Santa Cruzin'

It's settled. This is now our family tradition for my birthday celebration...an annual trip to Santa Cruz, an awesome little surf village in Northern California, which just so happens to be an easy drive from San Francisco (where some of our favorite people live), and boast funky restaurants, miles of seashore and a huge boardwalk with rides and treats and endless fun.

We're chalking this trip up to a recon visit and will add to it next year. It was so much fun, but not nearly long enough and frankly our hotel could have been more appealing. Next year, we'll do just a little bit better and even better the following. Etching out what will hopefully become many more family memories.

We arrived about midday on Saturday and went directly to the boardwalk, meeting Alaine, Ian, Delphine, Sophie there and even our darling Unca Stu zipcar'd down for a quick visit.

It took about three and a half seconds for the little girls to get reacquainted, all were giddy with excitement almost immediately.

But even with our good friends, Zoe did not forget her Unca Stu. She clung to him like velcro, and rode every ride she could with him.

The Dude was left out of alot of the fun - but there were a couple of little guy rides he enjoyed.

Mostly he just waited by the sidelines with me or Chris.

It was an excellent evening of junk food and whirling, flying rides that made me ill. Can someone please tell me how a little girl who gets car sick every time we go over the mountains can cry "Again again!" after the most vomit-inducing spins and stomach-churning dips and rises? Because I just don't get it.

The next day - my birthday - started with an excellent Birthday Brunch and too many Mimosas. So many that when left unattended for a minute, Alaine and I slipped into an awesome little vintage-inspired dress shop next door to the restaurant. While the husbands and kids waited impatiently outside, we tried on dress after dress and both left with a real find. There are a couple of weddings coming up, you know!

After that, the rest of the day was spent at the beach.

It was 75 degrees and beautifully sunny.


But the water was way too chilly to do anything but chase waves.

and take pictures,

and dig in the sand,

and take a few more pictures...



The kids played in the sand until almost sunset, while the grown ups enjoyed some snacks and margaritas and Coronas at a nearby Mexican cafe - the end to a lovely birthday!