The first week of August we officially went on vacation to Northern California. We stayed in a rental condo in Aptos, CA, near Santa Cruz. We could not have chosen a better time to go. Down here it was about 90 degrees and up there, it was a glorious low 70s. We wore pants. We wore sweaters. The mornings by the beach were foggy. GLORIOUS. On the way up we took the 1 which, while it was beautiful, was a bad idea with squirmy Walter. We made a stop to see elephant seals and it was chilly!
But we should have just kept driving since Wally had fallen asleep. He never bounced back from that and I had to hand over the amazon fire and many many snacks but it was not enough. Ah Walter.
The drive sure was beautiful though. What an idea to make a highway that runs the coastline of California right?
Overall, the kids were so-so during the day. We'd have leisurely breakfasts/morning times at our rental and then would head out for the day. It was those times when I knew that renting a place is the way to go with them. They had their room, we had ours, and we could make breakfast and dinner and save eating out money that way.
After the drive up debacle, you think we would have learned but we never quite timed Wally's naps so we suffered the wrath of a cranky 17 month old for a few hours until his inevitable crashes in the car. Plus, that kid has zero attention span so most of the time was spent wrangling him and he hates being wrangled. We did make ALL activities kid focused but nothing was enough to stave off the Wally monster. It's just the age he's at.
Day 2 we took a train ride through a redwood forest. It had this little play area where they could run around and let out their wiggles.
The good thing about the train ride was that it was really beautiful but the bad thing was that it was an hour long which was probably about 40 minutes too long. Sheesh we do not learn.
Containing the boy was our #1 distraction.
After that we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk where all rides from 5-10pm were $1.50.
They were so cute on all the things they could ride on. Alice took her big sister responsibilities very seriously when I told her to keep Wally inside the boat.
Matt was excited because they filmed The Lost Boys on this very carousel.
Day 3 we met up with my college friend Becca and her two kids at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Yes, it's a state of the art aquarium world-renowned but what did they love the most? Play area. Look at the animals, nope, we wanna play on the waterbed thing.
It's so great to have friends to commiserate with about parenthood.
We did a tiny walk to Cannery Row for Matt.
Funnily enough the best part of the day was having dinner at Becca and Darren's. The kids played together, the parents bonded, and we ate amazing Oaxacan food. At this age with Wally, a restaurant is a mistake we have learned. Someday we will be able to but right now, homes are good.
Day 4 was our day in Aptos. We spent it at a beach that has a shipwrecked boat and both of the kids were so incredibly chill and happy. Wally loved chasing the waves, Alice loved the sand and the waves and giggling with mom as the waves caught us.
Matt took one of the best photos of them. It's framed in our room now.
That night in lieu of a fancy meal out we ordered some food and ate in and I made our dinner table as fancy as I could.
The following day we headed back home but made a pit stop to see a GRIP TON of otters swimming in the wild. I could have stood there for hours watching them but the kid attention span gave me maybe 15 minutes. Better than nothing I suppose.
The drive home we took a faster route and they actually slept on the way. Hallelujah.
We didn't want to leave! It was a great trip even with the meltdowns. Every day we had a memory or two that will stay in our hearts for years. Vacationing with two small kids is a challenge but you gotta do it. You gotta go at a kid pace and you just gotta not give up. It's worth it.
I kept thinking about how it was our first real vacation as a family of four. Last year we got to have a few days at Newport Coast but this one felt more like it was the reality that it was our little family vs the world. Or our little family in the world and know what, I really enjoy our little family. Squirms and all, we got each other and that's all we need.
