuna swims. While we were sitting there, watching all of the different kinds of fish and sharks, the tuna put on a show and zipped right across the tank, showing us just how fast they really are. It was very cool.

After the Aquarium, we headed over to the Denis the Menace Park and had a Taco Bell picnic lunch! This park was amazing. So many cool things to do and play on.

 

 

 

After our time in Monterey, we headed for our campground. Our littles have been begging to go camping. Sunset  State Beach was a first for us. We loved our campsite, so much room to play and it was beautiful!

 

Our home away from home!

That evening, we walked over to the beach. It was just 5 minutes from our campground. We had the beach to ourselves. The boys loved finding shells and sand dollars.

 

 

 

The wind really kicked up at night. It made it cold. We had a fire and s'mores...my favorite part of camping.

 

 With the chill in the air, everyone was anxious to crawl into their sleeping bags. We laughed and giggled until everyone begin to fall asleep, one by one. Super fun day! We are very thankful for the family time we are able to enjoy.