Saturday in Santa Cruz

Yesterday was a fun, full, exhausting day.

But fun. Mostly fun.

We got up relatively early (for a Saturday), and waited for Toni and her kids to arrive. We were going to convoy down to Santa Cruz, and maybe do a kid-exchange in the cars. Toni and the kids showed up early, and of course I wasn't ready (thinking "oh, we've got plenty of time for me to do this One. Last. Thing"), but we still got going at an early hour, and were in Santa Cruz before 10. Way early enough to get a prime parking spot in the boardwalk parking lot

The Beach Boardwalk doesn't even open until 11, so we had plenty of time to go to the Beach Street Cafe for French Toast. Heh. Remy couldn't figure out why it was FRENCH toast, but he was game to try it.

While we were waiting for the ticket booth to open, I sent Remy and Kelly down to the beach, so Remy could dip his toe (or his finger, depending on how adventurous he was) into the Pacific Ocean.

And then it was time for the rides to open.

We were the first ones on the Bumper Cars.

And then we were the first ones on the carousel!

After two trips around the carousel, we decided to hit the Giant Dipper (The 6th oldest roller coaster in the USA) before the lines got too long. Remy had never gone on a roller coaster. I hoped his French Toast wouldn't suffer the consequences...

(I made this big so you can see his face. He looks terrified and exhilarated all at once) Nate, on the other hand, just looks terrified and concerned.

Anyways. It was a big success.

The seaswings were a nice way to cool down after all that excitement...

And then time for some more tummy churning.

Cole took great care of Nate.

Churn the tummy!

And then take it easy in Ghost-Blasters.

Churn the tummy in Cyclone!

Cool off a bit in space blaster bumper cars...

churn things up in the Hurricane...

Please, can we stop for a bit now?

of course. Let's go walk out the pier.

Where an enormous sea lion came sauntering by to say hello to our French Guest.

The wind was ferocious and cold, but it sure was pretty.

When offered a choice between coffee and Coke, Remy voted with the kids.

He was captivated by all the typical American vehicles, and of course we had to take his photo beside the viper.

The wind died down (FINALLY!) when we got back to the beach.

But the water was still frigid.

One more time on the bumper cars!

Do I really want to do this????

Point of no return...

(even Frenchmen can scream like a girl, apparently...)

And the boys saved the best for last, so they said. After a long wait, they were finally on the FireBall!

Yup. They're on there.

It was not very hot, but the sun was intense, and the wind was relentless, so I was pretty much done by 4. We decided to get an early supper. Off to Pleasure Pizza (run by a former Google Chef) in southern Santa Cruz.

And then a quick stop at the beach on the way home.

(it was very windy!)

Frisbee!

And playing in the waves.

The (exhausted) children were pretty quiet on the way home, but still found time to rock out before bed.

It was a good day.