We had such a great vacation this summer. We went to Santa Cruz to a beach house with our good friends the Palacios, Alfreds, and the Barrerras. We had a house that was centrally located. It was close to the beach, downtown and the boardwalk. We walked down town every morning because it was a little cold to go to the beach yet. On our walks we found a skate park and had to stop for a few minutes to try it out. We then went to the beach in the afternoon. We tried to go to 3 different beaches but found we liked the one in the "cove" best. It was the easiest to get to and the waves were great. Tayah and Austin 
were the boogie board champs. Zach and Trey 
tried a few times but the water was to cold for their skin and bones bodies. Zach liked to skim board and the rest of them loved the sand. Jayda did really well and loved to put the sand in between her toes. The Alfreds brought shovels, real ones not the plastic ones, so we decide to dig a big hole with stairs, seats and all that. Well, apparently these weren't heavy duty so Kari and I went 
and bought the big heavy duty shovels. You should have seen the hole we dug that time. When we left the beach Zach would
be a little sad because he never got to see his hole fill up with water. On our last day at the beach we used the heavy duty shovels and dug a nice big hole closer to the water. It worked finally!!! After all the hard work water was getting into the hole. We had to laugh because a few minutes later we see the boys trying to put a barricade around their hole so the water wouldn't get in. They were protecting 
their home. The dads were so good at helping to 
dig the holes. Kenny helped and then had to work on his "base tan" and then helped again. It wouldn't be complete if we didn't get a nap in there some where.
Every night we went to the Santa Cruz board walk. What a fun time. We went 4 nights in a row. Luckily we were able to get great weekday deals. Kenny even had fun because the lines were so short and the kids got to ride the rides over and over and over. It might be hard for us to get him to go 
back to Disneyland were the lines are forever long. Wed and Thur. was wrist band day and they got to ride as many rides as they wanted to. I think Zach rode on every ride there. The adults wouldn't even go on some of them with him because they spun or dropped way to fast. Tayah surprised me and went on a lot of the big rides such as the Giant Dipper and Double shot and love it. Trey was in the middle of the big kids and the twins. He was having fun with Adam and Luke. They really got to know Trey this trip and became best buds. They called him "My Trey". Joe was a good sport and went on this ride with the kids. I think he liked it more then the kids did. I had fun pushing Jayda around and 
eating the Carmel apple with nuts and whip cream and Cinnamon roasted almonds. You have to love the food at places like this.
back to Disneyland were the lines are forever long. Wed and Thur. was wrist band day and they got to ride as many rides as they wanted to. I think Zach rode on every ride there. The adults wouldn't even go on some of them with him because they spun or dropped way to fast. Tayah surprised me and went on a lot of the big rides such as the Giant Dipper and Double shot and love it. Trey was in the middle of the big kids and the twins. He was having fun with Adam and Luke. They really got to know Trey this trip and became best buds. They called him "My Trey". Joe was a good sport and went on this ride with the kids. I think he liked it more then the kids did. I had fun pushing Jayda around and 
eating the Carmel apple with nuts and whip cream and Cinnamon roasted almonds. You have to love the food at places like this.
Our last day we went to the Monetary Bay aquarium. What a fun place to go and see. While we were there a diver was in a large fish tank talking to us and explaining the different fish and things in the tank. I think Kenny was having diving with drawls when he saw him. They had some fascinating and wired looking ocean creatures there. The kids loved the places that were interactive. They enjoyed touching all the sea stars, sand dollars, muscles, sting rays and 
other things. They simulated what it was like when water brakes over rocks. You can sit under this tunnel and hear and see the water come over you. It is a cool sound and is interesting how it builds up and then explodes. Funny, I feel the same way as the wave. I build up being patient oh so patient and then explode. No wonder my kids felt at home under the wave simulation. They really enjoyed watching the otters run all over their pen and jump into the water. Kenny and I liked the jelly fish. They are a bizarre cool little creature.
other things. They simulated what it was like when water brakes over rocks. You can sit under this tunnel and hear and see the water come over you. It is a cool sound and is interesting how it builds up and then explodes. Funny, I feel the same way as the wave. I build up being patient oh so patient and then explode. No wonder my kids felt at home under the wave simulation. They really enjoyed watching the otters run all over their pen and jump into the water. Kenny and I liked the jelly fish. They are a bizarre cool little creature. 
We ended our trip with a great meal at Bubba Gumps. I think Kenny won with the Forest Gump Trivia. He had a slight advantage since he has shown that movie every year for the last 5 years. Must be nice to go to work and watch movies all day. Our waitress tried to stump us but we shut her down thanks to my movie man Kenny. What a great vacation!!! We can't wait to go again next year. Thanks Palacios Family for putting it together and inviting us!!
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