Santa Cruz was a lot of fun and it centered around the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park. It was a blast!
The morning started with a dare:
To see if Brett would swim the length of the pool.
Normally this wouldn't be much of a dare, but mind you, it was maybe in the low 60's in the morning and the water was even colder. He took that dare though:
I believe he was rewarded with a twenty dollar bill.
After that we got ready and headed to the boardwalk:
Yep - that's Brett planking.
The Smith clan minus Katie and I - because we had the cameras.
On our way to our first ride:
The Hurricane.
There isn't a photo of it online and I didn't get a picture of it because I went on it, but knowing me, you should be proud. After that I decided I was kind of done with the whole roller coaster thing. We went on the Pirate ship:
From the website.
It was a fun ride, but it seemed a little higher than the last ride I went on like this!
On the way to the next Roller Coaster - the Giant Dipper, Brett decided to try his first boardwalk game:
Which felt a little rigged considering those teeth were harder than they should have been to knock down.
We also found the carousel on the way to the Giant Dipper too:
And then those who flat out refused (me) and Brady, Cindy & Phil decided to hang out while the rest of the group got in line. We got there right as the park opened so they didn't have to wait too long. I found a sitting area close to the roller coaster to take pictures:
After they were done, it seemed like the only people who enjoyed it were Brett, Lexi and Chad.
After that we went on a few more fun rides and then took a break for lunch.
Because we were at the Boardwalk we decided on fried foods. I had a giant corn dog. We found more fried food along the way too: a fried twinkie and funnel cakes. They were yummy but my stomach hated me for it later!
After lunch the kids wanted to swim in the ocean and it actually became a warm day so we broke up and while everyone else went to the beach to swim, Brett and I went back to get a nap in before we went back for round two at the Boardwalk. We went back to hit some shops and hang out while the park became more crowded.
On our way to dinner on the Pier we saw a little area that seals like to climb on. Except this time you could get a little personal with the seals. You could actually climb down and hang out with them if you really wanted to - there weren't people to regulate it, there were only signs saying that seals are actually mean and dangerous.
Brett got pretty close and tried to decide if he should go ahead and climb down a little further. He threw his foot out to get better balance and this guy perked right up and stared back at him about as fast as his foot had gone out. Brett decided to keep his distance...given the bite marks he had all over him.
We had gone on a night where rides were only a dollar each from five until nine, so we had tried to stay away for as long as possible before trying the lines again. We were able to get on a few, including the Crazy Surf:
I sat out the first time, unsure if I had the guts to try it, but I was later dragged on. I did not enjoy this one.
I took pictures the first time around and hung out with Brady because he was just under the height needed.. So we watched everyone get thrown in circles over and over.
After that we went on a ride for Brady - the Sea Serpent:
From the website
I had gone on this ride earlier with Brady - he was kind of reserved throughout the ride but afterwards said, "Let's do it again!" So we decided on this one for him again.
With the way that the line was moving, Katie and Brady went on the first ride, and we followed after, so we watched while we waited for our turn. The ride goes around the little coaster track two times and after the first round, we saw Brady hold his little hands up in a stop and say something, Katie repeated it laughing saying he said: "STOP! No More!!"
After a quick ride through a haunted house, I'm pretty sure we were some of the only people left in the park, so we headed back for bed.
The next morning on our way out of Santa Cruz, we decided to hit an old surf stop that Brett loved to surf known as "The Wedge." There is an old lighthouse turned into a Museum that looks over the wedge and of course, it was closed on Wednesdays, (?) so we didn't get to take a look around.
So we sat and watched others surf the wedge:
After that we headed back to Rohnert Park...
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